1971 ‘cuda convertible

[RUNCHARGER]

I really liked that HemiCuda with the side trim. It seems to me it was in a few magazines way back when, turndown exhaust and all.

[69CudaFan]

Any more pics, info or stories from those in the SoCal scene?

[69CudaFan]

Can't wait for this to be up and running!

[69CudaFan]

Well, the car is running again, and does it sound sweet! TTI headers and full exhaust!

Broke in the cam, and am now putting shakedown miles on it.  There are little things here and there, but it is running and driving under it's own power for the first time in a long time. It has been a long time coming!

I was glad I was able to share pics and video with Randy Gerstenberg of the car running and driving, and was happy to get in-person info from back when I purchased it. Keep and eye out for me in San Diego, and plan to see it at the Spring Fling in Apr 2020!

[cuda dad]

Blue challenger is owned by fellow club member. Identical today.

I wonder if his brother still has his '69 Corolla (license frame) 

[69CudaFan]

Ignore the lack of trim rings and argent grille with rubber bumpers.

[kdcarman]

Nice!

[anlauto]

Can't argue with a HEMI...Looks great

[mccannix]

I never could figure the billboard stripe on the car.
Did he paint it on,... short right in front of the door handle
and angled wrong at the rear on the quarter.

[wingcarenvy]

Man, thats cool to see. I was just 16 years old when I joined the RTS club in Orange County (1989). Randy was the president. I was just a snot nosed kid with a 273 Dart. He was real nice and very helpful. Jim Radke was the Vice President. Another cool dude. Those pictures bring back a lot of memories. Those were some good times. I love the fact that you are leaving the car as Randy built it. In SoCal its a well known car because it was everywhere.

[69CudaFan]

The door stripe is painted on. The dimensions are a bit funky because he had a reverse stencil made from a Monogram model of a 71 Cuda during a time where we did not have the vendor support we have now for sure! 

[70ChargerRTSE]

I was a close friend of Randy and Sabrina for many years.
As far as i know, that car started out as an original hemi cuda.
But what happened was he had tires slipping on the rims whenever he used the NO2. I know this for a fact.
So he screwed the tires to the rims. Then the first time he hit the nitrous the sidewalls exploded and took out both rear quarter panels, and everything connected to them. It was a real mess, a heartbreaker.
So he transplanted the back half of the mannix donor car onto his hemi cuda. The restoration was near perfect, but he lost interest in the car after it's "cherry got popped". It was no longer the real deal.
So he sold it and built his '59 Ranchero with the 580cu.in Keith Black alky blown HEMI using the funds he got from selling the Cuda.
Shortly after that, he temporarily closed Cuda-Connection and started a business hauling freight for professional drag racers. After that proved profitable, he closed Cuda-Connection for good. There's more to that story, but it's not pertainent to this topic.
Anyway, It was during that time that his wife left him and took everything he had. Extremely vindictive, pure hell.
He lived with me for a few months while all that was happening. He moved out in Sept '95 and i never heard from him again. (But then i left calif in January '99, so i dunno if he tried to contact me since.)
Good guy. Tough trials.
And yes, the paint color was indeed '85 Porsche Red, but is was Dupont's Imron, not Deltron. I know because i bought all the materials and he painted my Shelby at the same time he re-did the Cuda. I was there. Been there. Done that.
And it's true that he didn't use a resparator. Those fumes b'out kilt me, and i was just a bystander. He called me a puss.
Jussed sayin'
Qwextions?