Random Hemi E-Body of the Week

[RzeroB]

Next up is a visually striking car and it is now paired up with another particular car that makes for a very interesting pair of 'Cuda's.



BS23R1B342651 is 1 of only 107 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 59 with a 4-speed. It is finished in the visually striking combination of TX9 Black-Formal with V6W white billboards and a H6XW white vinyl interior.



From it' fender tag we can see that this car was rather minimally equipped ... it's simple, but built to make a statement with what it has. From the tag we can see that it originally came equipped with the A34 Super Track Pack 4:10 geared Dana Axle Pkg, B51 Power Disc Brakes, C16 Center Console to make a mechanical statement; and the black exterior, white interior and V6W white billboards to make a visual statement.

As for the fender tag, note that this car didn't even come equipped with the most basic of radios - the mighty R11 Music Master AM Radio. Additionally, some of the pictures of this car show it with the L34 Road Lamps and a J81 Go Wing even though it did not originally come from the factory with them ... more on that later ...



Carlos Monteverde, a very wealthy British car collector who is known more for his collection of rare Porsche's and Ferrari's and not American muscle, owned the car for a long time in the 1990's and 2000's. It seems in addition to his love of rare and exotic sports cars, Carlos also had, to a lesser degree, a liking for pachyderm packing Plymouth pavement pounders (say that five times fast!). In addition to this car, he also owned at one time the all black John Herlitz '70 HemiCuda convertible among a few others.

While in Britain, Carlos employed the services of Martin Savill and his Rare Performance Motors (RPM) which specializes in American muscle cars to attend to the Cuda's every need. Bang it here if you would like to take a look at RPM's website ... http://www.rareperformancemotors.com/hemi%20cuda.html 

On the RPM website, Martin notes how the car had the L34 Road Lamps and J81 Go Wing were added prior to the car arriving in Britain, and how Carlos had them change out the gearing in the Dana to a more "street friendly" set of 3:54's. Here is a nice video of who I presume to be Martin, exercising the Cuda ...

At some point Carlos's fascination with the Plymouths waned and he sold them off. The Brothers Collection bought the Herlitz '70 HemiCuda convertible and Tom Lembeck bought the '71 HemiCuda and brought it back home to Chicago. Lou Costabile and his "My Car Story" series on YouTube caught up to Tom and his new HemiCuda in Chicago here ...

Tom has an enviable collection of rare Mopars and Cuda's in particular, so this visually striking '71 HemiCuda would seem to be a natural fit to his collection. Apparently not, as for whatever reason Tom didn't hold on to it for very long. I don't know just how long it was with Tom, but he made a deal to send it packing to collector and broker Greg Nelson where it was advertised for sale at his Mopar Ponderosa.

I didn't know who eventually wound up buying the car until Dave Wise of MMC Detroit fame posted up some pics on facebook of his recent visit to the Rochester Auto Museum owned by Bob Bartosiewicz.



Note that the car looks to have been returned to original since it is now missing the L34 Road Lamps and the J81 Go Wing. This is still a great looking car even without those "upgrades, but what makes it even more interesting as part of Bob's collection is it's pairing with Bob's '71 HemiCuda convertible seen in the background. Here it is from the other side ...



Bob's '71 HemiCuda convertible is none other than BS27R1B126869, the first '71 HemiCuda convertible produced. As can be seen, it is pretty much the complete polar opposite, a virtual "negative" of the '71 HemiCuda hardtop next to it. The convertible is white, with a black interior and white billboards whereas the hardtop is black with a white interior and white billboards ... and if you want to take it further, the convertible is an auto and the hardtop is a stick. How cool is that? 

[750-h2]

RzeroB.  That was a great read!!   

[Chryco Psycho]

 
I believe I would have left the lamps & wing on the car .

[anlauto]

Last time I was at Tom's, this was parked beside a white/black  hardtop 71 HEMICUDA was it not ? around 2015

[RzeroB]

Black ... black and white ... the basics are timeless and never seem to go out of style. On that note, how about a black (and white) '70 Hemi Challenger RT to go with the 'Cuda's that were recently shown??



JS23R0B309966 is 1 of only 287 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 150 with an automatic. It is finished in TX9 Black set off with a starkly contrasting V9W white Bumble Bee stripe and a H6XW white interior.



Built in mid April 1970, this Hemi Challenger RT is said to be one of the first to come from the factory with the redesigned N96 Shaker hood. Per the seller, it is claimed to be one of only 14 '70 Hemi Challenger RT's factory equipped with the N96 Shaker hood. I don't know the accuracy of that claim as I have seen the number vary considerably from 14. Maybe someone more in the know like Dan P might give us a better idea of just how many might have came with this option?



Inside the H6XW white interior contrasts sharply with the black interior components and the TX9 Black exterior paint.



Under the hood, and the Shaker dome, the mighty Hemi resides. Behind it is a Hemi Torqueflite and out back is the stout A32 Super Performance 4:10 geared Dana Axle Pkg. The Torqueflite makes it easy to apply the Hemi's prodigenous power - stomp your right foot down and this Challenger is GONE!! Fortunately it is also equipped with the B51 Power Disc Brakes and S77 Power Steering to help you control the rampaging beast!!



With all of the nice things that this '70 Hemi Challenger RT has going for it, striking black and white appearance, factory Shaker, original Broadcast sheet, etc., ... something is holding it back in the sales value department. Last year at Mecum's fall Las Vegas auction this Hemi Challenger RT hammer sold for a seemingly low $115,500. Is it the automatic? Maybe the non-matching numbers engine under the hood? Who knows?



MaxMotive out of Pittsburgh PA bought the car at the Mecum auction and they now have it for sale ... of course it's a lot more than what it sold for at auction, but it still seems "reasonable" at $149,426 for such a nice looking Hemi Challenger RT.



I know what you are thinking ... you're thinking "that IS a nice looking Hemi Challenger RT AND the price doesn't seem that unreasonable (especially compared to a similar HemiCuda)" It has it's original Broadcast sheet, it IS a factory Shaker car, and you got to admit, it IS a sharp looking tuxedo!! You sigh and say "If only it had it's original engine ..." But wait!! There's good news!! The original engine for this car is not one that was blown up and lost to the ages a long time ago. Oh no, the original engine is still alive and well and living in a '67 GTX. All you have to do is buy the Hemi Challenger at it's "reasonable" asking price, work a deal for the original engine from the owner of the GTX and then you would have a killer numbers-matching factory Shaker Hemi Challenger RT!! About the only downside is that the owner of the GTX would probably want a king's ransom for the original motor ... sigh.

[Chryco Psycho]

 

[E74cuda]

I believe that the black hemi Challenger has a questionable history

[Morty426]

I believe that the black hemi Challenger has a questionable history

It's priced that way

[RzeroB]

I believe that the black hemi Challenger has a questionable history

Probably so ... maybe an accident or something where it had to have some metal work done ... 

Anyways ....

I like to think of this thread as an "open forum" ... as such, member participation is highly encouraged! 

With that being said, @E74cuda and @Morty426 I highly encourage you guys to tell us a little bit about your Hemi-fied rides and post up some pics! 

[Morty426]

I believe that the black hemi Challenger has a questionable history

Probably so ... maybe an accident or something where it had to have some metal work done ... 

Anyways ....

I like to think of this thread as an "open forum" ... as such, member participation is highly encouraged! 

With that being said, @E74cuda and @Morty426 I highly encourage you guys to tell us a little bit about your Hemi-fied rides and post up some pics! 

@RzeroB - just the E-bodies or you want the B bodies too.  I warn you they are all projects.

[anlauto]

Well this is an E Body site 

[Morty426]

Well this is an E Body site 

Hey hey.  Quiet down in the peanut gallery. 

[RzeroB]

I've been slacking ...

I haven't been keeping up the thread ... breaks over, back to work!

To be honest, this next entry I was planning on posting two weeks ago on the fourth of July. I thought it fitting being that their car is red, white and blue, and the couple of guys who operated it were too! They really don't need any introduction, but yes, we're talking about "red" Ronnie Sox, their "white" (originally an EW1) car, and "blue" Buddy Martin aka the red, white and blue dynamic duo of Sox & Martin and their world beating 1970 HemiCuda! 



Seems everybody knows about them and their accomplishments with Hemi powered Plymouths. Many of you may have personally seen their cars, some of you probably have met them and perhaps even a few of you actually knew Ronnie and Buddy? 

So much has been written and photographed about them and their cars that it would be almost a moot point for me to add anything here. So I'm just going to post up a few pics and throw in a few nuggets and that will be it. Enjoy! 



This is BS23R0B242037. It is one of 652 1970 HemiCuda's made for the U.S. market and of those one of 284 with a 4-speed. When delivered to Sox & Martin from the factory, it was a plain-vanilla EW1 Alpine White with a basic H6X9 black vinyl interior ... and not a whole lot more.



The Sox & Martin team transformed the already potent Hemi into a full-boogie raging pachyderm!    Check out the old-school mechanical rev-limiter attached to the front of the left valve cover.



As was pretty much de-rigueur with the old-school race cars, this car is equipped with a manual 4-speed transmission. It had to be, could you even imagine Ronnie driving anthing but a 4-speed? I can't.



From the factory this HemiCuda came equipped with the A34 Super Track Pack Dana axle package. Besides the Hemi and 4-speed, I believe it was the only other extra cost option on the car.



Ronnie and the HemiCuda blasting off to another 9.80's @ 140+ mph run. 



With 59 event wins during their glory days, this was a common sight at the end of the race. I don't think anyone took more winner's circle pictures with Linda Vaughn and company than the Sox & Martin crew! 

With the introduction of the Lenco transmission and the weight penalty levied upon the mighty Hemi (to allow the other brands to be more competitive) Sox & Martin's reign as the dominant team came to an end and they "retired" from NHRA competition in 1975. What became of the cars (where they went, who owned them, etc) I don't know. What we do know is that this HemiCuda survived and is in pristine condition ...



Noted collector Todd Werner seems to have an affinity for nostalgic race cars from the '60's and early '70's. He is the current owner of this HemiCuda, and several other Sox & Martin cars and even a couple of Dick Landy Hemi Challenger race cars! I don't know how, or when, he acquired it, but for whatever reason, Todd has decided to put a large part of his collection up for sale and they will be featured at Mecum's 2019 Harrisburg event coming up later this month.

Interestingly, in the Mecum ad, it states that this particular HemiCuda is the ONLY true R-code '70 HemiCuda that the Sox & Martin team had. I don't know how many other '70 Cuda's with Hemi's they had, but apparently, this is THEE only true R-code one. For some reason I found that interesting ...

Here is a cool feature video put together by the Mecum team for this car. Enjoy!

[Brads70]

That would sure be a cool piece to own! 

[RUNCHARGER]

I have a Popular Hot Rodding magazine (April 70 edition) with an article on their Pro Stock Hemi Cuda. That one was a body in white and there are clear photos of the body in white beside a real, factory HemiCuda, it was dark coloured, a 4 speed and a rubber bumper car. The article stated and the photos showed they were swapping what they needed from the factory car to the body in white. that was supposed to be the first one they built, perhaps this real one above came later?