Random Hemi E-Body of the Week

[RzeroB]

HUh driving it in winter !!
I assume we know where this one is now as there were so few Hemi verts ? @RzeroB

Well, since Chryco brought it up ... might as well run with this one as this weeks feature.

Given the celebrity like status of these ultimate top level cars ... there really isn't much that can be said about them that isn't already known. Their names (VINs) are all known, they take center stage and the spotlight whenever they come out for a showing and they're all over the news whenever they move to a new home. There really isn't anything new that I can provide ... but if you're like me ... you somehow just never tire of admiring them!

So without further ado, I'll throw up a few pictures and anecdotes of today's celebrity ... BS27R1B396774



This picture comes up a lot. I don't know who is wielding the snow shovel, but I do know the story behind the picture (and I would guess that you probably do too, but bear with me for the one or two people who might not know it). In December of 1985 the owner (the man with the shovel) who lived in the "frozen tundra" of Wisconsin advertised the car in Hemmings. Steve Segal who lived in Connecticut, saw the ad and brokered a deal to buy the car for ... $24K. After making the deal and FedEx'ing a deposit, Steve hooked up his trailer and hit the road for Wisconsin in what turned out to be a major winter storm. The picture, taken by Steve, is the owner digging a path for the snow-bound car to get to the loading ramps of Steve's trailer.   



Steve only owned the car for about 18 months or so. Why such a short time? Well, as seen in this picture, Steve brought the car to the 1986 Supercar Showdown and it turned out to be a pivotal point in his ownership of the car. In Steve's words the car "was too damn slow!" putting up a lackluster best of only 14.05 seconds in the quarter and having a 4-door Chevy smoke it in the quarter! Oh the shame and embarrassment!!

It had to go ...

Enter noted Mopar Collector Otis Chandler. I don't know if Steve advertised the car, or if he was privately approached by Otis, but the story goes that Steve whipped out a price that he thought Otis would never agree to ... and to his surprise Otis didn't even blink and readily agreed to pay. The price? $54K. At the time it was a record price for a Hemi E-body convertible - $30K more than what he had paid for the car less than two years earlier! It was quite a coup ... and some say the impetus for what caused the Hemi E-body prices to begin their vertical soar into the stratosphere during the late 1980's. Ironically, some people STILL blame Steve for the astronomical prices of these cars today!



This car is one of the eight (five to U.S. specs) automatics. It has a nice group of options that include the A22 Elastomeric Bumpers Pkg, A62 Rallye Gauge Pkg, C16 Center Console, P37 Power Convertible Top and the R36 AM/FM cassette radio among other things. I don't have a pic of the fender tag ... but I'm always looking for one! And while I'm at it, I'm a bit curious as to it's history prior to 1985 and where it may have been sold new. Anyone?



This particular car was the inspiration behind actor Don Johnson wanting his character on the Nash Bridges TV show to be driving the "baddest muscle car ever made" - a 1971 HemiCuda convertible (good thing Don didn't talk to Steve Segal or he might have changed his mind!!).

Otis owned the car until his death (I think?) at which point the car was acquired by collector Kevin Suydam, who then in turn sold it to Bill Wiemann at some point. Bill had quite the E-body convertible collection going until he decided to divest himself of the cars to pursue other investments and sold all of his E-body convertibles (I think it was six?) in a "package deal" to the The Brothers Collection.



Now owned by mega-collectors The Brothers Collection, this HemiCuda convertible was one of 27 in attendance at the Hemi E-body convertible invitational held during the 2015 MCACN show in Chicago. It was an unprecidented event in that it was largest gathering of Hemi E-body convertibles ever.



And if you would like to see this Lemon-Twist 1971 HemiCuda convertible in motion ... click on the link below to see The Brothers Collection's "Muscle Car of the Week" #209 ... ENJOY!!

[JS23U]

The rubber bumpers are not original to the car. It had been "restored" to its correct status and wears chrome bumpers again, as shown on the snow picture.

[JS29]

Late to the party! while reading this wright up, I thought the A22 elastomeric bumper was not there in the first picture. but did not know if it was changed due to an accident or something. 

[bs27r1b@yahoo.com]

Actually the original engine for that Mango orange Challenger was in my garage in Minneapolis not Chicago for quite some time.  I spent some time trying to find the car or owner,  found him about 2 years ago.  He didn't care about his original engine!  Brain damage I guess?  So I have since sold the engine to a guy that will be putting it in a 70 Hemi Super Bee.  All I can say is "I tried"

[RzeroB]

Actually the original engine for this car was in my garage in Minneapolis for quite some time.  I spent some time trying to find the car or owner,  found him about 2 years ago.  He didn't care about his original engine!  Brain damage I guess?  So I have since sold the engine to a guy that will be putting it in a 70 Hemi Super Bee.  All I can say is "I tried"

   Well hello there!! That's one heck of an introductory post you put up there!! With the resources available to TBC I am ... shocked ... that they would NOT want the original motor for this car!! Please, use this thread ... or another ... to introduce yourself and tell us a little more about you.

[bs27r1b@yahoo.com]

I am just a remnant of the old Mopar days when nobody cared if you had numbers matching shock absorbers and the Mopar Nationals was nothing but a giant Hotel burnout contest!.. I miss it.   I parted out so many of these thing back when they were just used cars it would make you cry.   When I was in high school I thought all Challengers where purple six pack cars because the first three Challengers me and my friends had where all that way.  We used to just torture them until there was nothing left.

[RzeroB]

  Ohhhh, the Go-Mango car from a couple of posts ago ... now THAT makes more sense!! 

  I thought you were referring to the the Lemon-Twist 'vert ... which just didn't make sense to me with how visible The Brothers are and not to mention their seemingly endless resources.

  Welcome aboard ... there are plenty of "old school" dinosaurs here (like me!) ... hope you enjoy the forums, post and have fun here!!

[JS29]

Even back in the day, why wouldn't someone want the original engine for there car?   

[HEMICUDA]

Even back in the day, why wouldn't someone want the original engine for there car?   

[Chryco Psycho]

As much as the car should be correct I like it far better with the elastomeric bumpers on , I would have a set of chrome to go on the car but still leave the elastomeric on the car 

[JS29]

As much as the car should be correct I like it far better with the elastomeric bumpers on , I would have a set of chrome to go on the car but still leave the elastomeric on the car 

100%

[RzeroB]

As for what bumper(s) the Lemon-Twist 'vert should have ... I don't really know as I don't ever remember seeing the fender tag (still looking ... anyone have a pic of it?). But, Jens @JS23U has been a very reliable source of information for me,  so I suppose he is correct in saying that it didn't come from the factory with those elastomeric bumpers on it. However, in my opinion (which matters only to me!) it's one of those "po-ta-to, po-tat-o" things where either way is perfectly fine ... after all this IS an original Hemi E-body 'vert!! 

[6bblgt]

since FY1 was late to the available color list for 1971, I don't think A21 or A22 was available in FY1
&
"IF" FY1 was available with elastomeric bumpers would it get 1970 or 1971 parts?   

..... by the time this car was built, May of '71, most available elastomeric bumper colors were discontinued

[Topcat]

since FY1 was late to the available color list for 1971, I don't think A21 or A22 was available in FY1
&
"IF" FY1 was available with elastomeric bumpers would it get 1970 or 1971 parts?   

..... by the time this car was built, May of '71, most available elastomeric bumper colors were discontinued

Can you elaborate any regarding the Argent Bubble on this 71' as well?

I believe most should be black in 71'. Correct?

[JS23U]

I don't have fender tag info either. See below the latest picture I have of this car, which I saved to my hard disc in 2003. Then it had got chrome bumpers, therefore it is my ASSUMPTION that it originally came with them. Who would restore the car with chrome bumpers if it originally had A21 or A22? I agree that the colored bumpers look much better.
Also attached see two old pics which I found somewhere in the net. The plates read Wisconsin 1979, I think. The owner added 1970 hockey sticks.