Random Hemi E-Body of the Week

[Chryco Psycho]

Awesome looking Cuda 

[anlauto]

I agree, looks great with the bumpers on it, but I could never bring myself to add options to such a rare piece of automotive history

[mccannix]

P37 power top, S77 power steering added as well.
Addditions made by Drake who added a billboard also, removed by Tom
when he acquired it.

[RzeroB]

I am a big Rush fan ... and I was saddened with the recent passing of Neil Peart. I recently reread a 2015 band interview which took place prior to their final R40 tour. Apparently Neil was a big fan of vintage cars. At the start of the story Neil and the interviewer were tooling around SoCal in his silver Aston-Martin DB5. I was a bit surprised that it wasn't in a red Barchetta ... I always liked that song.

Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge...

Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware...

Instead of a red Barchetta I sometimes use to transpose "HemiCuda" into the lyrics ... who else has done that ... it can't only be me!! Because of the line "wind, in my hair" it HAS to be a convertible. And with the line "shifting and drifting" I assume it has to have a manual transmission. So it has to be a red Hemi E-body convertible with a 4-speed that you would substitute for the Barchetta in that song right?

However, as it turns out, none of the Hemi E-body convertibles that are 4-speeds are red. What to do? I'm improvising on the fly here and am just going to substitute a "blue HemiCuda" in there because the "u" in "blue" kind of rhymes the the "u" in "Cu-da" ... work with me here!!

I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car
A brilliant blue HemiCuda
From a better vanished time

I fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar
Tires burning rubber
I commit my weekly crime...

I like to think that The Professor would approve ...

BS27R1B269588 is 1 of only 12 1971 HemiCuda convertibles ever made. 1 of only 7 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 2 made with a 4-speed. It is finished in GB5 True Blue with a H6B5 blue interior and a V3W white convertible top.



At the 2007 RM auction this car sold for a then record $2.2 million dollars. This blue beauty is equipped with the A21 front Elastomeric Bumper pkg, A34 Super Track Pack 4:10 geared Dana axle pkg, B51 Power Disc Brakes, C16 Center Console, and S77 Power Steering among other things.



I don't know where this picture might have been taken ... MCACN maybe? Wherever it is, 269588 is in good company as it looks like Dave Blake's EV2 and Tom Lembeck's GA4 (barely visible) and FE5 '71 HemiCuda convertibles are there with it.

Only 2 of the 7 HemiCuda convertibles built in 1971 for the U.S. market were equipped with a 4-speed - and interestingly enough both of them are GB5 True Blue with blue interiors. They look very similar, but there are a couple of notable differences. 269588 has a white top, an Elastomeric front bumper and a color-keyed grille; while 315367 has a black top, a chrome front bumper and an argent grille.



Burning lots of rubber, doing a lot of "shifting" and the I'm sure the occasional "drifting" when getting out of the grove!! In less than a year after taking delivery of this car right here in St Louis MO, the original owner sold it to Ohio racer Nick Masciarell. Nick turned the car into a SS/EA Super-Stock'er and raced it until mid-'73. At that point it was sold to West Virginia racers John Book and John Oliverio. Here the car is as Book and Oliverio's "Mountain Mopar" racing at Eldora Raceway in Fairmont West Virginia sometime in '73 or '74. At the end of '74 the car was retired and later sold to the Painter brothers. After it's racing days were over, the value of the car was recognized by Milt Robson. Milt bought it, restored it, and it was part of his collection for a very long time.



Now owned by mega-collectors The Brothers, this HemiCuda convertible's days of burning rubber, shifting and drifting are pretty much over. Now it has passed on to becoming more or less a beautiful show piece that belies it's past as a drag strip terror. Most recently this HemiCuda convertible was one of 27 in attendance for 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.



If you would like to see more of this "brilliant blue HemiCuda" ... check out The Brother's Muscle Car of the Week video about it here

[750-h2]

That was a great read!  Thanks for all the hard work you put in this thread!!

[RzeroB]

That was a great read!  Thanks for all the hard work you put in this thread!!

Not hard at all ... I actually find it fun! 

[RzeroB]

After a couple of HemiCuda 'verts we're going to take a step back and features some Hemi hardtops ... not that a hardtop is a "step back" ... but relative to the Hemi 'verts they might be just a little baby-step in that direction!

How about a blue on blue '70 HemiCuda? BS23R0B195023 is 1 of about 652 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 368 with an automatic. It is finished in EB5 True-Blue with V6X black "Hockey Stick" stripes, a V1X black vinyl top and a H6B5 blue vinyl interior.



Preserved original window sticker. Window stickers are interesting in that not only do they show what the car was ordered with, but also what it cost and where it was shipped to and sold. Here we can see that this HemiCuda was sold out of Lawrenceburg Indiana and came equipped with the A01 Light Group Package, A32 Super-Performance 4:10 geared Dana Axle Package, A62 Rallye Gauge Package, C16 Center Console, G11 Tinted Glass, G31/G33 chrome Sport Mirrors and a rockin' R22 AM Radio with 8-Track tape player among other things.



This blue beauty also has the broadcast sheet that shows all of the details that are not shown on the window sticker ... a very nicely equipped car indeed.



Beautiful H6B5 blue interior throughout adorns the inside of this HemiCuda. Out of all of the "colored" interiors available for these cars ... I probably like the blue the best.



The mighty pachyderm wedged between the fenders rests until called upon for another charging stampede! 



I LOVE this picture! Beautiful highly detailed close-up frontal picture! This is a great picture in the way it is lighted and composed! Great work by the photographer - whoever it was! I don't know who the lucky owner is ... or where this fish may be lurking now ... but this fish is a "keeper"!. I do know that the last recorded sale I could find for it was at Russo and Steele's 2011 Monterey auction where it hammer-sold for a very respectable $198K.

[JS29]

 

[JS23U]

I can share some additional pics of 173261. The first one is from 2003, the others from 2005. All are found somewhere in the net.

[RzeroB]

Awesome pics Jens!! Thank you for sharing them with us!! 

[JS29]

I do like the look of a pistol grip with out the console! 

[RzeroB]

While we are at it, we might as well post up the only other red on red 4 speed Hemi Challenger RT. Once again I have to credit Jens Kriete (aka JS23U) with helping me out with great pics and info on these specific cars. 

JS23R0B292777 is 1 of about 287 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 137 with a 4-speed. It is finished in FE5 Bright Red with V6X black longitudinal stripes and the equally bright red H6E4 interior.



From the well painted red fender tag we can see that this red rocket came equipped from the factory with the: A33 Track Pack 3:54 geared Dana Axle Pkg, C16 red center console, C62 Six-Way driver's seat, G34 red LH Sport Mirror, M91 chrome Luggage Rack on the trunk lid; and the R22 AM/8-Track radio tape player among other nice things.



Check out this interior pic! Red, red, red ... now that's an interior that the Red Rocker Sammy Hagar would just go ga-ga over!!



This Hemi Challenger RT was sold new out of Pasadena ... not California ... but Pasadena Texas. Not to say that this car never made it to California, because it did at one time reside in the San Francisco Bay Area for a while. They say all roads lead to home, and the same is true for this car because it has made it's way back home to Texas and now is part of the Bayway Collection of Darryl Wischnewsky (I believe I got that right??). Darryl is president of the Bayway Auto Group and proudly displays this Hemi Challenger RT at his Dodge dealership.





Great looking car in an uncommon color combination that looks good from any angle. If you would like to see more of this beauty you can always travel to Bayway Dodge in Houston Texas ... or you can bang it here to see it when it was featured in the July 1999 issue of Mopar Collector's Guide  http://moparcollectorsguide.com/onlinemags/members/allonline/1999/july99/index.php

[71REDCUDA]

Here is another 70 Hemi Challenger.. Been in Sweden for a long while. JS23R0B289786--EV2-D21-H6X9

[E74cuda]

I was wondering if the red on red JS23R0B292777 Challenger make it here. It was bought by Bill Gurevich (spelling of last name could be incorrect) some time in the 80's and driven to CA from TX. I think Bill sold and bought it a few times until Jerry Ketchum brought it to Sacramento CA. He had this Challenger and my hemicuda at the same time I believe. Jerry brought the Challenger to Dave Mortensen who restored it in the early 90's sometime. Great car!

[RzeroB]

I was wondering if the red on red JS23R0B292777 Challenger make it here. It was bought by Bill Gurevich (spelling of last name could be incorrect) some time in the 80's and driven to CA from TX. I think Bill sold and bought it a few times until Jerry Ketchum brought it to Sacramento CA. He had this Challenger and my hemicuda at the same time I believe. Jerry brought the Challenger to Dave Mortensen who restored it in the early 90's sometime. Great car!

Thanks for the info @E74cuda I lived in the North Highland neighborhood of Sacramento from early '83 through early '87 - four years. I SHOULD have known of these people ... or at least known of their cars ... but I don't think that I did. Makes me wonder what I was doing with my time while I lived there!! 

BTW ... we're still waiting for you to show us some pics of your HemiCuda!!