Nicolas Cage hemicuda

[Jay Bee]

   Welcome from Ontario    .  Ya know what they say, hindsight is 20/20.

[Chryco Psycho]

Welcome Mick , awesome car to own 

[jimynick]

Some of our younger members goggle at our not buying that 70 or 71 Hemi Ebody for $5 or 6000, but you've got to remember that those cars were $5500 to $6000 brand new back in the day and in '71, I was making $2.oo per hour or $80 per week before taxes and that was also when the gas crunch hit and you could 've bought those cars a hell of a lot cheaper , then!!Hindsight is always 20/20, eh? 

[micklan]

I remember when I tried to get a $4000 loan to buy the hemicuda, the banker who didn't know the difference between a slant 6 and the hemi, laughed at me. He said no loan because the car was just a 70 plymouth and only worth $1800 according to a value guide book he had. I had to send my Father down to the bank to convince the guy on what the car was worth. Back then you could buy a new car for just a little more money. This car I was trying to get a loan for was 8 years old in 1978. The banker finally gave me a loan provided we gave him collateral worth the same amount. I think my dad had to give him the title to his pickup until the loan was paid off. Muscle cars were plentiful back in the late 70's because of the gas price surge. No one wanted to pay $5 everyday to go back and forth to work when you were making $3.25 an hour. People were selling those cars that got 10 miles per gallon for cheap, and buying 4 cylinder cars.
I remember buying a running 426 Hemi engine with carbs and exhaust for $2000 because the owner of the hemicar it came out of wanted to put a 318 in it for better milage. I know it is hard to believe but it is true.
I used the hemicuda as a daily driver because it was the only car I had, and I really liked it. Gas was 65 cents per gallon for 98 octane premium and i only lived two blocks from work. When saturday night came around I always had a few friends who would chip in on the gas so we could street race the hemi. I took the 'hemicuda' emblems off the shaker hood scoop (because no one wanted to go up against it) and told people before the race that it had a 383 'with a 4 barrel' so i could get them to race. Back then any Camaro 350 owner 'knew' they coud beat a mopar 383. By the time I shifted out of 2nd gear they were 5 car lengths back.
The good old days.....I wish I had a time machine!
Mick   

[blown motor]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[440WB]

I too had the chance to buy a similar car in 1977 here in Michigan.
A co-worker had a friend selling his fathers  1970 Black Hemi 4speed 20k mi. no Rust.
They would not go less than $6k - at the time I told him he was nuts and way too high!
At the time I had a 69 GTO Conv worth half that price ( was my argument )
I too remember the loan thing... have went to a bank, also a credit union asking for $3k loan
( offering up Titles to 6 cars worth 10 - 12k ) both had said - Nope - we are not
in the auto business. 

[ledphoot]

Wow what a sweet Cuda.. I am getting an inferiority complex with my 340/4 speed '73...

There were two that got away from me back in the day.. a pristine 340 4 speed for $1500, I passed on it because I was able to get a '70 Cobra Torino for $1000 as my first car in 1985.. Not that it mattered either way, three years of abuse and neglect and the car was hammered.

I had a chance at a 440 6 pack charger and just didn't have any place to keep it while living in an apartment. Guy wanted $2000 for it in 1996. It was a rough survivor, complete, in-tact, all there, but in need of restoration work. I went back for it three years later when I got my house and the car was long gone.