Lucas Bell 
This past weekend saw Mecum Auctions’ Indy 2021 event come and go, which highlighted some seriously exciting American enthusiast vehicles. Earlier this week, we reported on one of the event’s headlining machines, the Big Oly Ford Bronco, and its record-setting hammer price of $1.87 million. And while we knew Big Oly would bring big money, expectations were set even higher for a particularly special 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertible. A genuine one-of-one muscle car, this Mopar was estimated to bring up to $6.5 million. Bidding stalled out at a mere $4.8 million however, which just wasn’t enough to get it done. That’s right folks, this seven-figure Hemi Cuda was a no-sale.
While $4.8 million is an obscene amount of money any way you look at it, the figure wasn’t able to meet the reserve price set in place by the current owner. Considering the muscle car carries an estimated value of at least $5.75 million, the hesitancy to yank to reserve does become a bit more understandable. Regardless, we’re sure that both the seller and the top bidder went home unhappy that evening. There has been no word from Mecum at this time regarding whether or not the owner plans to give it another go at the auction block down the road.
One-Of-One Plymouth Hemi Cuda
Before you sneer at the idea of spending that much cash on an old Mopar, it is important to understand just how special this car truly is. Only 12 Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertibles were built in 1971, and only three of them carried the A833 four-speed manual transmission like this car. This is also the only Hemi Cuda convertible to wear Winchester Gray paint. Furthermore, of the 12 cars, only five were slated to be exported to foreign markets. This particular example was sent to France straight off the assembly line, where it spent its entire life until 1993. Over its life, the car has only cruised 98,553 kilometers, or 61,237 miles for those Stateside. Perhaps most importantly however, the car is as original as they come, right down to the matching numbers 426 cubic-inch Elephant V8 engine.
The Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertible has been a coveted piece of metal for a while now, thanks to the incredibly low production numbers. While it would have been nice to see this car sell over the weekend with Mecum, we’re sure that it will eventually set the sales record it set out for. That is, assuming the owner is still interested in parting ways with the legend.
