SEPTEMBER 2019 47 The original buyer spared no expense to make this Hemi ’Cuda the king of his hill. Today the
interior remains original (even the carpet) and sports the rare black leather upholstery and a
Rallye dash. The car was also built with the prized thumbwheel radio and extension speakers
out back.
Starting later in the 1971 production year, if
you wanted steel wheels on your Hemi ’Cuda,
they came painted black instead of color-
matched to the body. Both cars have some interesting fender
tags. The Hemi ’Cuda has three tags sand-
wiched together—two that have the Plym-
outh’s multitude of option codes and one that
denotes the presence of the enlarged Hemi
fenders, made to fit the 15-inch wheels. For
some reason, the tags were laid on top of each
other when installed. The Shaker hoodscoop came with all
Hemi ’Cudas, which added more gusto
to the overall maniacal magnetism of
the Plymouth. This particular 426 was
pulled early in its life for a built-up Hemi,
but returned to the engine bay before
Steve Klein bought it. It has never been
rebuilt.