What are the chances of finding a rare muscle car from the golden era in a junkyard? Well, they’re pretty slim, but it can happen. And sometimes it’s more than one. This junkyard, hidden somewhere in Michigan, is home to a couple of E-body Mopars you don’t see very often.
Ryan Brutt of “Auto Archaeology” has been documenting this yard for quite a while now. The place is huge, and it’s packed with all sorts of vehicles from the 1960s and 1970s, including muscle cars. While most of these rigs are rather common, he also discovered a couple of rare gems of the Mopar variety.
The first one is a 1970 Plymouth AAR ‘Cuda. Developed for homologation purposes, the AAR ‘Cuda hit showrooms to enable Plymouth to race its then-new muscle car in the SCCA Trans-Am series. It hit the race tracks alongside its Dodge sibling, the Challenger T/A, to compete against the successful Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and Ford Mustang Boss 302.
The AAR ‘Cuda failed to win any races, and Plymouth finished last in the standings, but the venture spawned a unique muscle car. The production model emerged with various bespoke features, including a suitcase-sized hood scoop, side-exiting exhaust pipes, and a unique iteration of the 340-cubic-inch (5.6-liter) V8.
Topped by a trio of two-barrel carburetors (a feature borrowed from the 440 Six-Barrel), the small-block V8 delivered 290 horsepower (15 more than the regular four-barrel version). Although it wasn’t as powerful as the big-block ‘Cudas, the AAR was a nimble rig.
Plymouth sold only 2,724 AARs in 1970, and because the company retired from Trans-Am at the end of the year, the nameplate did not return for the 1971 model year. This forgotten example featured a four-speed manual gearbox, making it one of only 1,120 units fitted with this drivetrain setup.
Sadly, the muscle car is in really bad shape. Crashed and rolled over, the AAR ‘Cuda was saved from the scrapper by the owner of this junkyard. Unfortunately, he didn’t do much to preserve it, so the coupe is very rusty and missing quite a few components. It could be sourced for parts, but it would be very expensive to tackle a restoration with this shell.
The ‘Cuda is sitting next to an even rarer E-body. I’m talking about a 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T. And it’s not a run-of-the-mill R/T fitted with the ubiquitous 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) V8. This one left the factory with a 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) Six-Pack, rated at 390 horsepower. Dodge sold only 246 units with this mill and only 119 examples with an automatic transmission. This car is one of them,
The Challenger is in even worse shape than the AAR ‘Cuda. Destroyed in a fire, it’s just a pile of mangled and burned metal. But amazingly enough, the Shaker hood is still in solid condition. Still wearing the original Plum Crazy color, it’s one of only a few usable items. I’m pretty sure this Challenger is not worth restoring, but maybe a highly motivated enthusiast would be willing to tackle such a project.
What do you think? Should these E-body Mopars be restored or just parted out and sent to the crusher? Also, how much do you think they’re worth? I’ve seen some crazy stickers on derelict cars recently. Let me know in the comments.