As Baby Boomers exit the collector car market, and at a time when performance EVs are reshaping the landscape, but 600-plus-horsepower late-model pony cars are still commonplace, will the hottest 1960s and ’70s American muscle cars dip from all-time high values? Or at least level off?
Coming in ninth of the top 10 most expensive cars sold at Mecum’s Monterey sale was this 1971 Plymouth ’Cuda convertible, which fetched $1.1 million (including fees). It managed to edge out a Monterey, California-appropriate 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS (one of the 1,308 Touring-spec cars, not a one-of-200 Lightweight)— once owned by the late actor Paul Walker, which sold for $1.072 million.
This would probably come as no surprise to muscle-era Mopar cognoscenti. A ’71 ’Cuda convertible with a 440 Six Pack, like this one, is like the Venus de Milo of B-bodies, second only to a ’71 Hemi ’Cuda convertible. (Speaking of top muscle car prices: One of those Hemi cars crossed the block at Mecum’s Indy sale in 2021 and the seller turned down a high bid of $4.8 million.) Plus, this particular example has a known history in Mopar circles as it was once part of Steven Juliano’s collection. Juliano died in 2018 after battling cancer and left behind an amazing 30-year stash of rare and unusual Mopars, Shelby Cobras, petroliana, and more. His treasure trove was auctioned at Mecum’s Indy sale in 2019 where this same ’Cuda convertible sold for $1.15 million. The car crossed the block again at Kissimmee in 2021 and sold for $962,500—a loss of $187,500. Earlier this year, it crossed the block yet again at Kissimmee where it bid up to $900,000, bringing us to the most recent sale, in Monterey, for $1.1 million. If you’re playing along at home, that’s $137,000 more than when it sold in 2021, but $55,000 less than what this car sold for in 2019.
To your average magazine editor, that kind of money would buy a few cars, a big 4K flat screen to put on the back wall of the garage, a nice stainless kegerator, and who knows what else. But on a percentage basis, those aren’t enormous swings—particularly for people with a lot of disposable income. Prices of everything have gone up sharply post pandemic and collector cars have been no exception. You’d assume, then, that this ’Cuda would’ve bid up even higher in 2022 than the $1.15 million it sold for in 2019. Perhaps it’s reached a plateau? Somehow we doubt it. Price guides show that these cars fell off a cliff after the 2008 financial crisis, but they have rebounded with interest since. (The sale of this car in 2019 contributed to that average.) This could probably be said about values of almost every popular, desirable American muscle car—a scary fall from their prior-to-2008 highs and a sharp rebound less than 10 years later.
This sale was interesting to us because there’s been a lot of talk about interest in 1960s and ’70s muscle cars waning, in light of record high prices paid for trucks and SUVs, Japanese imports, and, of course, Italian and German sports cars, plus all the never-before-seen performance levels of new and late-model vehicles—electric and internal combustion. But this ’Cuda’s two seven-figure sales in a three-year span, while hardly typical because the car is so unusual, shows that muscle cars have legs— especially at the upper reaches of the market, where the most desirable examples live. There might be some ups and downs in the short term, but anyone holding out for the day when big-block 1960s and ’70s icons are affordable, might have a little longer to wait.