Rare 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible Gets Record $4.8 Million Auction Bid, But It’s Not Enough

A rare 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible muscle car received a high bid of $4.8 million at the Mecum Auctions event in Indianapolis Friday night, but it wasn’t enough to seal the deal.

The car is just one of three like it that were built with a 426 Hemi V8 and four-speed manual transmission that year and was originally exported to a buyer in France.

One of  the other examples was auctioned at a Mecum event in 2014 for $3.5 million, which remains a record for the model and traditional muscle cars, but the $4.8 million offer wasn’t high enough to meet the seller’s reserve price on the car in Indianapolis, which had a pre-auction estimate up to $6.5 million.

Plymouth built a total of 11 or 12 ‘Cuda Convertibles with the 426 Hemi V8 in 1971, the others with automatic transmissions, but even the defunct brand’s current owner, Stellantis, isn’t exactly sure how many.

There were several multimillion-dollar sales of American cars in Indianapolis, however, that included a 1936 Duesenberg Model J Rollston Convertible Berline for $2,800,000, a 1967 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra Roadster for $2,800,000 and a 1930 Duesenberg Model SJ Rollston Convertible that for $2,970,000.