We all have that top-spot perfect project car. Very lucky few of us are lucky enough to get our hands on it and make something successful out of it. When you are able to get one, they are pure vaporware, unavailable, not for sale. When they do come up for sale and are attainable, your hands are tied. Sound familiar?

As much as I love my Imperial, and have enjoyed my oddball Chryslers, they aren’t the first choice I had for building a Mopar. That honor goes to a 1972-74 Plymouth ‘Cuda. Why that specific choice? Easy: I moved up to Washington State in 1993, and we had a neighbor that had a car I didn’t know at the time. I thought it was a 1970-73 Camaro…it had round taillights, a blacked-out tailpan and exhaust pipes coming through the bottom valance. It was jacked up in the back, sitting on big and bigger Cragars, and when I first heard it run I could’ve sworn that the Earth was shifting on it’s axis as it sucked in air through the two nostrils on that hood. That was the first time I could’ve given a crap less about getting a Camaro. I watched as the car went from a ’70s street machine to a somewhat restored, somewhat modified ‘Cuda in short order, and I got to ride in it once, when I was about fourteen…the guy took us down the road and whipped a few donuts in a random intersection. It was at least as fast as anything I had ridden in prior, and that list included a big-block Ramcharger, a couple of screamer Chevelles and a Comet that would J-turn on a dime.

This isn’t the car, but it’s close to what I remember of the one from back then.

I came close to buying one only once. A ’72 was sitting in a backyard in Southern Illinois, in the grass, not doing anything. I had watched the car for months, and was building up the bank to walk up to the door and make an offer that would guarantee the car’s sale if I decided to buy. The second I felt I had enough I took leave from the Army and came home…and discovered that the car was long gone, having been scrapped. Ever since then, I haven’t put forth the effort to try to get a ‘Cuda. A lot of it has to do with the fact that at my budget, there would be a TON of work to do. E-bodies were seriously susceptible to rust, and my bodywork skills are seriously lacking, let alone my inability to weld anything. That, and rolling shells selling for five figures drove me away for a bit.

Fast forward to yesterday. I’m chatting with Ron Ward over some finds he had located when somehow I mentioned a round-taillight ‘Cuda as my ultimate build.  Next thing I know, he sends me a link to a Craigslist ad that’s right next to my stepmother’s house in Illinois, a copper and black ’73 ‘Cuda, sitting on slot mags, with a price of $3500. I choke.

I don’t have $3500, there’s no way in hell I could get it. But dammit if it’s not a good choice. It’s a small block and an automatic, the patina looks great, and while I’m betting there’s some floor rust and probably quarter rust, it looks a lot better than some stuff I’ve seen for twice the price. He then follows up with this:

…a paint-ready ’73 for $5900. I’m speechless. Absolutely (deleted-family site!) speechless.

Isn’t it amazing that when I was ready to replace the Mirada that the best luck I had was either buying a sun-rotted 1980’s Dodge truck or the Imperial, but once the Imperial becomes decent that all of a sudden these two gems appear out of freaking nowhere. Once a lot of people get wind of these two they will be snapped up and who knows what will happen to them. E-bodies are still highly desirable in today’s older car market and there are a lot of both builders and restorers who would love to get their hands on one of these. The reboot of Gone in Sixty Seconds would consider this my “Eleanor”, the seemingly unobtainable dream. Ever have a similar thing happen to you? How’d things work out?

Click Here to see the Craigslist ad for the copper 1973 ‘Cuda

Click Here to see the Craigslist ad for the paint-ready  1973 ‘Cuda