Some pretty sweet stuff goes to the auction block courtesy of Mecum Auctions, and certainly the performance cars of old are the ones held in highest regard. More often than not, the auction is host to a wonderfully looked after slice of American muscle like the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda.
Yet another one is going up for bid next month, but what makes this one special is that it hasn’t been restored. It didn’t have to be. It only has 81 miles on it.
You read that right. That’s probably less than a weeks’ commute for most people, and yet this ‘Cuda, like a time machine, has leaped forward in time in almost its original dealership state.
In 1970, 62 year-old car enthusiast Bill Reardon ordered his dream car: a Tor Red Hemi ‘Cuda with a black interior, Shaker hood with tie downs, and a Torqueflite automatic transmission. He then went to work modding the car for drag strip performance, replacing the exhaust system, carburetors, and various parts of the suspension. Reardon and his kicked-up ‘Cuda reportedly spent that race season running around 30 passes at drag strips in the area, sometimes pushing into the 10-second range.
These would be the only times Reardon would enjoy his beloved Plymouth, however, as he passed away later that year. A short time later, his widow also passed, and the car was sold by his son to a collector, along with the original parts Reardon carefully kept locked away.
Marvin Dillion, the collector who acquired the car, then restored the car to its original configuration with its factory parts. The car at this point only had 42 miles on it, and through the years and various owners, the Plymouth only packed on another 39 miles.
Now, this time capsule of a car is set to hit the auction block as one of the lowest-mileage 1970 Hemi ‘Cudas in existence. Bidding is expected to be in the ballpark of $600,000 to $800,000 when it hits the block during Mecum’s event in Indianapolis this May. While ultimately tragic story, it at the very least resulted in a pristine piece of automotive history that future generations can now appreciate.
