Maybe the saddest M-Code Cuda you will ever come across

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jimharvard

JimHarvard
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because i have a collection of old Barracudas and one of the M-Code cars, i'm always looking at ads for these cars. whenever i come across a M-Code car being sold, i really get excited.

however, below are pictures of a M car that's for sale out of Cleveland, Ohio (USA) for $9000 that may be the most depressing car ad i've ever seen.

this car is not only a M-Code Cuda, it was one of those very LUCKY special production 440 Cudas (like the one i have) that ended up being cut up into a drag car. yep - another example of Plymouth's equivalent of a Yenko Camaro being cut up into a quarter-mile rocket.

But just cutting up an original M-Code coupe Cuda was apparently not satisfying enough for the original owner of this car. this guy decided to cut the top off the coupe and "graft" a fastback top on it! yes, i've never heard of anyone doing that to a 67-69 Barracuda either. and then, of course, once this "Frankenstein Cuda" was created, it was used as a drag-racer. LOL! you know, it's not like Chrysler didn't produce hundreds of thousands of coupes and fastback Barracudas between 1967 and 1969. i don't want to offend anyone here but i am really at a loss for words as to WHY anyone would go to all the trouble they did to cut up and ruin a very valuable 69 M-Code Cuda for no reason that i can possible understand. feast your eyes on these photos. and hey - maybe one of you guys out there will buy this "cuda freak" car and return it to being a stock coupe. at least it still has the correct M-Code VIN dash in it.

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Looking at the rear wheel well, in it's race trim, it is cut out to clear the monster slicks. In the latest pic of the car, looks like a normal wheel well opening. Possibly the car was back-halved after a wreck?? Do you know any other history on the car?

At any rate, I get what you are saying. However, it's not like someone recently found an original M code car and hacked the hell out of it. Looks like the original owner bought a factory race car in 1969 and used it for its intended purpose and used it well. Subsequent owners did the same, doing what they either had to or wanted to along the way to keep it alive.
 
Don't forget that that in '69 these were nothing more than factory dragrace cars. How many Hemi Darts & Cudas didn't get beat to death? I would think many if not most of these highly treasured cars didn't look much better than the one pictured before restoration.
 
Sadly, what's probably gonna happen is that some will "restore" it by jacking the VIN up.....and rolling an AZ rust free notch body under it. :( Not many people have the heart and dedication to fix one Like Jim fixed his M code.
 
oddly, the above "frankenstein" M-code is the second drag race m car i've seen in the last couple of months offered for sale. this one was on facebook marketplace out of Brandenberg, Kentucky and offered for $38,000. that probably isn't a bad price for a "ready to race" mopar. at least it still looks nice.

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Make it your car, then make it your way.

funny you should make that suggestion. i actually sent the owner of the above nice $38k race car a message asking if he would sell it just as a roller with all the "race stuff" removed - like i purchased the m car i have now. the owner apparently wasn't interested in doing that as i never got a response from him. the above blue car would be a good deal if you could get just the shell for $8-10k. if you figured another $10k into getting it back to "normal", you could probably have a finished and drivable car for around $28k if you did all the work yourself.
 
Looking at the rear wheel well, in it's race trim, it is cut out to clear the monster slicks. In the latest pic of the car, looks like a normal wheel well opening. Possibly the car was back-halved after a wreck?? Do you know any other history on the car?

At any rate, I get what you are saying. However, it's not like someone recently found an original M code car and hacked the hell out of it. Looks like the original owner bought a factory race car in 1969 and used it for its intended purpose and used it well. Subsequent owners did the same, doing what they either had to or wanted to along the way to keep it alive.
the idea that it may have been wrecked makes as much sense as anything. The only other thing I can think is that someone butchered it back-halving the car.
I think I remember seeing video of an m-code car wrecking at a dragstrip many years ago. I think it backed into a guardrail really hard, but I don't remember it being a race car(with decals and such) so it was probably a different one.
 
I dunno. I can see a back halved car but I also see that fastback window being good for traction lol
 
Buy the 38000 race car sell the race stuff off might be able to sell the stuff off to offset the build and have nothing in the car problem solve
Just ask around for someone to give you some for free. There are many people giving away perfectly good 7 1/4 rear ends on this site as well as www.slantsix.org. I'm sure you'll find at least one with large bolt pattern.
 
Too bad, it was a very rare car even when it was new.
Most people don't realize then when the car was new, it was considered the basis to start from to build a race car that fit into a class that Chrysler was aiming for.
Most of them were modified and raced right away, so it is incredibly hard to find one these day that isn't even a little modified and was untouched from day one.
This car obviously led a really hard life, but it carried the Mopar banner for many years.........
As much as I hate to say it, but the car will probably end up the victim of a number swap to a good body.
Most people aren't skilled or wealthy enough to perform such a ambitious restoration.
Then there's always the argument of when you do replace the majority of the sheet metal to restore the original body, how much of the actual car remains original any more?
Re-Bodying a car is illegal as far as I know, but it doesn't stop a lot of people from doing it..........
 
I wonder if the blocks to these cars are around and if the cars themselves are in the registry?
 
You would really be sad we have a 67 cuda formula s 4 speed car notch back we cut the hell out of. This car back in 1981 motor was in it a driver back then for 800.00 motor when in a dodge challenger 4 speed and shifter traded for a 3.91 chuck trade car to dad for a new set of et slotted mags and trans for the challenger dad cut the car up for a drag car I mean cut it up plexiglass windows he put a 440 in it painted it maroon it was a factory red car weigh with him in it 2565 lbs it was cut raced it for years then I race it now it's sitting in a field with alot of other old retire hotrods my older brother got still have the VIN fender tag and a tenn title but a real 67 notch back formula s 383 console 4 speed how rare is that we all done some crazy things back in the day but who cared about numbers then but we still have it
 
The car can be salvaged & brought back to it's former glory. It will be an expensive undertaking at the least. I have a friend who acquired an M code Dart from a friends widow after he passed away. The widow knew that my friend was the one to restore the car. When he went to pick the car up, it had a cobbled up back & front half under it that was barely safe enough to get it on the trailer. The original 440 block was still there but was in very sad shape, I took 3 sleeves to get it viable again. My friend took on the restoration but told the widow that is was going to be a long time before the car was even close to ready & it was going to be expensive. I went over on the weekends that I could to give him a hand & watched the transformation. After just over 4 years & untold amounts of cash, the car was back together in almost the shame shape it was when the original owner took possession of it. While this was going on, I was told who the original owner was & I had known him before he passed away & his car was sold to the guy who butchered it up. I now have pictures I had of the original owner & the car, pictures of when it was trailered to my friends, & pictures of it now in the widows hands. She takes it out on nice weekends to charity events for cancer research & it draws quite a crowd.
 
Best course of action for this car may be a “race car restoration”. Make it relatively nice with some new fiberglass body panels, a new coat of paint, a racecar interior, and return it to its former life campaigning on the strip.
 
The car can be salvaged & brought back to it's former glory. It will be an expensive undertaking at the least. I have a friend who acquired an M code Dart from a friends widow after he passed away. The widow knew that my friend was the one to restore the car. When he went to pick the car up, it had a cobbled up back & front half under it that was barely safe enough to get it on the trailer. The original 440 block was still there but was in very sad shape, I took 3 sleeves to get it viable again. My friend took on the restoration but told the widow that is was going to be a long time before the car was even close to ready & it was going to be expensive. I went over on the weekends that I could to give him a hand & watched the transformation. After just over 4 years & untold amounts of cash, the car was back together in almost the shame shape it was when the original owner took possession of it. While this was going on, I was told who the original owner was & I had known him before he passed away & his car was sold to the guy who butchered it up. I now have pictures I had of the original owner & the car, pictures of when it was trailered to my friends, & pictures of it now in the widows hands. She takes it out on nice weekends to charity events for cancer research & it draws quite a crowd.
Would you be inclined to post those pics?
 
The car can be salvaged & brought back to it's former glory. It will be an expensive undertaking at the least. I have a friend who acquired an M code Dart from a friends widow after he passed away. The widow knew that my friend was the one to restore the car. When he went to pick the car up, it had a cobbled up back & front half under it that was barely safe enough to get it on the trailer. The original 440 block was still there but was in very sad shape, I took 3 sleeves to get it viable again. My friend took on the restoration but told the widow that is was going to be a long time before the car was even close to ready & it was going to be expensive. I went over on the weekends that I could to give him a hand & watched the transformation. After just over 4 years & untold amounts of cash, the car was back together in almost the shame shape it was when the original owner took possession of it. While this was going on, I was told who the original owner was & I had known him before he passed away & his car was sold to the guy who butchered it up. I now have pictures I had of the original owner & the car, pictures of when it was trailered to my friends, & pictures of it now in the widows hands. She takes it out on nice weekends to charity events for cancer research & it draws quite a crowd.
Great story.
Before, during, and after pics would be great and an inspiration to us all!
 
All of the pictures from the original owner, when it were drug up & the finals were put in an album & given to the widow. She proudly displays it with the car & has put notations as to who all worked on the car to get it back to it's current state.
 
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Would be nice to even see it back as a Helmick Bros. car. Well known class racers and always had very nice cars. JMO.
 
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