How Rare Is A 1970 AAR 'Cuda & How Much Is One Worth Today?

The 1970 AAR 'Cuda was a very rare machine. It was made only for the 1970 model year, with a total production of 2,724. The car's namesake was the AAR (All American Racing) Plymouth Barracudas that were campaigned by famed racer Dan Gurney's team in the SCCA-sanctioned Trans-Am series. This racing series pitted the hot-selling ponycars like Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, AMC Javelin, Dodge Challenger, and the AAR Plymouth 'Cuda against each other on road-racing tracks all around the country. Winning races sold cars, making the Trans-Am series a very serious competition event with major financial rewards for the manufacturers that took the wins. 

The AAR 'Cuda was powered by a 340 cubic-inch V8 with three two-barrel carburetors that produced 290 horsepower, one of the best engines ever put in a Mopar muscle car. Due to SCCA Trans-Am Series homologation requirements, at least 2,500 examples had to be built with the equipment that would be used on the race cars. You can tell an AAR 'Cuda by several distinguishing elements that enhanced its road-racing mission — its blacked-out functional fiberglass hood with cold-air intake and retaining pins to hold it on, wild strobe stripes running down the sides with AAR 'Cuda graphics at the rear, small 'eyebrow' spoilers under the ends of the front bumper, ducktail rear spoiler, an air cleaner emblazoned with a "340 SIX BARREL" sticker on top, and very distinctive dual side exhausts exiting just in front of the rear wheels. It was designed not for the drag strip but for going around corners faster.

The sales data for 1970 AAR 'Cudas, according to Classic.com, shows that six of these cars in original condition have been sold in the past year. Their selling prices have ranged from a low of $93,500 for an example with an automatic transmission and 70,000 miles to a high of $242,000 for an AAR 'Cuda with four-speed manual and 75,000 miles on the odometer. Based on these prices, the 1970 AAR 'Cuda may no longer be a classic Plymouth muscle car that is totally underappreciated.

Even though the 1970 AAR 'Cuda was built to compete on road racing tracks, it nevertheless could perform in a straight line when necessary. The AAR 'Cuda could go from 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds, 0-100 mph in 14.4 second, and post an identical time in the quarter mile of 14.4 seconds at 100 mph. 

Model year 1970 was the high point for both the Plymouth Barracuda and muscle cars in general. While combined Barracuda and 'Cuda sales hit their peak of 55,499 (here's the difference between these classic muscle cars), it was also the last glorious year before emissions controls would begin to strangle these high-performance beasts. Together with increased insurance costs and the 1973 energy crisis that unfolded a few years later, the public was now demanding high fuel economy and not high performance. The final Plymouth Barracuda rolled off the production line on April 1, 1974, marking the end of the 'Cuda era for good.