Contemporary Automobile Gallery and Event Venue Where
"The Automobile Is The Art"

The Steering Column
Pretty in Pink…The 1970 AAR ‘Cuda

As rare public sightings go, catching a glimpse of an “authentic” 1970 Plymouth AAR ‘Cuda is wedged somewhere in between an Amur Leopard and Bigfoot. The AAR’s entire production run was a wafer thin 38 days in 1970, between March 10th and April 17th. That was it, just 38 days and it was all over! Has there ever been a passenger car in history with such a narrow production window and such a large fan base? Highly unlikely.
 
Reflecting on that period in history, it was a volcanic time in March and April of 1970. The Viet Nam War was raw chaos and conflict here and abroad. Most everything else was pushed off the front page by the breakup of The Beatles on April 10th of that year. It isn’t a stretch to assume that very few people were paying attention to 2,744 special AAR ‘Cudas being assembled at Chrysler’s Hamtramck, MI assembly plant over those 38 days. No one had so much as an inkling that this rarest of Pony cars would be so valuable and popular 51 years later.
Bucking the big block trend of the day, Plymouth went 180 degrees the other direction with a hot 340 cubic inch, small block engine in order to compete with the Mustang, Camaro, AMX and first cousin, the Dodge Challenger, in the SCCA Trans Am Series. A trio of 2-barrel carburetors transformed tame into a terror when perched atop a 340 creating the legendary Mopar Six-Pack. 
A menacing flat black hood, strobe striping and side exhaust make this an unmistakable Mopar. The AAR designation pays homage to Dan Gurney’s All American Racers, the team that campaigned the AAR ‘Cuda in the Trans Am series in 1970 only to have Chrysler abruptly cancel the program before the season ended due to budget cuts, a move that went over like a sucker punch to the solar plexus. 
Last week The Automobile Gallery & Event Center was tickled….pink….when our Moulin Rouge (known as Panther Pink in Dodge land) AAR ‘Cuda was honored to be part of a special 70’s Show Rerun display at the Iola Car Show in Iola, WI, a show whose roots date back to 1972 and is attended by more than 100,000 spectators annually.
  
Admittedly, Moulin Rouge may not be the manliest of colors but, when considering that it is 1 of 255 ever produced and 1 of only 37 still known to exist, it didn’t take me long to warm up to the color. The fact is, our AAR ‘Cuda would stand out even if it wasn’t alarmingly pink given its pedigree and provenance.
With 6 barrels gulping gas like a sunburned desert dweller sneaking up a gallon of water, great gas mileage was never a top priority for the AAR ‘Cuda. A top speed of 137 miles per hour seems like a fair trade to me. How ironic that we are getting so much mileage out of an AAR ‘Cuda all these years later at The Automobile Gallery. Pay us a visit and Drink in the Pink!

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Contemporary Automobile Gallery and Event Venue Where
"The Automobile is the Art"
Gallery open 9:00am - 3:00pm daily, hours subject to change.

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