Mopar Madness: Collecting Chrysler's Most Undervalued Muscle

The Mustang gets the magazine covers. The Camaro gets the television commercials. But ask any serious muscle car collector where the most undervalued hardware still lives and they will give you one answer: Mopar.

Chrysler's performance division produced some of the most technically advanced and visually dramatic muscle cars of the era, and they remain underpriced relative to their Ford and GM equivalents at nearly every level of the market. This is beginning to change — and collectors who recognize it are moving quickly.

The 426 Hemi engine is the clearest example of Mopar's engineering ambition. Street versions of this engine produced a factory-rated 425 horsepower, a figure that was widely understood to be conservatively stated. In actual testing, well-prepared Hemi-equipped cars ran quarter miles that embarrassed anything else on the street. The engine was expensive — adding $648 to the price of a 1970 'Cuda — and demanding to maintain, which is why relatively few were ordered and why survivors are so prized.

The 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible represents the apex of this story. With only 14 produced in 1970, it is one of the rarest American muscle cars in existence. When Barrett-Jackson sold a documented example in Scottsdale, the hammer fell at $2.2 million. That number shocked the mainstream automotive press. Mopar collectors were not surprised.

Below the headline cars, the opportunity is even more compelling. A numbers-matching 1969 Dodge Charger R/T with the 440 Magnum can still be acquired for $60,000 to $80,000 — a car with equivalent visual presence and mechanical drama to a Camaro SS that would cost 30 to 40 percent more. A 1970 Plymouth Barracuda in a desirable color with documented history sits at $40,000 to $60,000 in today's market.

The collectors who are paying attention are buying Mopar now. The collectors who are not paying attention will be paying more later.