Found a Cuda!!

[BIRD67]

Okay, Friday I went to a new friends house and as he was showing me his Ford Explorer he wants me to help him fix I noticed a gray car port, so I went over to it and he followed, he then said to me "You'll like this!". Once it was fully unzipped I immediately know the car was a 1970-1974 Plymouth Barracuda. It was fully stripped, but it was a roller.. The paint looked like a mixture of seafoam green and gray primer. I went right to the rear of the car, it had an 8 3/4 rear so I started to get excited! There was no engine or transmission, but they are stored next to the car in a shed.. I then went to the dash, It still had the tag, but I couldn't remember all of the info, I do know however that the vin started as "BS23J". The decklid was missing, but inside the trunk there was a spoiler that looked like the AAR 'Cuda spoiler.. Apparently my friend is renting the house and the landlord is currently in Arizona, but she owns it, sort of. It turns out the man who lived there before was storing the car there and as long as he paid rent the car would stay there, but if he didn't pay rent then the landlord would presume ownership of the car.. I plan on going over there again, but in the meantime my buddy is going to try and get a picture of the VIN tag for me..

What does the "J" code mean? I presume that the car is a 'Cuda because of the 8 3/4 rear end.. I tried looking it up but I only got that it was the code for a '74 360..

[69bronzeT5]

Come on dude, you know we need pictures! For a Cuda....

J- 340-6 1970-71
   360-4 1974


For 1972-1974...no clue.

[BIRD67]

Wait, 340 Six Pack? HOly crap I think I found an AAR 'Cuda!!

[Blown70]

  BS23J..... = AAR.....she wanna sell it....

[BIRD67]

BS23J..... = AAR.....she wanna sell it....

As far as I know, the car isn't for sale (Go figure). But I wanna get into that shed and see what parts are there.. The car's floors and trunk are in mint shape but the rear quarters looked like they were replaced and a poor job was done..

[Blown70]

BS23J..... = AAR.....she wanna sell it....

As far as I know, the car isn't for sale (Go figure). But I wanna get into that shed and see what parts are there.. The car's floors and trunk are in mint shape but the rear quarters looked like they were replaced and a poor job was done..

I would give my family jewels for a TRUE AAR... They were my second fav car of all time.....69 Charger being first

[69bronzeT5]

Wait, 340 Six Pack? HOly crap I think I found an AAR 'Cuda!!

[BIRD67]

Next time I go over there I'll have a good look at the engine bay and see if the data tags are still there!

[69bronzeT5]

Next time I go over there I'll have a good look at the engine bay and see if the data tags are still there!

GET PICTURES PLEASE!

[The70RT]

I wouldn't get too excited. I don't think the car is abandoned. You know how stories can change from person to person. Who knows she may have meant she rented the carport for storage. Its gonna take a legal matter before she can sell it anyway. If someone goes down your alley and their car stalls and they push it in your yard you still can't just take it or sell it to anyone till you go through the proper channels....legally.The owner may be waiting to put it somewhere else and may come by anytime. I know if I was storing a car some where and went by to check on it and someone was nosing around it it wouldn't be a pretty site. 

[Blown70]

I wouldn't get too excited. I don't think the car is abandoned. You know how stories can change from person to person. Who knows she may have meant she rented the carport for storage. Its gonna take a legal matter before she can sell it anyway. If someone goes down your alley and their car stalls and they push it in your yard you still can't just take it or sell it to anyone till you go through the proper channels....legally.The owner may be waiting to put it somewhere else and may come by anytime. I know if I was storing a car some where and went by to check on it and someone was nosing around it it wouldn't be a pretty site. 

VERY true but a nice find, but not worth getting lead in your butt for....

[HPP]

Yup, could be a long document search/research or a legal battle before she could even sell it.

I recently talked to a guy who went through a similar issue. Property owner stored a car for a guy and he pays diligently for a year. Guy goes missing and quits paying rent. Several years and attempts to contact go by. Property owner assumed it is abandoned and starts restoration work on the car without starting lein paperwork. Former owner shows up sometime later and wants his car. Property owner says it was abondoned, car owners says it was not and he has title. Property owner refuses to surrender car. Sherrif shows up and reposses car and returns it to the previous owner. Property owner was out the restoration parts he had installed and labor he put into it with no recourse.

Moral ofhte story, start the paperwork, or insist on seeing it completed before buying.

[BIRD67]

Guys, I'm not interested in the car, nor did I say it was for sale. Oh by the way, the car did not have a Rallye instrument cluster.

[Blown70]

Guys, I'm not interested in the car, nor did I say it was for sale. Oh by the way, the car did not have a Rallye instrument cluster.

IT was I who asked about selling......blame, me....

[The70RT]

BS23J..... = AAR.....she wanna sell it....

As far as I know, the car isn't for sale (Go figure). But I wanna get into that shed and see what parts are there.. The car's floors and trunk are in mint shape but the rear quarters looked like they were replaced and a poor job was done..

Guys, I'm not interested in the car, nor did I say it was for sale. Oh by the way, the car did not have a Rallye instrument cluster.

Ok..........

[Finn]

...

[jb666]

BS23J..... = AAR.....she wanna sell it....

As far as I know, the car isn't for sale (Go figure). But I wanna get into that shed and see what parts are there.. The car's floors and trunk are in mint shape but the rear quarters looked like they were replaced and a poor job was done..

I would give my family jewels for a TRUE AAR... They were my second fav car of all time.....69 Charger being first

Realllllllly?  Bust out the bolt cutters.........

I have a buddy selling one.. But the motor's been swapped out.. EVERYTHING else is bone stock as it came from the factory. Shocks.. Exhaust.. Etc...

[Blown70]

BS23J..... = AAR.....she wanna sell it....

As far as I know, the car isn't for sale (Go figure). But I wanna get into that shed and see what parts are there.. The car's floors and trunk are in mint shape but the rear quarters looked like they were replaced and a poor job was done..

I would give my family jewels for a TRUE AAR... They were my second fav car of all time.....69 Charger being first

Realllllllly?  Bust out the bolt cutters.........

I have a buddy selling one.. But the motor's been swapped out.. EVERYTHING else is bone stock as it came from the factory. Shocks.. Exhaust.. Etc...

Where do I sign up....

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

 

[BIRD67]

UPDATE! I went over to the house yesterday and I got more info on the 'Cuda.. It has no fender tags but I saw some neat stuff.. It is a column shift, so it's a 3 speed auto, it has a Solid State AM radio and it had a vinyl top.. The VIN tag reads BS23JOB289417.. I decoded this a little bit and found out that it was built Tuesday, March 31, 1970. The color appears to be a metallic frost green and it looks like the interior was black, but I'm not sure.. The car has no rust in the floorpans or trunk and the underside looks very clean! Can anybody decode the vin to get more info, please?

[C_stripes]

Interesting. I didn't know you could get a build date off of the vin.

[Ghoste]

You can't.  What the VIN tag is actually telling you is that it is a Cuda (BS), two door hardtop (23), 340 Six Barrel (J) !, 1970 model year (0), from the Hamtramck assembly plant (B), and the sequence number is 289417.
An AAR could easily be have come with a column shift and many did.  The Rallye instrument cluster was an option so the standard guages don't mean much (my AAR had the standard guages).
Check for three screw holes on the inner fender as the TA cars had two tags as Cody's pic shows.  It should of course also have the fiberglass hood with the scoop and side exhaust with a rear 1/4 panel mounted antenna.  Also, the AAR grille will primarily be flat black where other Cudas would Argent Silver.  The AAR also lacks the red stripe in the center of other Cuda grilles as I recall.

[Skinypete]

Wow Dude! Awesome Find!    Hope it turns out good for you!

[69 OUR/TEA]

WOW!!!! I'll add to the list of hope it works out for you!!!!
 
As Ghoste said,absolutely correct info.My AAR is an auto on the column,NO rally gauge,vinyl top car.Another tell tail sign is look behind the rocker panels just in front of the rear tires  you should see hanger brackets for the side pipes,and not to mention it will have torque boxes, a plain rear valance,and 11'' rear drums.Also look for the road lamp switch that is supposd to be on the dash.Hope you score it.

[69bronzeT5]

How the hell did you get a scheduled production date out of the vin tag? No such thing dude....as far as I know, the scheduled production date is only on the fender tags which you state are missing.

[BIRD67]

Hey guys! The car is just a bare shell, but I saw the 3 holes for the tags on the inner fender and I saw the exhaust hangers! The car has a set of Rallye wheels on the rear and a nice set of slot mags on the front.. As for the build date, I got that off the AAR 'Cuda Registry, it showed that all cars that had the '289' in the VIN was March 31, 1970.. The spoiler and rear valance were sitting in the trunk, sans decklid and there was a box in the trunk full of various metal pieces such as clips and hinges.. Next time I go over, I'll get pictures and I'll search for more clues  

[The70RT]

Hey guys! The car is just a bare shell, but I saw the 3 holes for the tags on the inner fender and I saw the exhaust hangers! The car has a set of Rallye wheels on the rear and a nice set of slot mags on the front.. As for the build date, I got that off the AAR 'Cuda Registry, it showed that all cars that had the '289' in the VIN was March 31, 1970.. The spoiler and rear valance were sitting in the trunk, sans decklid and there was a box in the trunk full of various metal pieces such as clips and hinges.. Next time I go over, I'll get pictures and I'll search for more clues  

Why don't you see who owns it and buy it...if not what sense does this all make 

[69bronzeT5]

As for the build date, I got that off the AAR 'Cuda Registry, it showed that all cars that had the '289' in the VIN was March 31, 1970

Oh okay....

[Alaskan_TA]

The date is the SPD (scheduled production date) there is no way to know the actual build date. It varied up to three weeks for Hamtramck during the 1970 model year.

[moparstuart]

 we need picture 

[hemi-hampton]

Hey guys! The car is just a bare shell, but I saw the 3 holes for the tags on the inner fender and I saw the exhaust hangers! The car has a set of Rallye wheels on the rear and a nice set of slot mags on the front.. As for the build date, I got that off the AAR 'Cuda Registry, it showed that all cars that had the '289' in the VIN was March 31, 1970.. The spoiler and rear valance were sitting in the trunk, sans decklid and there was a box in the trunk full of various metal pieces such as clips and hinges.. Next time I go over, I'll get pictures and I'll search for more clues  

Why don't you see who owns it and buy it...if not what sense does this all make 

I was thinking the same thing, If it's not for sale & your not Interested in Buying whats the purpose of this post?

[69DodgeCharger]

Trolling for a value. $$$$$

[tripleblkr/t]

Even if you can't buy I love hearing about finds like this.  What are the chances you stumble on to an AAR cuda. Can't wait to see some pictures of it .

[The70RT]

Even if you can't buy I love hearing about finds like this.  What are the chances you stumble on to an AAR cuda. Can't wait to see some pictures of it .

We all like seeing pictures of these things, but just think if your car was caught up in a legal battle or something like that? Then now someone has been uncovering your car and posting pics on the internet....yeah not good   The post should be about contacting the property owner and seeing what the story is and maybe helping the guy that owns the car get his prize out of the lurches of some scalawag property owner. If he owes on the property or something like that and is gonna give it up then deal with the property owner and see about getting it through a legal channel not just trespassing and nosing around on the propety.

[tripleblkr/t]

I dont think the owner really cares all that much about the car, if it was mine it wouldnt be sitting at some rental property.

[The70RT]

I dont think the owner really cares all that much about the car, if it was mine it wouldnt be sitting at some rental property.

If it was held under a court order for some reason or such it would still be sitting there. We don't really know because proper channels have not been followed to get the real story.

[tripleblkr/t]

What I'm saying is when I moved out of the rental unit my car would be going with me or to actual storage unit where the new tenates could not go through it.

[tripleblkr/t]

I'm after a car right now that's kind of under similar circumstance. It was sold 5 years ago and the new owner never came and got it. Now the new owner owes 6k in storage fees and the previous owner wants it out of storage so he can stop paying for where it sits now. He gave the new owner plenty of chances to pick the car up and the new owner actually set times when he was going to be there last week to pick it up and pay for storage, but guess what he never showed. The old owner is now talking to a lawyer to see what he needs to do in order to get rid of it. He told me once all the legal work was taken car of I could have have it for what he's paid in storage.

[The70RT]

Who knows maybe the original owner is looking for it and doesn't know where it is at? Maybe an ex took it or something. Hell it could be stolen as far as we all know 

[69DodgeCharger]

I'm after a car right now that's kind of under similar circumstance. It was sold 5 years ago and the new owner never came and got it. Now the new owner owes 6k in storage fees and the previous owner wants it out of storage so he can stop paying for where it sits now. He gave the new owner plenty of chances to pick the car up and the new owner actually set times when he was going to be there last week to pick it up and pay for storage, but guess what he never showed. The old owner is now talking to a lawyer to see what he needs to do in order to get rid of it. He told me once all the legal work was taken car of I could have have it for what he's paid in storage.

I tried to get a '71 GTX 6 Pac car from some locals under similar circumstances. They went through the legal proceeding and obtained ownership of it. Life long drag car. last registered in '73 I believe. 38,900 original miles The new owners quickly found out what they had and the price jumped accordingly....And way out of my range I always wondered what happened to that car. Nikki's Toy it said on the side with white lettering, a few performance stickers. Red with black vinyl top, rubber bumpers, auto console car.

[BIRD67]

  Okay, it has been quite a long time since I spoke about this, but last week, I finally got to meet the owner! His name is Carrie and he is an absolute car nut! He has had the 'Cuda for 17 years and he bought it as a running, driving car. It was originally Ivy Green Metallic with a black bench seat interior and black vinyl top. The car has 50,000 miles on it and he has all the original parts to restore it. The reason it was sitting was that his sister is the landlord of the property and she was letting him store the car and parts there while he was getting things squared away in CA.. He was loading parts up onto the Uhaul truck so I offered to help and I worked with him from 2 pm until 10 at night.. He gave me a set of vintage Keystone Klassic wheels, a racing bicycle and a Sun Tachometer from 1970 in return for my work! He will be back later on this week, and I will be helping him load the 'Cuda and his 1 of 99 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T convertible, it is burnt orange with a burnt orange interior.. He also has a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am which is white with gold pinstripes and it has the Hurst-Hatch t-tops.. Finally, he has a 1969 Plymouth GTX Convertible which is also Burnt orange with a burnt orange interior.

Stay "tuned" , I will ask him if he minds me sharing pictures of his cars on here! 

[moparsons]

Sounds like a damn nice collection!!!