t just Plum Crazy....17,261 miles on the odometer.  This is the real McCoy, 4spd, Shaker Hood, Super Trak Pack, Hemi 'Cuda! Build Sheet, Galen Decode and Window Sticker included! This car drips with concours detail...courtesy of Rick Kreuziger (Resto Rick).  This is a fresher restoration than her six pack cousin.  Galen has also performed a visual inspection on this car.  It seems that Hemi's are coming out of the woodwork these days as prices continue to sky rocket.  The sad thing is most are poorly refurbished with questionable documentation and history.  It is safer to assume a numbers matching block is a re-stamp than an original, unless the car has a professional drag history.  In such cases, the original street Hemi is set aside for its bigger, badder brother, the King Kong RACE HEMI!  Then, low miles on the odometer are earned the hard way; 1320 feet at a time. 

This one has 17,261 miles on the odometer with no evidence of it being modified to race (things like welds and cuts from frame supports, roll cages, and the like).  The transmission and rear are factory originals; the Hemi is a non-stamped date code correct block with all the right concours correct pieces bolted to it.

Sorry, it is gone!

Many of you sat and watched this car over the summer, focusing on the excuses of no build sheet and non-original drive train.  This car was brought to the Fall Premier at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, IL.  There it ran as lot X2 selling at $267,750 after gavel tax was paid, $255k before it.  The man on the street who has been crying foul at Hemi prices climbing ever higher, may feel vindicated by this number.  However, immediately after the auction this one also changed hands privately for $317k.  

Collectors have been quietly trading the highly desirable, concours quality examples in the $275 to $325 range all summer.  Most Hemi cars no longer have their original engine that is the nature of the beast.  The phrase "Drive it like you stole it" was born in the muscle car era.  Hemi's were and are notoriously difficult to tune.  It only makes sense that a scalpel treated like a pair of safety scissors is likely to break.  Some dealers even refused to sell the Hemi models for fear of losing revenue on the service side due to chronic "warranty" work.

Even the pickiest collectors simply chalk up a non-original motor as a simple 5% - 10% reduction in the overall value of the car.  Consider the level of restoration and documentation of this vehicle.  Compare it to the cars selling for $225 - $250k that NEED restoration and $317k does not sound so bad.  You could not buy a car needing restoration today and have the car meet this condition for less than that.  Even if you could, you are looking at a 2 to 3 year wait amongst reputable shops. 

The idea that one can buy an original motor, all original body panel, fully documented car needing only minimal refurbishment for #3 money is akin to chasing unicorns.

In the end, this car sold for what the owner had priced it at a few months earlier, only he didn't get it at the auction.