Henry Rifle Forums

Yes this was a HUGE day for me and the new owners of my brother's 1970 Hemicuda...I got to do the first crank of the freshly rebuilt 426 Hemi and it took 54 years for it to sound off again! I had gotten a call from the new owner that the Cuda was all set for the first fire up the day before and set it up for Thursday and got a few of my friends who had been with the Cuda since my brother bought it back in July 1970.
Just awesome to hear it run again and a I am sure my brother was smiling down on us too!

They have some details to complete on the car to get it ready for a big car show coming up in March and it will be on the road to other big shows around the country. This is a one owner 1970 Hemicuda very well documented with all the paperwork and still in original condition the way we picked it up at the Plymouth dealer in July 1970. Has never been restored...a survivor car! Note that dent in rear bumper was placed there by two girls in a 1965 Fairlane that hit us while stopped waiting to pull out of Shoney's Drive Thru and that dent will stay there....1970 patina!

Video 1 with me cranking it up https://youtu.be/8HKGJ2nWv24?si=VPPiZLBmxTfideKO

Video 2 the second longer run https://youtu.be/hDpPbdNjWqw?si=ObrNj_oHfEZREuGe

Video 3 the idle sound of a stock 1970 Hemicuda and sounds great with the bass turned up! https://youtu.be/w7UOEhjLriY?si=oY9yHm32qS8iOjrq

I added the 3rd video showing the special sound of a Hemi at idle! You get the full sound with some bass cranked up!

Thanks for sharing that special time. That is a very nice cuda.

Always liked the lines of those cars, and they just exude power.
Glad you got to participate in that.

Sweeeeeeet!

That is Sweeeet!

Your late brother's Hemi reminds me of a drag race I participated in back in the late 70s at a (now defunct) local drag strip. It was the Friday Night 1/4 mile "street car" races. Your car had to have a full exhaust system, DOT rated tires and current tags 'n registration. I had a 72 Datsun 240 Z that I designed/installed a built 4 bolt 400 SBC, a hard shifting Turbo 400 w/a 3000 stahl convertor, and a custom early 70s Vette IRS system out back. I made it to the final run against a 1970 convertible Hemi Cuda with the "Drag Pack" option. He got me off the line, mostly due to the regular raised white letter BFG street tires and him running a pair of DOT rated cheater slicks. I caught him mid track and passed him. I took the 1st place trophy. Those were the days...

Beautiful forty. There was a day when we would have hated the painted steel wheels with a center hubcap. Now, looking at your brother’s former car they are perfect.

undy wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 8:09 am

Your late brother's Hemi reminds me of a drag race I participated in back in the late 70s at a (now defunct) local drag strip. It was the Friday Night 1/4 mile "street car" races. Your car had to have a full exhaust system, DOT rated tires and current tags 'n registration. I had a 72 Datsun 240 Z that I designed/installed a built 4 bolt 400 SBC, a hard shifting Turbo 400 w/a 3000 stahl convertor, and a custom early 70s Vette IRS system out back. I made it to the final run against a 1970 convertible Hemi Cuda with the "Drag Pack" option. He got me off the line, mostly due to the regular raised white letter BFG street tires and him running a pair of DOT rated cheater slicks. I caught him mid track and passed him. I took the 1st place trophy. Those were the days...

Now that was a cool sleeper project back in the day! Did that weigh about the same as a 350 V8 Vega? They were a popular combo back then and some Chevy dealers would sell them already setup.

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 9:16 am

Beautiful forty. There was a day when we would have hated the painted steel wheels with a center hubcap. Now, looking at your brother’s former car they are perfect.

Thanks! Yeah we ordered it with the plain wheels because wider rear tires and mag wheels soon followed as you see here.

Could be an episode of Graveyard cars.

Beautiful memories Forty!!

5shot wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 12:33 pm

Beautiful memories Forty!!

Thanks!

OUTSTANDING .... truly outstanding

fortyshooter wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 10:08 am

undy wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 8:09 am

Your late brother's Hemi reminds me of a drag race I participated in back in the late 70s at a (now defunct) local drag strip. It was the Friday Night 1/4 mile "street car" races. Your car had to have a full exhaust system, DOT rated tires and current tags 'n registration. I had a 72 Datsun 240 Z that I designed/installed a built 4 bolt 400 SBC, a hard shifting Turbo 400 w/a 3000 stahl convertor, and a custom early 70s Vette IRS system out back. I made it to the final run against a 1970 convertible Hemi Cuda with the "Drag Pack" option. He got me off the line, mostly due to the regular raised white letter BFG street tires and him running a pair of DOT rated cheater slicks. I caught him mid track and passed him. I took the 1st place trophy. Those were the days...

Now that was a cool sleeper project back in the day! Did that weigh about the same as a 350 V8 Vega? They were a popular combo back then and some Chevy dealers would sell them already setup.

I'm sure the weights were pretty close to each other.

Really nice that you were able to be involved. The sound of that engine is music to MY ears. I grew up in the 70s.

Thanks for all the videos and photos. I had a friend who had an old half beat up 58 Ford pickup with a 392 hemi in it . He gave a lot of folks a surprise when they wanted to race him.

I happened to get one of the videos on my regular YouTube feed this weekend. It was a very nice video and your smile seemed to say most of it.

fortyshooter wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 10:11 am

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 07, 2026 9:16 am

Beautiful forty. There was a day when we would have hated the painted steel wheels with a center hubcap. Now, looking at your brother’s former car they are perfect.

Thanks! Yeah we ordered it with the plain wheels because wider rear tires and mag wheels soon followed as you see here.

Mag wheels. That’s a term you don’t hear anymore. Now they are alloys. Wait don’t mags burn.