The redesigned 1970 Plymouth Barracuda and Dodge Challenger were supposed to take Mopar’s pony cars to a whole new level. Unfortunately, cheap interiors (rattly one-piece door panels, anyone?), added weight, and the availability of more bang for the buck in the 340-equipped A-bodies shuttled them to also-ran status by 1972. But people surely love them today–myself included. As a result, there are tons of mini E-bodies on the market, and this 1/18-scale version by Highway 61 is, in my opinion, the best.
I started out collecting 1/18-scale cars when I was in elementary school. My grandparents would get me one, usually by Bburago, every Christmas; I still have the Jaguar SS, Mercedes 500K and others from those days. By the mid-’90s I got into the American Muscle series by Ertl, who was first to do a 1/18-scale E-body. But when Highway 61 released their ‘cuda in about 2003, it quite simply blew the Ertls out of the water.
Highway 61 was one of the first companies to offer mint-quality models in a scale larger than 1/24 or 1/25. Their quality was very good, but it was the detail that amazed me. Check out the true-to-the-original trunk mat, mini spare (with aerosol inflation canister!) and jack. You can’t see it from this angle, but there are legible jacking instructions on the inside of the trunk lid!
With accurate hood hinges, accurate door hinges (no “dog leg” hinges like older diecast cars), felt carpeting, a driveshaft that turned with the rear wheels–they were truly amazing. The bucket seats slide back and forth, and also fold forward. The seat belts are made of cloth with metal buckles. Even the glove box opens!
The proportions are accurate as well. While I still like the Ertl ‘cuda and Challenger, their body shapes (particularly the Challenger’s) were just a bit off.
The first Highway 61 ‘cudas I got were the very first releases, in late 2003: a ’70 Hemi ‘cuda in Rallye Red with red interior, and a Plum Crazy AAR with black interior. My brother, who is even more into E-bodies than I am–his first car was a ’73 ‘cuda 340–had to get them for his own model collection.
Many, many color variations were released over the years, as were 1971 models. This Limelight ’70 440 was a limited-edition through Super Car Collectibles, and I got mine through my local hobby shop in Davenport. Not only was it a cool color, it also had a white interior! Of course I had to get it.
Most of the releases had the Shaker hood, and this is the only ‘cuda in my collection with the twin-scoop hood. It is nice- looking, in its own way. And by the way, this one came with tiny hood pins to hold the hood closed–you can just make out the holes in the posts at each corner of the hood. Since they’re quite easy to lose, I leave them in the trunk so they don’t get lost. Highway 61 thoughtfully provided several spares with each model.
The interior detail even includes a headliner and fold-down sun visors. Some of the other Highway 61 models, like the ’67 442, go even further, with opening center consoles! It’s amazing, the engineering that goes into these scale models.
Please tell me you can’t roll up the windows… the detail on these are amazing. Beautiful re-creation.
These are indeed a beautiful and faithful recreation.
These fascinate me. They (along with every other Mopar) were not tremendously popular when new, but have gone on to set the curve for high-priced (over) restored muscle cars.
Is it just their sexy looks? Or the fact that their superior performance has finally gotten the respect that they always deserved? Or a new generation who were never around them and never got to live with their often-horrid build quality and numerous fuel and electrical gremlins? I finally concluded that they are beautiful cars that, when restored, avoid most of the quality problems that were associated with them in their day.
To think – I could have bought scores of these for next to nothing around 1980 or so. But no – I had to fall in love with the C bodies. I guess that my conscience is clear – even though I was in many serial automotive relationships, I always married for love, not money. 🙂
“Is it just their sexy looks? Or the fact that their superior performance has finally gotten the respect that they always deserved? Or a new generation who were never around them and never got to live with their often-horrid build quality and numerous fuel and electrical gremlins?”
Yes.
In a review on the Pantera, someone once said that it was another car where the people on the outside were getting a much better deal than whoever was inside. That statement applies to the Chrysler E-body as well.
They were beautiful cars but looking at them is one thing. Actually owning, driving, and trying to keep them together is quite a different experience. The seating position was low and uncomfortable, and they drove like tanks. They were based on the intermediate B-body with all of the B-body flaws and none of the benefits. Worse, they were rushed into production and engineering and design suffered for it (those big, cheap, plastic interior door panels are a good example).
As to their performance, some rag once compared a bunch of Hemi cars, including a 1968 Hemi Road Runner and a 1970 Hemi Cuda. While the Road Runner was actually not too bad, overall, the Cuda was absolutely abysmal to drive, and a lot of this didn’t have so much to do with the characteristics of the engine, but of the cars themselves.
So, even if you were smart enough to avoid a Hemi when new and got something like the pictured 440-4v Cuda in the pictures (a one-year only offering), you’d still get the rest of the E-body foibles.
But at least you’d have a nice-looking car.
I love old Mopars as much as the next guy. My actual memories of driving them and riding in them are that they were floaty, rattly, gas hog land yachts. I didn’t steer my dad’s ’67 300 so much as ring the engine room to go hard to port, hard to starboard. Sure are pretty though.
I remember looking at the new 1970 E-body cars, and deciding that they were in fact heavier than my old A-body 383 Barracuda, and probably wouldn’t handle noticeably better. I will admit to really liking the looks of both the E-body variations though.
I think a major reason is price. When the E-bodies were new, they were on the pricey side even with the base engines, which didn’t perform as well as a Duster with the same engines due to the E-body’s weight. The desirable performance packages took the ‘Cuda and Challenger from “pricey” to plain “expensive” and were becoming difficult or impossible to insure.
Both of those factors changed when the E-bodies became used cars and collector’s items. Obviously, price still matters to collectors, but since a collector car is almost always a luxury item or an investment rather than a day-to-day necessity, it’s measured on a different scale. (Also, collector car insurance for a middle-aged collector is a very different matter than a 22-year-old college student or Army vet with no kids and a couple of speeding tickets.)
I think the E-bodies also attracted interest for a while because they were an alternative to the ubiquity of the Mustang and Camaro. Ubiquity can be a blessing in some respects (certainly, it’s much easier to repair or restore a Camaro or Mustang than most alternatives), but it can also be dull. I recall that for a while, you could get an E-body (a non-Hemi car, anyway) for something like reasonable money, when Camaro prices were already going through the roof. Of course, at this point Barracuda and Challenger prices are out of reach unless you’re Serious.
I love the 70/71 Mopar colours I’d like a Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge A body or 70 Coronet/Superbee.I’m one of the few 70 Coronet/Superbee fans out there.Mopar really shot themselves in the foot with the Demon/Duster taking all the sales from the E bodies.Ford made sure not to make the new Maverick a Mustang fighter
The way the whole Duster/Barracuda, Maverick/Mustang, Nova/Camaro thing played out has always been baffling. The second generation Nova had been available with a virtually identical drivetrain as the Camaro from the start (all the way up to the big-block 396) and, apparently, had no ill effect on Camaro sales, whatsoever.
This surely did not go unnoticed by Chrysler marketing so I have no doubt they figured that a Duster with nothing more than the high-winding 340 (i.e., no big-blocks) would have little or no impact on E-body sales. Boy, were they wrong.
Like GM with the Nova, my guess would be that Ford had originally intended for one of their hottest small-blocks ever built (the 351C) to be available in the Maverick, too, but once they saw what happened to the E-body from Duster sales, the Maverick performance option (Grabber, or whatever they were going to call it) was quickly downgraded to nothing more than a tape stripe package and the biggest engine available in the Maverick was limited to a weak 302-2v.
Of course, a lot of this could simply be attributed to the cars themselves. The Maverick and late sixties’ Nova 2-doors have always been kind of frumpy, with a strickly sedan look (upright side glass and framed doors).
OTOH, Chrysler’s stylists had done a much better job with the Duster. It was quite a bit sportier, with frameless doors and much more steeply raked side glass. In that regard, Ford had likely worried needlessly about a ‘hot’ Maverick stealing Mustang sales and simply gave that market away.
VERY Good points all.
Only quibble : “The Maverick and late sixties’ Nova 2-doors have always been kind of frumpy, with a strickly sedan look (upright side glass and framed doors).”
I know they both had curved glass, the tumble home on the Mavi was pretty extreme for an economy car.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that neither the Maverick nor the Nova had curved side glass. It’s just that neither had the extreme tumblehome of the Duster and there’s a good chance it’s the reason the Plymouth had to go with frameless doors. But by doing so, Chrysler’s stylists inadvertantly made the Duster close to being as ‘sporty’ as the E-bodies.
Up to that point, the Duster had the most extremely curved side glass ever used on a car.
I actually find the initial incarnation of the Maverick the least frumpy looking of the three. Once the sedan and battering rams were added things were different, of course. The Duster simply shows too much of it’s Valiant roots to look sportier than the other two.
I also recall that a lot of contemporary reviewers felt like the 1970-74 Barracuda and Challenger looked a great deal like the 1967-68 Camaro, which of course was then being supplanted by the swoopy, Italianate new model. So, while the E-bodies look sharp and muscular today, they were a little dated when they were introduced.
Although Chrysler had a penchant for copying prior year GM designs, they usually did a good job of modifying the styling enough to make them their own. A case in point would be the classic ’68-’70 Charger which, although it copied the ’66-’67 GM intermediate ‘tunnel back’ rear window, was an otherwise original design.
So it’s ironic that the 1970 E-body so closely resembled the ’67-’69 GM F-body because Chrysler’s original idea for the 1970 E-body was actually intended to look a whole lot more like the ’68-’69 Pontiac intermediates. Evidence of this is the 1967 Plymouth Barracuda Formula SX concept car. The story goes that when GM saw the Formula SX, they threatened legal action.
Evidently, GM didn’t have as much of an issue with Chrysler copying the Camaro instead of the Pontiac Tempest. Or maybe it was a case of Chrysler saying, “Okay,now we won’t even show you what we’re preparing for our next generation ponycar and, this time, it’s going to be as close of a copy as we can make it”.
I’m even more convinced industrial espionage was rife in the golden age of American cars!
Wow– I had no idea these little guys were so functional and accurate! If you don’t mind me asking…how much did these sell for? I could get into these but 90% of all my stuff is 1/24 – 1/25 scale.
BTW, the color combo is exactly how I would have ordered my ‘Cuda…..of course being born in ’71 made that a bit impossible.
When I bought them 7-10 years ago they were about $60 a pop. I must admit that many I purchased from Mel, the local hobby shop owner, were marked down to $45 or $50 🙂
Current ones are a lot more now, so much so that I haven’t gotten any new ones in several years. Plus, I’m running out of space…
Did anyone notice that the license plate said “GRNMCHN”, or “Green Machine”?
Yes.
This is a high quality model. Anything less than getting all the exterior dimensions and shapes just right really bugs me, and takes away the sense of being “taken in” by it. This one nails it.
Kewel awesome model yeah I dig the plate, Highway 61 is a 1% motorcycle outfit here so funny to see they make toy cars under that brand
The pics don’t do justice on these. I got a “first batch” Plum Crazy AAR when it came out and was amazed with all the details mentioned. I actually have a Ertl AAR from the early 90s in Lime green and it’s no comparison, even from a distance.
One of many cool things about the Highway 61s is the front fenders are separate pieces on several models and on the lightened superstock type cars they are made of plastic, while the “street” versions are made of metal, just like the real things! The hood on my AAR is plastic too, now that I think of it. That’s ridiculous attention to detail!
side by side
Amazing detailing. I’d imagine for the designers this would have been a labor of love to create.
Haha, Highway 61 is an outlaw gang here in NZ, but I’m pretty sure their main revenue stream isn’t car models lol!
FYI, the company is called Highway 61 because the company headquarters is (or was) based in Dubuque, Iowa. The real Highway 61 runs right through town.
The next time I’m in Iowa, I’ll have to revisit Hwy 61 and Dubuque.
A minor nitpick: Plum Crazy was actually a Dodge color. Plymouth called theirs “In-Violet.”
I actually have the Highway 61 1967 Olds 442, but mine is still in the box, so I never knew the console opened.
Humble thineselves ye mere mortals before the awesomeness that is Mopar.