[Les Quam]

Rich,
It was not my intention to broadcast negative information or try to bad mouth that 71 HEMI cuda in any way. I spoke with David from Legendary in regard to the possible purchase of the 1971 7000 mile sassy green HEMI cuda long before it went to auction and I was discussing the possible trade in with David of several of my muscle cars to have one premium car that being the 71 HEMI cuda. During the conversation David told me it did not have the original engine or trans which ended my interest in the 71 HEMI cuda as far as I was concerned in that car. I am in the minority in regard to original engines in a car. The vast majority of buyers could care less on a documented 7000 mile car like that 71 HEMI cuda whether it has the original engine or not.

In two different conversations with Galen on other cars I was interested in we discussed the 71 HEMI cuda in passing and he never mentioned that he had found the block for that car so until today I still believed it did not have the original engine. I also talked to David after the auction which is how I know the car sold a week later for 50K higher than it sold for at auction and told him I thought that was a lot of money for a car wothout the original block and he never mentioned the block had been reunited with the car. He probably assumed I knew since I was talking to him about asking Galen too fly up and look at another one of their cars. As far as I am concerned if Galen says it now has the original engine that is more than enough for me. The matter is closed.

Furthermore if it was my understanding that the car had the original engine when I was interested in it that car would be in my garage right now and for a lot less than it sold for at the Mecum auction.

In regard to the HEMI market both my 69 HEMI charger and my 70 HEMI Challenger are for sale and I am trying to discern fact from fiction in the HEMI market in terms of a sales price for a quick sale. Therefore I am trying to distinguish truth from rumors. This sassy Green 71 HEMI cuda is the only 71 HEMI cuda I have seen go that high and has been in fact reported in a market magazine as a world record. I have searched the internet and all the auctions for further million dollar 71 HEMI cuda sales and couldn't find any. I try not to rely on chat forums and dealers for accurate information on the market. Accurate information from the sale of private transactions is hard to come by and I am looking for reliable information on the current market.

As for me if I was throwing around million dollar checks on a muscle car I would buy a ZL-1 camaro over any HEMI cuda and it seems logical that if the sale of the 71 HEMI cuda at the Mecum auction represents the market and is not an aberration then Zl-1s shoulds sell in the same range as a 71 HEMI cuda.