As a muscle car enthusiast, it’s always thrilling when somebody tells you where a cool or rare car is sitting or rotting away. Hearing a lead like that can send shivers of excitement through your body and really gets your heart racing. In today’s times, many can only dream of finding a rare Mopar hidden away. While most think the days of finding that elusive Hemi or Six Pack car stashed away are long gone, stories of incredible finds from Mopar fanatics still pop up to this day and always amaze us!
We met Cole Quintin from Virginia a couple of years back when he uncovered and purchased a real deal ’70 AAR ‘Cuda sitting in a backyard. Cole and his family are die-hard car and Mopar enthusiasts and also own Quintin Motor Company, a father and son classic car dealership so they are always on the hunt for cool Mopars!
Recently, Cole shared with us a jaw dropping find that he was beyond excited to tell us about. He says, “Around 3 years ago, shortly after moving to Virginia, we met a fellow named Larry Strum at a local cruise-in. Knowing we were into Mopars, he told us about a real R-Code 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda he knew about that had been sitting in a climate controlled garage since 1973. Even better, it was his brother Tom that owned it.”
He continues to say, “Tom factory ordered the car from Hopewell Plymouth in Hopewell, Viriginia when he was around 19 years old. It was ordered in FY1 Lemon Twist Yellow paint with a black bucket seat interior and black hockey stick stripes. It was optioned with the body-colored 15×7″ steel wheels, the Rallye instrument cluster, power brakes, center console, AM radio, Rimblow steering wheel and of course the elephant 426 Hemi engine backed by an automatic transmission. He also ordered the A32 Super Performance Axle Package which included a 4:10 geared Dana 60.”
Larry continued to tell Cole that basically right out of the showroom, the brothers wasted no time terrorizing the streets in the ‘Cuda and raced it a whole bunch at a local drag strip called “Richmond Dragway”. Aside from a set of drag wheels and tires and some Hooker Headers, the car was stock.
Tom would race the car in the D/SA class and ran multiple events, even breaking a D/SA record. By this point in fall of 1970, they were absolutely hooked on racing. Later in 1971, Tom wanted to go faster so they pulled the engine and transmission and started with some racing upgrades.
The Shaker hood came off, and a fiberglass scooped hood took its place. They installed a pair of Super Stock leaf springs and race seats were added. The Hemi and transmission were built and upgraded to “Race Hemi Specs” and finished off with a Magnesium cross-ram intake, dual 770cfm carburetors and a race oil pan specially ordered from Sox & Martin.
With all of these well thought out changes, the car ran multiple 10-second 1/4 mile passes and gained a huge reputation on the street. The car was raced like that until late 1972 and the last VA state inspection was performed on October 30th, 1972. At that time, the car had 10,342 miles on it.
Shortly after that in 1973, Tom parked the car. He started to settle down and between work, having a family and other life responsibilities and obligations, the time flew by. He worked on the car when he could and had strong intentions to get it back on the road but sadly it never happened. About 25 years ago, Larry and Tom decided to pull the engine to give it a refresh in hopes of getting car back on road but didn’t get too far.
After telling Cole all about it, Larry explained that it wasn’t for sale and wasn’t going to be any time soon so they left it at that. Unfortunately, Tom’s dreams of driving his ‘Cuda again never came to fruition. Fast forwarding to January 2025, Tom tragically passed away at the age of 75 and left the car to his two kids, David and Kim. Discussions were had between the Strum family and Cole and his father Tim and a deal was made.
Cole explains, “We are very happy to say we are the new owners of this amazing piece of history. We have wonderful plans for this car. This ‘Cuda deserves to be seen and the story needs to be told. We will have this car back on the road shortly and we will be bringing it to all the best shows in 2026. We can’t wait to get this car going again and be a part of its history. It’s insane, as of today it only has 10,494 original miles on it. That’s only 152 miles more than it had in October 1972! Thankfully everything Tom and Larry removed off the car for racing they kept!”
He continues to tell us, “It’s 100% original paint and the history and documentation is next level. It still has its original sales invoice, warranty paperwork, window sticker, inspection tags and broadcast sheet as well as a ton of its drag racing history including time slips and receipts. On top of that, there are even old videos of the car at the drag stripe and many photos documenting it over the years. Huge thanks to the entire Strum family and everyone else that aided in us being able to make this deal work! It truly doesn’t get any better than this; this is the type of find I’ve always dreamt about.”
