Danbury Mint 1:24 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible

The Danbury lads finally entered the ‘Cuda fray and developed this incredible little entry. It’s a 1971 version and it refrains from yielding to the crazy color and adornment packages that so many 1:1 buyers perceived that they had to have back in the day. You’ve seen the big name auctions; these “Hemi” factory hot rods sell for rock star earnings. But we can’t lament and wish we could go back to 1971 to plop down the paltry sum, as we now look back at it, to purchase one of these future retirement investments, so thanks to the Danbury boys for having the foresight to grant us the better choice we might have purchased.

A little inside information; this model was replicated from an actual ’71 Hemi Cuda. The historical low-down on the car, as it readied for auction, laid out the rarity of its factual nature. Only 11 ’71 Hemi Cudas were made in convertible configuration and 7 of those were sold in the US market. Two were imported to Europe. This duplicates the car that was originally sent to the European market but found its way back to the states. It also boasts that it is one of only 8 automatic transmission cars with an original kilometer-marked speedo! Estimated value; $5,000,000.

DM not only did their due diligence in the exact replication of the actual car, but built into the model all the ‘techie’ stuff we collectors like to jaw about on the forums. We’ve come to expect a flawless paint job and, where appropriate, a seamless transition from paint to graphics. DM excels in this arena and it shows, never better, than on this lovely little offering. But the fit of each part, one to the other, the tight tolerance of boot and ‘up top’, doors, hood and trunk lid, all exceed our best desires. Then we have the not so usual, but always welcome, tech details. The innovative scissors springs hood hinges consistently make me smile. The internal door hinges, folding sun visors, removable spare and the cool little metal-foiled emblems, now clear-coated to stay in place, are all here.

A nice extra, this go-round, is the hood pin arrangement. More on that later. Awesome details are everywhere on the Sno-White and black Mopar. Stickers are accurately placed in the engine bay and inner trunk lid. The seat belt ends are faultlessly fashioned in photo-etched metal and the floor mats, door and console hardware is perfectly scaled. Check out the T shifter. The space-saving spare is properly labeled and so are the white-lettered tires; Good-Year Polyglas GT’s. The engine detail is simply DM-Magnificent! Every hose, wire and fuel line is masterfully recreated to exacting scale. And it follows down the exhaust system, past the correct yellow exhaust jackets and on to the factory marked rear differential housing.

Ok, the hood pin assembly. Over the years we have seen various methods of crafting these hood pins, tethers and pin posts. Obviously the coolest are those that work like the genuine article, that is, to have the realism of pulling out a scaled hood pin from the post and letting it dangle on its lanyard. Only problem is that adult fingers do not allow for refastening without much effort and magnification. Another recent idea was to fashion the pins in the post and attach the tethers to the underbody of the hood. Closed, it grants the proper illusion but once opened the hood displays the misconception. DM solves this dilemma to my full satisfaction on this ‘Cuda.

The hood pins are held in check by the wire lanyards and are positioned through the pin posts. But instead of pulling the pins, you pull the entire post assembly out of the hood. Then once the hood is closed you simply replace the post and it is held in check by a tiny magnet. Voila! Realism and ease of operation. DM continues to build valuable little treasures for us and each seem different in many ways each time we examine them. This is one new tooling that you will enjoy for years to come no matter what other new techie things may show up. It is the next car in the Classic Car Preview Society. Be sure to order now; you do not want to say later, Cuda, wuda, shuda.

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