Eleven 1971 Hemi 'Cuda convertibles were built, and one sold for $3.3 million at Mecum Kissimmee in January 2026. Twenty 1967 Corvette L88s were built, and the three offered at Mecum in 2025 and 2026 all went unsold at bids of $2.5 million to $2.7 million. Rarity gets a muscle car into the conversation. We think the engine, and how many people chase it, decides the price.
11 vs 503: 1971 Hemi 'Cuda convertibles built, 7 of them sold in the US (duPont Registry), against 503 1969 Dodge Charger Daytonas. The rarest car on this list is about 46 times rarer than the fifth.
$2,821,429 vs $1,394,859: CLASSIC.com's market benchmark for a 1971 Hemi 'Cuda convertible against a 1967 Corvette L88 (October 2026). About twice the money for a car with a little over half the production run.
$1,598,709 vs $350,779: a 1969 Charger Daytona with the 426 Hemi against one with the 440 (CLASSIC.com, October 2026). Same nose and wing, different engine.
$1,200 and 5%: ocean freight per car from our New Jersey warehouse to Southampton in 14-16 days, then 0% UK duty and an effective 5% import VAT for an original car that qualifies as a collectors' item (WCS rates table, October 20, 2026; HMRC).
$1,100 and 7%: New Jersey to Bremerhaven in 30-33 days, then 7% German import VAT on collectors' items of heading 9705 (WCS rates table; UStG section 12 and Annex 2, no. 54).
$2,250 and 0%: California to Melbourne in 33-36 days with asbestos testing included, then no Australian customs duty on a passenger vehicle 30 years or older (ABF Customs Notice 2022/34) and 10% GST on the landed value (ABF).
$1,350 and 5%: New Jersey to Jebel Ali in 65-70 days, then 5% UAE customs duty on the CIF value (WCS rates table; UAE government portal).
About $118,860: the $112,000 1970 Buick GSX sold on Bring a Trailer in February 2026, landed in the UK with $1,200 freight and 5% VAT on car plus freight, before UK destination charges. That is our arithmetic on the figures above.
Plymouth built 11 Hemi 'Cuda convertibles for 1971, and 7 were sold in the US (duPont Registry). Even Stellantis has not settled whether the total is 11 or 12. Each one paired the 426 Hemi, rated 425 hp, with an open top.
CLASSIC.com market benchmark: $2,821,429 (October 2026).
An automatic car sold for $3,300,000 at Mecum Kissimmee on January 17, 2026. One sold for $3.5 million at Mecum Seattle in June 2014, and a four-speed car first delivered to France stopped at a $4.8 million bid at Mecum Indy in May 2021 without selling.
Our view: this is the one car on the list where the count and the price agree. Hemi, convertible, one model year. It will not get any less rare.
Chevrolet built 20 L88 Corvettes for 1967. The 427 used a cast-iron block with aluminum heads and 12.5:1 compression, it was rated 430 hp, and a dash label asked for 103 research octane. The radio and heater were deleted to keep street buyers away (Corvette Action Center).
CLASSIC.com market benchmark: $1,394,859 (October 2026).
A coupe sold for $3.85 million at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in 2014. Since then: high bids of $2.7 million at Mecum Indy in May 2025 and Mecum Kissimmee in January 2026, and $2.5 million at Mecum Monterey in August 2026, none of them a sale.
Our view: sellers still price the L88 off the 2014 record, and buyers keep stopping well short of it. We would treat $3.85 million as history, not as a value. For where the L88 sits in Chevrolet's racing story, read our history of American muscle cars.
The ZL1 came through Chevrolet's COPO 9560 dealer order: 69 Camaros with an all-aluminum 427 rated 430 hp (RM Sotheby's). Period figures put 0-60 mph at 5.3 seconds and the quarter mile at 13.16 seconds at about 125 mph (SlashGear, citing Supercars.net).
CLASSIC.com market benchmark: $894,749 (October 2026).
One sold for $1,430,000 at Mecum Indy on May 16, 2026.
Our view: at this money the COPO paperwork is worth more than the paint. We would not bid on a ZL1 without it. The 1968 COPO story is in our piece on the rarest Camaro, the 1968 Z/28 convertible.
Dodge built 503 Charger Daytonas for 1969 to homologate the nose cone and rear wing for NASCAR, and 70 of them had the 426 Hemi. Buddy Baker drove one past 200 mph at Talladega on March 24, 1970, the first NASCAR driver to do it, and the Daytona won 6 NASCAR races across 1969 and 1970.
Hemi: CLASSIC.com market benchmark $1,598,709. One sold for $1,320,000 at Mecum Monterey on August 14, 2026.
440: benchmark $350,779. Sales of $550,000 at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale on January 24, 2026, $330,000 at Mecum Glendale on March 21, 2026, and $272,500 at GAA on July 25, 2026.
Our view: same nose, same wing, about 4.5 times the money for the Hemi. If the shape is what you want, the 440 car is the one we would buy.
Buick built 678 GSXs for 1970: 491 in Saturn Yellow and 187 in Apollo White. 400 had the Stage 1 455, rated 360 hp and 510 lb-ft, and the other 278 had the standard 455 at 350 hp (Street Muscle).
One sold for $112,000 on Bring a Trailer on February 22, 2026. A Stage 1 car stopped at a $46,000 high bid at Mecum Tulsa in June 2026 without selling. CLASSIC.com shows no benchmark for the GSX yet.
Our view: the GSX is the rarest car here that still trades like a driver, and it is the one we would put miles on.
| Car | Built | CLASSIC.com benchmark, Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 Hemi 'Cuda convertible | 11 | $2,821,429 |
| 1967 Corvette L88 | 20 | $1,394,859 |
| 1969 Camaro ZL1 | 69 | $894,749 |
| 1969 Charger Daytona Hemi | 70 | $1,598,709 |
| 1969 Charger Daytona 440 | 433 | $350,779 |
| 1970 Buick GSX | 678 | No benchmark; $112,000 sale, Feb 2026 |
Read the table top to bottom and the count does not line up with the money. 70 Hemi Daytonas benchmark above 20 L88s and 69 ZL1s. Our take: buyers pay for a Hemi and a race story first, and for scarcity second.
For more muscle car prices, see the most expensive muscle cars ever sold, our 7 rarest factory-built muscle cars, the golden age of muscle cars (1964-1973), what the 1970s oil crisis really killed and 70s cars and their values.
A car at this level goes in its own container: $1,200 from New Jersey to Southampton in 14-16 days, $1,100 to Bremerhaven in 30-33 days, $2,250 from California to Melbourne in 33-36 days (WCS rates table, October 2026). Air freight is there when a car has to make a concours date. Every car on this list is over 50 years old, so the UK, the EU and Australia can treat an original example under their collectors' rules, which our EU vs UK classic duty guide breaks down. Country rules are on our UK, Germany and Australia pages, and the Dutch market has its own muscle car import guide.
The 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible is the usual answer: 11 were built and 7 were sold in the US. Some counts say 12.
69, ordered through Chevrolet's COPO 9560 program, each with an all-aluminum 427 rated 430 hp.
70 of the 503 built. The rest had the 440. CLASSIC.com benchmarks the Hemi car at $1,598,709 and the 440 car at $350,779 (October 2026).
Not automatically. The 0% rate under Regulation (EU) 2026/1455 is granted by the customs office handling the import and is tied to proof of origin, which is usually available for new cars, not for a 55-year-old classic. An original car over 30 years old can instead enter as a collectors' item under heading 9705, which in Germany means 7% import VAT.
Won a Hemi 'Cuda at Kissimmee, or found a GSX at a sale abroad? We run our own warehouses in California, Florida and New Jersey, covering all of the US for imports and exports, and our own team loads every car and handles every document. We ship door to door by ocean or air. Check the price in our calculator, then talk to us.
It's your dream car. Let's bring her home.