Sassy Grass 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda Abandoned in the Desert Is a Sad Sight

Needless to say, most of them are mundane rigs that aren't worth restoring. However, some are rare gems that could be worth a small fortune in Concours-ready condition. Why isn't anyone rescuing them? Well, they're damaged beyond the point where a restoration is financially feasible. It's a sad thought, but that's how the cookie crumbles. The 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda you see here is one of those gems.

Documented by YouTube's "Shade Tree Vintage Auto," this third-generation Barracuda is rotting away in the desert somewhere in Nevada. It's been abandoned here for decades, and it's in terrible shape.

Not only is it missing the front clip and drivetrain, but its interior was also gutted. Parts of the seats and door panels are still in the cabin, but nearly everything is too far gone. Moreover, the steel body isn't doing great, either.

Sure, the shell is still in one piece at first glance, but the fenders and the roof are pretty rusty. The latter appears to have suffered the most from years of exposure to the elements, showing holes large enough to see inside the cabin. As our host puts it, there's not one solid panel on this car.

But the really terrible news here is that this 'Cuda is a rare classic. No, it's not one of those super scarce HEMI rigs, of which only 114 were built in 1971. It's not one of the 254 440 Six-Barrel gems sold that year, either. But it's a true-blue range-topping 'Cuda.

Plymouth sold 16,492 Barracudas in the US in 1971, but only 5,675 left the assembly line with the top-tier 'Cuda trim. This car was fitted with the entry-level 340-cubic-inch (5.6-liter) V8 engine, which narrows it down to one of 3,300 hardtops made.

The VIN says it was built with an automatic transmission, so we're actually looking at one of only 2,008 ordered with this particular combo. The fender tag also shows a lot of extra options, but it's impossible to obtain a more precise production number in the absence of accurate statistics.

On the flip side, we do know that the 'Cuda was sold as a factory Sassy Grass green car. And this detail alone makes it incredibly rare. That's because Sassy Grass was one of the least popular colors on the 1971 Barracuda, alongside Moulin Rouge. Again, accurate numbers are not available, but Mopar experts agree fewer than 1% of 1971 Barracudas were ordered in this hue.

If we do the math, that's less than 165 examples of the total production for the year and fewer than 20 units in this 340CI/automatic configuration. If we also factor in the black billboard vinyl and other options, this 'Cuda is most likely a one-of-one creation.

Unfortunately, this Mopar isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so it will spend its retirement years as a rust bucket. It's a sad fate for such a rare classic from the golden era, but it's also proof that we can't save all of them.