In 1996, there was a new cop in town, or rather on TV. Don Johnson starred in the eponymously named TV series, Nash Bridges along with Cheech Marin as Joe Dominguez. The series was your typical, everyday cop show with Bridges and Dominguez struggling with broken family life while trying to make the world a better place.

What made the show worth a watch was the hero car - a bright yellow 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertible, one of the most gorgeous muscle cars of the time to have come out from the Chrysler stable. The 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertible is a rare beast today, and even back then, it cost a bomb.

No cop could afford it, or should we say, no honest cop could afford it. To fit the car in, there was a whole backstory woven in the script, and even then, details about the car later showed it to be a little less than stellar. There were a total of four cars procured to play the role of a bright yellow hero car.

And all of these were not technically Hemi Cudas owing to the insanely rare nature of these icons. To give you an insight, there were just 12 Hemi 'Cudas made in 1971! So, the makers of the show did the next best thing, and converted Barracudas into Hemi 'Cudas!

Updated July 2022: We have updated this article with more interesting information about the iconic yellow 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda Convertible from Nash Bridges; and its current whereabouts.

Here’s what we know about the yellow 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible from Nash Bridges, and where it is now.

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The 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible Is An Elusive Beast

Hemi Cuda From Nash Bridges from Season 1, Episode 3
Via: IMCDb

First, there was the Plymouth Barracuda, which is not the same as a Hemi ‘Cuda. The Barracuda was a cool enough muscle car for its time, coming in 1964 but when the Ford Mustang arrived nipping at its heels, the latter surged up ahead in sales.

Later, Mopar and horsepower wars began to get crazy, and muscle cars began to get the craziest. The Mustang came in GT and Boss avatars while the Camaro went COPO, and even the Pontiac GTO Judge arrived. So what was a barracuda supposed to do? It went Hemi!

As in, Plymouth took a Barracuda and fit in the biggest engine it had. The cast-iron, longitudinally-mounted 7.0-liter Hemi V8 officially jetted 425 horses and 490 ft-lb of torque. To manage the heavy engine and the speed, the suspension and chassis were beefed up, and now the Hemi ‘Cuda could hit 60mph in 5.8 seconds and had a quarter-mile run of 14 seconds with top speeds of 155 mph.

In 1971, there were some aesthetic body updates to the Hemi ‘Cuda in the form of quad-circular headlamps, shark-gill fender vents, and a matte black shaker hood scoop.

In 2014, a 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertible was auctioned off for a whopping $3.5 million. Why? It all boils down to numbers. For 1971, there were only 374 ‘Cuda convertibles, and out of these only 12 were Hemi ‘Cudas. Rare and very, very pricey! So did Nash Bridges truly drive the real thing?

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The Nash Bridges Hemi ‘Cuda Had A Secret

Hemi Cuda From Nash Bridges from Season 1 Episode 4
Via: IMCDb

And the secret was, this was not a Hemi ‘Cuda. Don Johnson, the star of Nash Bridges was gravitating towards finalizing the Pontiac GTO Judge as the hero car but was convinced to let his ride be a 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible. The hero car was cast. But now, the hunt for the hero car was impossible, given the rarity of the vehicle.

So what was done was to arrange for three Barracudas, one was a 1970 5.5-liter shaker hood example, and the others were two 1970 5.2-liter Barracudas, none of them bearing a Hemi under the hood. Later, after the show had warmed up, another 7.2-liter ‘Cuda was also purchased, this one being a 1971 model.

All four cars were given the same treatment, all got shaker hoods and Hemi ‘Cuda badging and treatment. Initially, they were painted in a “Lemon Twist” yellow color but when the color seemed to fade under the camera lights, they were repainted in a deeper hue, called “Curious Yellow”. The cars were made by Frank Benetti, the owner of Same Day Paint and Body Shop in Newhall, LA, known for movie and TV vehicles.

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Current Whereabouts Of The Nash Bridges' Hemi Cudas

Hemi Cuda From Nash Bridges for sale on Topclassiccarsforsale.com
Via: Topclassiccarsforsale

All three of the Nash Bridges Hemi 'Cudas were sold off after the show ended, but Don Johnson retained the 5.5-liter version for himself, later getting it restored from the ground up. This car was later sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2014, for a little under $150,000.

Another car popped up for sale on eBay in 2012, although it's unclear if it managed to sell or not. Another one of them also reached the hammer at Barrett-Jackson, this one restored by Totally Auto with an actual Hemi V8 under the hood, sold way back in 2005.

Interestingly, the car that was auctioned at the Barret-Jackson auction in 2014 has popped up on Top Classic Cars For Sale for a whopping $500,000, and the car is said to be located in Indiana. All of Nash Bridges’ bright yellow but fake 1971 Hemi ‘Cudas have managed to survive the show and carry on being the fake cars that they are.

But then again, even if they do not truly carry a Hemi under the hood, they are still ‘Cudas and Barracudas at heart, and look good enough to make grown muscle car fans have a good weeping storm, fueled by envy.

Sources: Mecum, Barrett-Jackson, IMCDb, Topclassiccarsforsale