{"id":29400,"date":"2019-10-15T21:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T01:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=29400"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:57","slug":"the-phantasm-cuda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/heritage\/2019\/10\/the-phantasm-cuda.html","title":{"rendered":"The Phantasm \u2019Cuda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"1971<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Whether the film makes you cry out in fear or\nburst out in laughter, the creepy, corny cult classic Phantasm<\/em> is must-see horror flick for any Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> fan. Rudy Munis, a\ncreature feature connoisseur, grew up watching these 1970s made-for-drive-in\nspecials and found himself enamored with the star of the Phantasm<\/em> film, this triple black 440-6 barrel 1971 Plymouth \u2019Cuda! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While to it\u2019s core Phantasm<\/em> depicts a tale of brotherly bonding between protagonists Mike and Jody as they battle with an evil undertaker, the \u201971 six-pack \u2019Cuda steals the spotlight! Fat Cragar mags, old-school flush wheel flares, and look at that rake! The car exudes muscle and drips \u201cday-two\u201d nostalgia. With its iconic \u201970s street machine styling, the legendary Phantasm<\/em> \u2019Cuda has earned a notoriety that nearly supersedes the films themselves. The Phantasm<\/em> series received a total of five flicks so far, with each sequel becoming more and more cheesy, but each movie car \u2019Cuda becoming more and more badass! Growing up with his eyes glued to that murdered-out \u2019Cuda, Rudy knew someday he would build himself one just like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the Mopars at the Strip<\/em> event in Las Vegas where Rudy came across this perfect blank canvas candidate for the build. Despite an incomplete attempt at a \u201cCurious Yellow” paint job, the dark primer across this \u2019Cuda made his mind go straight to that iconic black out \u2019Cuda. After spotting a \u201cFor Sale\u201d sign, Rudy stopped dead in his tracks and turned to his friend to say, \u201cThat car could make the perfect Phantasm<\/em> tribute\u201d! Despite his friends egging him on, Rudy went home empty handed. The black and yellow \u201971 \u2019Cuda continued haunting his dreams well after the event, so after two long months of negotiations, he managed to wrangle himself a stellar deal on the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1971<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"vehicle<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unlike previous restorations Rudy has done, he\ndidn’t feel the need to restrict himself to NOS OEM only parts and pieces for\nhis Phantasm <\/em>build. This is a tribute\ncar based on a modified \u2019Cuda, so while he is keeping the car as screen\naccurate as possible, he is still given more freedom than a factory-styled\nrestoration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rudy had gone straight to work prepping the\n\u2019Cuda for its new role as a Phantasm <\/em>tribute\ncar when a good friend called him out of the blue to offer up an unbelievable\ndeal on a 426 HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> engine (hearing stories like this has me thinking I need to\nmake new friends). While the first Phantasm\n<\/em>film featured a triple carbureted 440-6 barrel \u2019Cuda with fat wheel flares,\nthe sequel showed a \u2019Cuda with the almighty 426 elephant engine. On that note,\nRudy quickly snatched up the engine and decided he would build the car into the\nHEMI engine-powered beast from the second film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"HEMI<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The real movie car wore a striking gloss black\npaint, and as any good body man knows, black paint requires laser straight\npanels and perfect prep. Rudy took the \u2019Cuda to Finer Details Restoration, where\nit was prepped for paint and shot in a coat of single stage black, staying true\nto its old-school style. Since Rudy plans to make this car a driver and not a\nshow pony, he added subframe connectors from US Car Tool to stiffen the chassis\nand undercoated her in a thick layer of rustproof paint. Staying streetable\nwhile still reaching for peak power, the Gen II HEMI engine was sent out to Mendez\nMotorsports, where they added some extra umph. On the dyno, the engine made an\nimpressive 525 horsepower and 472 lb.-ft. of torque! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1971<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, to the untrained eye, Rudy’s car may look\nlike your typical stock HEMI \u2019Cuda clone, true enthusiasts of both Mopar\nmuscle and this cult classic horror film will pick up on the subtle\ndistinctions of the Phantasm <\/em>car. The\nreal movie \u2019Cudas always wore fat Cragar Mags and Remington XT-120 tires. As\nyou can imagine, hunting down these correct vintage hot-rod parts was like\nsearching for a needle in a haystack! Additionally, the Phantasm<\/em> ‘Cuda wore\nincorrect emblems off a shaker car on its rally hood, as well as fat turned-down exhaust tips with the rear valance cut-outs filled in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1971<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rudy takes his involvement in the Mopar\ncommunity seriously, but he also finds a strong passion for the old-school\nhorror flicks he got hooked on as a kid. “As much as these modifications\nwill bother the purists, I want to build the closest replica that\u2019s ever been\ndone of a Phantasm <\/em> \u2019Cuda. Adding all\nof those other options and details would just make it another HEMI clone. Not\nthat there\u2019s anything wrong with that, but I want this as if it drove right off\nof the big screen.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since the beginning of this build, Rudy worked\ntirelessly to track down the original movie cast and even the film\u2019s producer,\nDon Coscarelli, so everyone could sign the \u2019Cuda\u2019s glovebox door. Pictured here\nis Rudy with Angus Scrimm, the actor known for portraying the terrifying \u201cTall Man\u201d of the Phantasm<\/em> films. Being a car-guy and \u2019Cuda fan aficionado himself,\nCoscarelli still stays in touch with Rudy to keep up to date on the car\u2019s\nprogress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the paint work finished up and the drivetrain complete, Rudy is down to just the final finishing touches on his Phantasm <\/em>\u2019Cuda. It won’t be long before you see this sinister \u201971 prowling through graveyards, solving mysteries and fighting off ominous undertakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1971<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the paint work finished up and the drivetrain complete, Rudy is down to just the final finishing touches on his Phantasm <\/em>\u2018Cuda. It won’t be long before you see this sinister ’71 prowling through graveyards, solving mysteries, and fighting off ominous undertakers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether the film makes you cry out in fear or burst out in laughter, the creepy, corny cult classic Phantasm is must-see horror flick for any Mopar\u00ae fan. Rudy Munis, a creature feature connoisseur, grew up watching these 1970s made-for-drive-in specials and found himself enamored with the star of the Phantasm film, this triple black 440-6 barrel 1971 Plymouth \u2019Cuda! While to it\u2019s core Phantasm depicts a tale of brotherly bonding between protagonists Mike and Jody as they battle with an evil undertaker, the \u201971 six-pack \u2019Cuda steals the spotlight! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":29457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2622],"tags":[2949,943],"class_list":["post-29400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage","tag-plymouth-classics","tag-restoration"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/feature-26.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29400"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29400"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29563,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29400\/revisions\/29563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}