Sometimes in our lives, the pieces fall in place and find ourselves with an opportunity to have something special and unique. Even if it doesn’t start out that way, when the car Gods are aligned and the marketing Angels begin to sing, all is right with the world and you can find your car featured on a website, shared a few thousand times on Instragram, or, like Martin Ahlgrim’s Sublime Hemi ‘Cuda, you can find your car on a poster sent out all over the world helping to advertise BF Goodrich tires.

For Marty, the latter of those took place many moons ago, and started with a ‘Cuda that he picked up in January of 1987 – a former drag car, complete with two-tone paint and sponsor stickers. It wasn’t until years later, after a lot of hard work bringing the car back to original, that the Sublime Hemi ‘Cuda met its fate and got plastered on bedroom and garage walls.

When Marty first picked up the Cuda, it was not wearing the colors it wore when it left the factory – the correct FJ5 Sublime it wears today. It was an X- Super Stock D drag car, and although all the parts were there, Marty says it was in rough shape. He told us it had a fiberglass six-pack hood and a roll bar, and it had paint down the side. Marty was determined to change all that, and return the ‘Cuda to it’s glory days.

The only body modification that would stand in the way of returning this beast back to 100 percent original is the tubs in the back, which currently make room for a set of huge Mickey Thompson steamrollers. Marty has stated that he would leave the tubs if he were able to do a complete, professional rebuild. Who can blame him? We love the look of the big tires, it brings back that nostalgic look of the 1970s when real musclecars were identified by their stance.

When it was time to rebuild the engine on his quest to bring her back from the lowly strip that she spent many a weekends at, Marty had some help from Dick Landy Industries, where Mike Landy assembled the long block. Marty took it home and put the rest together and planted the elephant back between the frame rails.

The Hemi ‘Cuda is an origianl A833 16-spline 4-speed car, and other than a set of TTi headers, the engine is in stock form. Behind the factory transmission is a Dana 60 running a set of 4.56:1 gears, which helps with those tall meats int he back. He even has the space-saver spare in the trunk.

The Mickey Thompson rubber is wrapped around a set of Weld Pro Stars, with 15×7-inch up front, and a massive 15×14-inch wide in the rear. This setup gives the old Sublime girl a bit of a street monster appeal while pulling off the old school wheel and tire look.

Inside the ‘Cuda, the interior has been redone, to look like it did originally, and on the glovebox door is a set of signatures from important people in the Mopar community. Tom Hoover, Tom Coddington, Mike Buckel, and Dave Rockwell each laid down their autographs. If those names sound familiar, it’s because they were on the team of the original Ramchargers (remember High & Mighty?). You’ve seen Tom Coddington’s name lately on the “Crate” for the new Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Yep, same guy.

BF Goodrich Poster Car

Being at the right place at the right time was how Marty’s ‘Cuda ended up being the poster child for BF Goodrich tires. It just so happens that BF Goodrich was looking for a car for an upcoming ad campaign, and they reached out to Marty’s good friend Roland Osborne and asked if there were any Mopars in the community that could be a part of a photo shoot.

Roland mentioned a Sublime Hemi ‘Cuda that was part of their stable and the marketing company loved it, as did BF Goodrich. With one look at Marty’s car, it was settled that it would be a part of their next ad campaign.

If you compare a picture of Marty’s Hemi and the one in the poster, you might see a couple of changes made to the car. First, and most understandably, is the set of BF Goodrich tires mounted to a polished wheel with no markings to identify brand. Then take a gander at the front and rear bumpers, and they’re color-matched to the Plymouth’s bright Sublime paint.

Marty told us they did that intentionally to keep the focus on the tires, so that the rest of the car sort of blends into the background. Hey, it’s marketing, and they didn’t want people paying more attention to the car than they did the tires. Fat chance, most of us see the car, amiright?

That would be, from left to right, the Hemi ‘Cuda, “Sam Mallone’s” Corvette (Cheers), Dallas Raines, and the CPPA Dart.

Marty does drive the car and show it occasionally, but as you might guess it it a handful to drive. If you’re wondering if it sounds as mean as it looks, you betcha. The car sounds exactly like you would expect a dual quad Hemi to sound, there’s no mistaking it.

The ‘Cuda had definitely had it’s share of attention since BF Goodrich splashed it on a Sublime poster back in 1994. Marty has taken it to car shows to be a part of a display more than a few times, but tells us that lately it sees just a couple car shows a year.

He’s planning on giving it a little bit of TLC in the coming months and cleaning it up a bit to make it presentable. His whole intention of purchasing this car, originally, was to bring it back to original form, but these days – given its colorful past and high value – Marty says he doesn’t drive it much on the street.

He’s included the VIN tag so we can all see just what this car is all about, and he tells us that it was the number four in line for Canada, and one of only 21 produced with the 4-speed transmissions, all of which have been verified by Galen Govier. There’s a score of codes that fit the ‘desirable’ list, and that most definitely includes the 8-bbl elephant under the hood.

Marty’s car is just plain cool no matter how you slice it: Sublime paint, Hemi mill, pistol grip shifter on top of the A833 4-speed, and yeah… there was that poster thing. It just goes to show you that sometimes all you need is to be in the right place at the right time, and voila! You have a famous car that almost every Mopar fanatic has seen, or even hung on their wall.

We spent a little time with Marty and took dozens of photos of the car, next time we’re taking him hostage until he takes us down the road sitting in the passenger seat. You can check out the huge gallery below for details, and share with other Moparistas on Facebook.

As a side note, we want to reach out to our friend Roland Osborne, and ask that you all keep him in your prayers and thoughts as he goes through a difficult time. He and Marty are lifelong friends, and had Marty never met Roland – you might have seen something else on that poster.