With the economy tanking and the Dow dropping 500 points per day you may be, like a lot of Americans, just a bit concerned about your retirement funds. May we suggest that instead of investing in gold, stocks, and your brother-in-law’s insurance company that you instead put your dollars into a 4-wheeled commodity like a ’71 ‘Cuda convertible with the underpinnings of a 2001 Viper?

We’re not investment professionals by any means, but we do know a sweet ride when we see one, and if we had the $200k asking price we’d jump on it yesterday.

This ‘Cuda is listed over at RK Motors, a classic car dealership known for only building and selling the finest of machines when a soft spot for Mopar muscle. It was built from a combination of a clean 318 powered ’71 ‘Cuda convertible and a wrecked 23,000 mile Dodge Viper.

The builder almost literally wrapped the ‘Cuda body around the Viper chassis and the suspension, brakes, wheels, V10, and 6-speed manual are all there. Custom floor pans and a few other doo-dads make the work seamless and complete.

It’d be hard to tell from the underneath shot that this is actually a ‘Cuda, not a Viper. Also, your eyes are not deceiving you, as the interior has litlerally been tranformed from a 5-seater to a 2-seater.

It seems like the perfect car, and inflation hedge, to us!