Is an 8/72 car a 72 or 73? The car in question has 73 bumper guards and 73 side stripes. I always thought the color keyed grill was a 71-72 thing. Just because the brochure shows it doesn't mean it was available during production.

The color keyed grille was an option in 72, it had to be a "Cuda" and had to be one of the six specified colors, it appeared to state that no coding was required with G36 color keyed mirrors. These grilles came with an argent (not orange) accent loop. I own one..... it's a 1972, G36 FE5 coded 340 4spd V21 car. The original owner stressed to the 2nd owner that it came from the factory with a painted grille, and he relayed this to me . I also wondered if Ma Mopar may have pulled the plug on that option before production ended I have documented several color keyed grille 72 Cuda's, off the top of my head I think they went later than your build date.

Bob, I appreciate the loop clue. So the orange loop confirms that, even if mopar snuck out a color keyed grill on a cuda in 8/72, it was not this car as the loop was painted argent, not body color.

Good point - looking further I wonder if the color keyed grille was first intended to continue on for 73 but then killed off. Maybe a few snuck out early? The info for 72 can be found on Hamtramck-Historical but I don't see anything similar for 73. For 72 it looks like it was standard with certain paint colors.

https://hamtramck-historical.com/images/dealerships/1972PlymouthOrderingInfo/1972_page_61.jpg

I've got a copy of the 73 coding guide, and there is no mention of a color-keyed grill.