When I was in high school, I had a buddy who owned a nice Dodge Dart. He seemed almost ashamed to drive it though. It was bright yellow and had a V8 under the hood, but he always felt like it wasn’t a real “muscle car”. His dad owned a bunch of hot cars, so that could explain his thought process. The rest of us would have been proud to own such a nice car. I suppose this 1975 Dart could be my second chance? The only problem is that now I am presented with the same dilemma my friend had. This car has a V8, but it’s an emissions choked 318. The air conditioning could be nice, but the mediocre power and automatic transmission would probably make this Swinger a real drag. It is clean though and is claimed to be all original with minimal rust. Luckily, it’s far away in Richmond, Kentucky. I couldn’t justify the expense to ship it over here, but if you are closer you may want to take a look here on eBay where the seller has it listed for an optimistic $6k with the option to bid.
“IT HAS NO RUST AND THE TRUNK PANELS AND BODY IS FREE OF RUST.”
What does he think all that bubbly looking stuff under the vinyl top is?
With a no rust statement I guess the surface rust in the trunk doesn’t count. And the chip in the 1/4 panel looks like rust through to me. And what is hiding under the vinyl where it is being pushed off?
I also wonder how a person can be a “third original owner”?
That “Third Original Owner ” statement must come from the same list as “New Rebuilt” is from. I see that one a lot too.
This looks like a good car but it is not as near perfect as the seller indicates. There is rust but it is very repairable now. The upholstery is nice but I see a seam that is pulling apart. What surprises me is dual exhaust on a 318 v8 !
The question of rust is immaterial. This is an ugly dog!
It’s no muscle car, but it could be fun! It is a factory air car which is a plus. Since it does have rust and the interior is starting to unravel why not remove the vinyl top, fix the rust and paint it in a sporty color. A 318/904 can be built easy for little money. The dual exhaust is an add on. This car came with a catalytic converter and single exhaust.
I think the seller is Mr Haney from Green Acres.
THIRD ORIGINAL OWNER.
1975 was not the best year for anything, but this is a pretty well-optioned little Dart….consider that it has $1,300 of options on a $3,600 base price. These things rusted like hell, so this one is not that bad; the worst of it is under the vinyl. The color is unusual too, most were some variant of green or brown.
In high school I had a 1975 Duster with a slant six that was a miserable pig, and I almost traded it for a ’75 Swinger with the 318, but my dad said no. Comparatively, the V8 car hauled ass. You can do a lot to open up a 318…dual pipes are already done here, who knows what else (headers? 4 bbl intake?)
Add a set of Magnum 500s or Rallye wheels and this would be a cool ride for cheap. You’re certainly not going to get much else Mopar for this kind of coin.
I bought a new 4 door Plymouth Valiant in 1972 equipped with a 318 V8, auto, ps/pb. It was supposed to have a lowered output of 150 hp and as a family man, I did not call for power that often, but I can assure you that it was there when needed. I appreciated some of its more modern touches like electronic ignition and an electronic voltage regulator. I owned it for 9 years.
This Dodge Dart has a lot of potential. I like the dual exhausts, hope someone will keep this one on the road.
We have to remember, 150 horsepower is SAE net which is a lot lower than gross horsepower which was around 230. True, it went down after 1970 because of lowering compression in the weaning towards unleaded gasoline, but if you were to measure it in gross, it shouldn’t be that much less. A 318 would whip this car around pretty well.