Listing anything as the “first” usually causes trouble in the comments section, but a Dodge Dart brochure lists the Dart GT series as “America’s First Sports Compact”, and if you can’t believe a company’s marketing literature, I mean… Ok, so maybe it could be marketing hype, but it’s hard to deny this 1963 Dodge Dart GT Convertible is a nice little project car. Thanks to numskal for the tip!
The third-generation Dart was made from 1962 for the 1963 model year until the end of the 1966 model year and they came in a two-door and four-door sedan, a two-door hardtop, a two-door convertible, and a four-door wagon. The GT was the top trim level, but buyers could also choose the base 170 model or mid-level 270. The GT only came as a two-door hardtop or two-door convertible as seen here.
The seller didn’t move the car at all for the photos, but they tried to get a few angles, sadly, all in a vertical format other than the first photo. Whenever you see composite photos as shown here, you know it’s because a seller took vertical photos. Photo format notwithstanding, the seller says that this car has a rust-free body with solid floors and trunk! Those are the best words ever in my world. The seller says they have a new top that goes with the sale, plus many other new parts.
Fixing the cracked dashtop will hopefully not be an issue for the next owner, but it won’t be cheap unless they can somehow find a perfect one in a junkyard or on car-part.com. I just looked and there isn’t one, but JustDashes.com could do one. This car has a three-speed TorqueFlite transmission with push buttons on the dash left of the steering wheel. There’s new carpet included so the next owner will just have to redo the seats and door panels where needed, and that pesky dash top inside – and a few other details.
The engine is a slant-six, but the seller doesn’t say whether is the standard 170 or 225-cu.in. OHV version. The 225 was $50 extra and I’m assuming it’s a 225, which had 145 horsepower and 215 lb-ft of torque, and the seller says it runs great. Hagerty is at $6,200 for a #4 fair-condition car and the seller has this example posted here on craigslist in the Pittsburg/Antioch, California area and they’re asking $4,999. Here is the original listing. This looks like a really nice weekend project car, even with a slant-six. Thoughts?
Jane Hathaway drove red Dodge convertibles in “The Beverly Hillbillies”, although, I don’t recall her driving a Dart however. The Dart was a fancy Valiant, but had it’s own styling which made it unique. Priced at about $2500 new, about the same as a Valiant, but just a bit more class. This is the perfect car to restore. Ragtop, automatic, Slanty, it will appeal to a large group, anyone can drive it, and economical too. This is what future generations will want in a classic car. A 1927 Chrysler, not so much.
I can’t get the thumbs-up to work, but I gave you a click anyway, HoA! I agree.
Cybil Shepherd drove a Red 64 Dart convertible in her show back in the 1990’s. I immediately thought of the episode where her daughter takes the car and bangs it up, and has to have it repaired fast so as not to get caught. She thinks she has put one over on Cybil until Cybil asks why her Dart has the wrong year grille in it. This car in the ad has a 64 grille.
Well, all I can say for sure about this conv. is, it sports a 1964 grille. We had the ‘63 new & Mom always said it looked like an old man with no teeth, because it dipped in towards the radiator dramatically. Both grilles were very different. The ‘64 didn’t, & the ‘64 taillight lenses were vertical (at the final plane), where the ‘63s angled in, as to match the trunk line. I can’t see which taillight lenses these resemble…..
Thanks for catching that it does indeed have a ’64 grille, Jimmy and Gary C!
It says new top, in a box ? who ever replaced the top did a horrible job.
Let’s hope that the new top is still in the box and not on the car.
Also, let’s hope that the new tires haven’t been mounted yet.
All it needs is a 440 and a 4 speed.