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1963 Dodge Dart Found In Sweden

1969 Dodge Dart

From Kim L – I found out about this car when an older gentleman sadly passed away. He had a furniture business and always had great interest in cars. All the furniture was auctioned off after his passing. I went to the auction and while I was strolling through the property, I saw this car. Unfortunately it was not to be sold that day, but now two years later I found out that the car would be sold. Quickly, I called up the daughter of the elderly gentleman and bought it. The car is now in my possession, but I have not had a chance to inspect it closely. But the car has been parked for over 30 years in a barn and was surprisingly nice. This is not a common thing here in Sweden, where unfortunately everything has the ability to rust away. But this pearl has fared really well! The car is a Dodge Dart from 1963 with the inline six and manual transmission. I will send in more photos as I renovate the car.

I want to wish Kim good luck with his Mopar and I can’t wait to see his progress. Finding parts for it in Sweden might be a challenge and he may end up needing our help finding stuff for it, so if you happen to know of any good parts suppliers that ship internationally, please share!

Comments

  1. Avatar bowtiecarguy

    The big blank plate to the left of the speedometer is where the push button gear selector for the automatic transmission equipped models was located along with a lever type lock for park. A childhood friend’s family had a car like this with the slant six which was aptly named. Tom Magliozzi of Car Talk fame (dearly missed) had a black Dart convertible of this era he called “the Sleek Black Beauty.”

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    • Avatar MikeH

      Tom Magliozzi is dearly missed by me as well–I still listen to reruns. What a unique program. However, I think his “Sleek, Black, Beauty” was a ’65? Ambassador convertible, that Ray had hauled to the crusher.

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  2. Avatar Sam

    Isn’t it a 1963 model?

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    • Avatar Josh Staff

      Thanks for catching that Sam! I’m not sure why I typed in ’69 when I was writing the title, but I fixed it!
      Thanks Again,
      Josh

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      • Avatar Sam

        You’re very welcome. If I had a nickel for every typo of mine… This is a great site, and I enjoy it so much, thank you for your hard work in keeping fresh finds for all of us to enjoy.

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      • Avatar Ake

        You wrote in your comment at the end of Kims letter that parts will maybe be hard to find here in Sweden. Wrong! Most parts is easy to find if you know where to look or throu good contacs.
        My facebook group is about 1960 up to 1976 Mopar A-body cars. We help each other with parts, advice and so on. Mopar A-body Sweden.

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  3. Avatar Jose

    Had a beige ’63 two door HT Dart with automatic lever mounted on the dash. Loved that little car. Was rear-ended twice while driving to college evening classes. Don’t remember what happened to it, whether I traded it in as down payment, or sold it outright. In fact, it may have been totaled in one of those rear-enders. Just know I wish I had it now. It was a beautiful, great, economical little car.

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  4. Avatar Matthew Tritt

    Quite a remarkable find! It isn’t easy finding these in such great condition here in the US, let alone in Sweden. In case you aren’t already aware of it, the “slant-six” in the Dart has a reputation of being one of the best engines ever made by Detroit, and will go hundreds of thousands of miles if properly maintained. I’m sure you will already be planning on it, but be sure and flush ALL the fluids (including brakes) and get rid of the gas in the tank before attempting to even try turning the engine over. I would be surprised if the gas tank doesn’t have rust holes form sitting for so long but they can be fixed fairly easily. You probably should go ahead and replace all the brake parts now and save yourself from problems later. You might also see if anyone can do a power flush of the engine with kerosene. I would.

    Great car!

    Like 1
  5. Avatar Ed P

    The interior looks like new. That cannot be the way he found it. I would like to see more pictures when the exterior is cleaned up. Great find!! The slant six has a plastic gear on the distributor shaft. I would recommend keeping a spare. I’ve never seen one fail in service, but they can break if the distributor is removed or reinstalled. I think the gear is still available in the US. Visit the Allpar site for some assistance on any Mopar.

    Like 1
  6. Avatar grant

    This is cool! Really clean car. Can’t wait to see more, please send pictures of your progress.

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    • Avatar RickyM

      You took the words right out of my mouth Grant. Great car find !

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    Great find! As a veteran of a number of Darts of this model run, I can tell you that it will handle the snow in Sweden just fine. And yes, that slant 6 (the leaning tower of power) is practically indestructible. It’s Achilles heel is the distributor being placed so low…so avoid big puddles, otherwise you’ll flood the distributor.

    This is one of the best ’60s “compacts”…I’m sure I’ll own my 7th one some day. Best of luck with this car!
    Oh, and I really dig the uber-cool fender mirrors.

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  8. Avatar Dave

    What a cool find !!! and over in Sweden to boot !!! The interior is impressive, I’d go through the mechanicals and get her running and stopping good then drive her just the way it is !!! I had a 225 slant six in a ’72 charger when I was 15 you can’t kill those motors !! let me tell you there was many a night me and my buddies tried !!!! Nice find !!!

    Like 1

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