1972 Dodge Demon 340 Clone: Ready to Roll

The Dodge Demon available here on ebay can be yours for something north of $22K, which is where the bidding sits with three days to go in the auction. It’ a 1972 living in Groveland, FL at the moment, offering a good excuse for those of you in nasty winter climates the chance to get some warmth as you go on a mini-vacation of car scouting.

What you’re going to find is the orangest orange car you’ve ever seen, accented with black body stripes, partial black-out on the hood, and a massive hood scoop. That is intended to draw air in to feed the 340-CID engine that lives under the hood. Should you be lucky enough to pilot the car, you’ll find a four-speed manual transmission with a pistol-grip shifter doing the gear changing. That engine is said to start right up and run excellent. But it’s not original. The as-born-with 318-CID engine puked a while ago and was replaced with the engine currently on board. That, btw, is said to be “period correct for the car,” and well it could be. Dodge offered a Demon 340 in 1972, a model described well here by Hemmings.

Obviously, whoever did that swap also made up the exterior package to match, given that there are Demon 340 badges on the body and other features as noted. What we don’t know is if this one’s been treated to the suspension upgrades it would have had if it were all original from the factory. The condition of the paint is said to be excellent condition for its age, but what age is that? There’s no history offered to help you answer the questions of the car’s provenance. This is partly mitigated by the seller’s statement that this car is decidedly of daily driver quality, not a show car at all. And aside from the age of the paint, I’d want to know what’s up with the aluminum radiator. On a Mustang, that means that the old three-row wasn’t keeping things cool anymore. The radiator swap is meant to remedy this. But that’s a finger pointing right at the need to diagnose the engine’s cooling issues properly. Mopar experts can offer their mechanical wisdom as to whether this is also true of Dodge and sister models.

The other thing to note is that despite the super-clean overall appearance, there’s said to be rust bubbling up on the passenger rocker panel. Other areas, including the trunk, are spotless, so as long as you take care of the rocker, you’d likely be good. But what’s the price point for a mostly original but still redone (probably not by the world’s greatest Mopar restorer, but rather a local shop—not that there’s anything wrong with that) car? And what’s correct and incorrect here that might affect the value, sharp-eyed Barn Finders? In the end, this seems like a worthwhile car. Now it’s just a matter of deciding how much to part with to park it in your garage based on questions of condition and correctness.