UPDATE 5/13/21: The car apparently didn’t sell after we covered it in October 2020, so the seller has relisted it for $1,500 less. The asking price is now $16,000. It’s available here on craigslist for $16,000. Still a sharp looking A-body, even if not a 340 edition. Thanks, Barn Finder Boot, for letting us know this car is still looking for a new home.
Chrysler was always leveling the field between its Plymouth and Dodge divisions. For example, when Plymouth introduced the Duster fastback in 1970, Dodge copied it the next year with the Demon. And when the Dart Swinger hardtop proved successful, Plymouth cloned it in 1971 and called it the Scamp. This Scamp Sport, from 1972, is a beautiful, low-mileage survivor that hasn’t been used in the past five years. It’s priced at $17,500 here on craigslist in Lisbon, Ohio. Ikey Heyman found another cool car for us to check out!
The Plymouth Scamp was a 2-door hardtop that mirrored the Dodge Dart Swinger between 1971-76. Unlike the Duster which aimed at a hipper, younger audience, the Scamp went after the conservative buyer who wanted the sporty look of a smaller car. The Scamp wasn’t intended to be the muscle car that the Duster could be, so you technically couldn’t get an engine any larger than the 318 cubic inch V-8, although rumor has it that a 340 or two might have found their way under the hoods of some Scamps. Over its six-year run, the Scamp changed very little, except for adjustments to grills and trim. Plymouth sold about 250,000 Scamps over its duration with about 50,000 for 1972, the year of the seller’s car.
This beautiful 1972 Plymouth Valiant Scamp Sport is finished in what appears to be Mist Green. It may be the car’s original paint in that the seller tells us it’s been in dry storage most of its life. Passed down from one family member to another, it supposedly hasn’t even been on the road since 2015. So, the paint is spotless and there is no evidence of rust in the photos supplied. I’m not a trim expert, but since this is a Sport model, I’m guessing that’s how this car got the matching vinyl top, rear stripe, Rallye wheels and twin hood scoops, giving it the looks of a 340. There is a build sheet that may sort out how the car was equipped from the factory, but I’m can’t blow it up well enough to make out the codes.
The interior, which also looks to be an upgrade, seems as nice as the interior. Yet, it has a bench seat where buckets would not be a surprise and the Torque-Flite automatic is column-shifted. The seller says that the engine is the 318 and it was bumped up in power with the addition of headers and glasspacks in the 1980s, but the original equipment was retained for the next owner.
This looks every bit a car with just 24,000 miles on it and shows little wear and tear after 48 years. If this was a Dart Swinger 340, combined with the condition of the car, that would make it a bargain at the asking price. But it’s not, it’s the Swinger’s twin brother with a more conservative drivetrain. So, the asking price seems a little rich, but then you don’t come across one of these in this shape every day.
This is a nice car! Again, lack of A/C will be a turn off for some, but I would drive this with “4/65 A/C” any day! GLWTS!! :-)
Mopar man… from one Mopar guy to another..It’s a sweet ride for sure. I could not drive with a 318 with the looks of the car. I know it has 24 thousand on it. But pull the engine drop a nice 340 or stroker 408 with 3:91 posi. Then beef up the 904. That would be fun ride. If AC is a issue. The aftermarket one would be easy to install or a shop can do it. Have a good day. 😄
A little Purple cam and a 340 intake used to go a long way !!
The AC unit on thie body series was pretty an add on from the factory.
I had a ’72 Swinger w/a “breathed on” 318 in it. It was nothing to look down your nose at.
That little thing would *move out*!
This is cool because the oddity of it.
No such thing as a Scamp sport ; its a Valiant Scamp . The vinyl roof was standard on Scamps and Swingers unless special ordered or if the car was sold in states where the high heat would bake the vinyl off . Its definitely a high line model with the 318 , wood grain interior with two tone seats , wheel arch moldings ,optional steering wheel and the light package . Really nice car , but at $17,000 you’re getting into Duster 340 price range
The color should be the very popular Amber Sherwood ; Mist Green is a 1973 color that is a very pale color , like a glow in the dark toy
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0409-318-engine-build/
400 hp bolt on 318 build
Great car. When I was a teen my Mom had a Butterscotch over black 71 Dart Swinger with a 318. That little car would scoot, deceptively fast. Caught many a Camaro, Firebird and Mustang off gaurd, even outran a couple of unsuspecting GTOs. Very fun to drive, definitely a sleeper.
A/C is an easy add on these, the factory air was an underdash unit anyway.
Great interior. This car deserves a closer look for sure, haven’t seen one this clean with a 318 in quite a while.
This is a survivor all right – it survived the kid who slapped the hood scoops, Bumblebee stripe, and white letter tires and Ralley wheels on his grandparent’s Scamp!
Of the items that you’ve identified as not original, I believe that only the Rallye Wheels and the white letter tires were available as factory options on the Scamp (the bumblebee stripe is definitely a Swinger-only item), and the ’71 centers on that set hint at those wheels having come from another car.
I have never in a million years heard of a Scamp Sport. Someone just painted a stripe across the trunk and added fake hoo scoops.
Its clean for sure however once again the mileage and old lady story is very questionable, notice the water pump has been replaced and grandma had headers installed so she could get to church expeditiously…
I’m no expert but I can’t believe it would leave the factory with paint/ chalk marks on the valve covers. Makes me wonder if it’s a replacement engine from a yard.
Old lady car or not this little coupe made for a quick ride and put many little Camaros and Mustangs to shame.Just for the fun of it a 4speed trans would top it off for the hard launches!
I owned, daily drove, stripped, and junked a bunch of this vintage Duster, Demon, Scamp, and Swinger back when they were clean used cars. I think our extended family had 6 in use at one time. The 318 will move one quite briskly but IMO the slant 6 version is more balanced and handles back roads fast driving better.
As DON says there was no such thing as a Scamp Sport. Somebody jazzed this car up with the stripe and hood scoops, and the “SPORT” emblems on the front fenders came from a 73-up Dart Sport. Also, in all my years of ownership, junkyarding and attending car shows I’ve never seen a Swinger or Scamp with factory installed rallye wheels so they were probably added too. The broadcast sheet would answer that question.
It’s a nice looking example of a Scamp but with all the tarting up I’d want some mileage verification before I’d believe true 25k miles.
No Jcs the factory-installed A/C was not an under dash unit. The air discharge outlets were under the center of the dash but there was a typical integrated evaporator core/heater core/blower motor housing with vacuum operated flaps behind the dash and bolted up to the firewall just like on B- and C-body cars. Heater hose connection and blower motor holes in the firewall were in different locations on an a/c-equipped car vs. a heater only car too..
I installed factory a/c in my 72 Gold Duster and well remember the aggravation of modifying the firewall to do that. Not having to cut holes in the dash for air outlets was nice though.
I have several A-body a/c systems pulled from junkyard cars years ago and one of them will go in my 72 Duster Twister. If my aging body holds up to all the twisting a turning under the dash…
I had those hood scoops for my 72 Scamp but never used them. Mine had the same interior except it was beige (car was gold with black vinyl top).
Mostly stock 318 with dual exhaust (A body chrome tips) and Cragar SS wheels. It was my first car. Unfortunately rust and a few bender fenders took care of the body. My father was like “when are going to get rid of that junk car”. To him they were just that!
Couldn’t understand my interest in old cars.
This car has been for sale for at least 3 years on Craigslist. It started out with an asking of $27 grand. It’s obviously cobbled together and would’ve been “better” just as a clean 318 Scamp. The seller has a line of BS on the car which is certainly why the car has not sold. Get real, list it for what it’s really worth, $10 grand IMO, and move it along.
Give it another 3 years and maybe it’ll be down to a reality price.
I like this car. I want it!