Plymouth had an instant hit on their hands when they introduced the Duster compact fastback in 1970. And they sold an ample number of Duster 340s, too, a small-block muscle car. This 1973 edition advertises itself as one, but it’s a Gold Duster (a trim option) with a 318 CI engine that was once tweaked. It’s not a daily driver but could be one with some work. Located in Pahrump, Nevada, this project Mopar is available here on eBay for $10,900 OBO.
The 340 engine, which was rated at 275 hp before the detuning frenzy of the 1970s began, was in its last year in 1973. More than 15,700 of them went into Dusters, but like we said, this car was not one of them. The 318 in this Plymouth is said to be original and now has a 4-barrel carburetor which also meant an intake manifold change. And the car was built with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission but now has a Hurst 4-speed!
We suspect this Duster has been sitting a bit because it has a bad fuel cell but will run off an external gas can. It once had factory air conditioning, but all of the key plumbing is MIA. The car is said to have been a Gold Duster with a fold-down rear seat and a vinyl roof covering. A repaint from gold to yellow was done at some point and the 340 callouts added. There is some rust forming here and there but it doesn’t seem to be past the point of no return.
While new tires have been mounted at all four corners, the brakes and clutch may only be good enough for loading on a trailer. It steers but may be lacking a power steering pump for any serious turning. If you’re searching for a 1970s Duster to restore and don’t mind this one not being a real Duster 340, does this Mopar get your juices flowing?
It’s a reverse ↩️ sleeper Dixon 😲.
Nice to see your face again in the profile pic 📸 👍
Proof positive, it didn’t have to go fast, it just had that LOOK of going fast. While the 318, probably Chryslers most popular motor, it was never considered as a performance motor, and with 1/4 mile times of 16.4 at 84 mph, it was no Pro Stock, but the 4 speed adds plenty of fun, and it looks really cool.
Pahrump, NV.( cue spooky music) Art Bell, late night AM, kept me awake many times.
Oh, I forgot, anyone care to wager how that e brake handle got bent? I haven’t seen that in years! :) ( hint, aggressive clutch dumping, and those cars could take it)
Howard, so you dump the clutch & pull the e-brake so hard it bends, wouldn’t engine stall on a rear-wheel-drive car with a rear parking brake? I wouldn’t want to try something this abusive, I love muscle cars. I asked my boyfriend & he said this would work on a front wheel drive car with a rear parking brake
Well, kiss my grits…I mean kiss my Pahrump!
The 318 could be had in either two-barrel or four-barrel form from the factory, IIRC, so intake and exhaust upgrades would definitely help wake this car up. Boring the 318 out to 340 is definitely possible, and upgrades to the engine internals, such as a forged crank and hot cam as part of that process wouldn’t hurt either, LOL! Some judicious work on the stock heads or new aftermarket heads, with a new intake and exhaust would turn that 318 from a sleeper to a stunner!
Wrong engine, wrong year, wrong paint, trashed interior, equals $5000.00 car, but rust means this is even too high. $3000.00 car tops.
Also wrong Transmission and all A/C stuff is gone
Art.Bell used to keep me up all night back in the 80s and late 70s when I trucked around the west coast,. The good old days no cell phones, professional drivers , no electonic choking emission on the great old trucks. Makes me sad
Hi John, makes me sad too, but the salvation there is, we did it, and they can’t take those memories away.
I loved Art Bell, would you happen to remember the caller that said he was a Knight in the Royal Order of the De-clawed gerbil, I wish I could remember more about that one but it was probably 30 years ago that I heard it
What is the opposite of a sleeper? A car that has bigger, louder, call-outs than what it ACTUALLY has.
The Mustang II “King” Cobra is the champ.
Ratty but worthy.
I took a look because I saw the HBO series Duster.
No mention of the HBO show that’s bringing the Duster some national attention in 2025? The show is worth checking out and the title car definitely deserves top billing.
The TV show Duster was cancelled last week.
Steve R
Anybody else notice the gas spewing from the fuel filter during the run video?
When I first saw the small picture of this car in the email and noticed the stripes, I knew that it would say 340 on it.
I really hate when owners put decals on the car and doesn’t have the engine to back it up. Like shoving a cucumber down your pants.
It’s okay, for the record, modern buyers probably would have no idea what “340” is anyway. Besides, perhaps you have a short memory, but we used to go to junkyards, carefully remove those 454 scripts from junked wagons, and put them on our 6 cylinder Novas, :)
A quick trip to the machine shop will make the engine match its call-outs, as the 318 can be bored out to 340 without issues, AFAIK. A hot cam, a fresh intake, headers and a dual exhaust will wake this bad boy up in a hurry! I’d be tempted to drop a 727 Torque-Flite back into it, just for originality’s sake, but the bucket seats are a nice touch. Sourcing a factory console, if these had one, would also make things inside a little nicer. $10.9k is a bit steep given the condition, $6k is closer to what I think its worth. If a full restoration is in the cards, a repaint back to the original gold would be on my wish list, combined with a vinyl roof delete. Paint the roof white with the bottom half gold and call it good!
Just a side note, this was the first year with a new front clip, to accommodate the Federally-mandated front “Bash Beam” 5 mph bumpers! The rear wouldn’t get the big bumpers until 1974, but it looks like Chrysler changed the rear anyway, in anticipation of the hew rules. I like the taillights of the earlier 1970-72 cars better, but that’s que sera, sera!
Hesitated to change the subject to talk about the Art Bell show instead of the 73 Duster but I appreciate the come back and a few other people also remember the Good Old Days. God Bless You