The pre-1967 Dodge Dart is unfairly overlooked in today’s collector car market. Competing with the Falcon, Nova, Valiant, Rambler, Studebaker, and others model-for-model, this Dart GT would be akin to something like a Falcon Sprint or a Nova SS. All those sporty compacts were overshadowed by the Mustang in 1965, but then and now, Mustangs were everywhere, and the Dart was a competent compact for those who didn’t want to see their mirror image in every driveway. This GT, brought to us by intrepid Barn Finder Curvette, is being offered for sale here on craigslist in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and its asking price of $30,000 Canadian dollars comes in at just under $22,000 US, not bad for a well-kept compact hot rod.
You might ask about the “hot rod” part: The Dart has the hottest engine option offered in 1965, the “Charger 273.” It’s the same engine offered in Plymouth Barracudas as the “Commando,” and it was a sweet-sounding small block. Car and Driver tested a ’65 Dart GT equipped, like this car, with the Charger 273 and a TorqueFlite 904, and their acceleration testing came up with these numbers: zero-to-sixty in 8.2 seconds, the quarter-mile in 16.9-seconds at 87 miles per hour. More importantly, the 273 four-barrel Darts and Barracudas had one of the best-sounding exhaust systems of the 1960s; almost every magazine commented on the sound.
This Dart has a front disc-brake conversion kit (10″ drums would have been stock) with an aftermarket brake booster (which is going to make driver’s side valve adjustments a chore, as 273s still had solid lifters). For good or for bad, the GT has power steering, which was one of Car and Driver’s complaints—it simply didn’t have any road feel.
The GT came with standard bucket seats (seen here in great shape) and a standard floor shifter. This car has the neat three-spoke “wood grain” steering wheel option and the padded dash that came standard in GT models (my 170 wagon has no pad, just a steel dash top). The carpet and underlay have been replaced.
The seller has clearly kept the Dart well-maintained; it has a new battery, new alternator, new four-barrel carburetor (it looks like an Edelbrock in the picture of the engine compartment), and new tires (P215/60R14 in front, P235/60R14 in the rear). It has new rear shocks, new exhaust system, a set of snazzy Chrysler rallye wheels, and an extra dash cluster. Why the cluster? As the owner of a ’65 Dart, I can tell you that having an extra set of gauges can come in handy. The instrument panel voltage regulator (IVR) is located in the fuel gauge on 1965 Darts, and if it sticks, it can burn out the fuel gauge. I personally have one good gauge out of three.
The seller doesn’t mention the color (I’d guess “Ruby Red”), but they do say that “the paint was freshened up a few years back,” and a new vinyl top was installed. Starting out its life in California and seemingly being used sparingly since, this might be one of the better 1965 Darts you’ll be able to buy for a while. If you’re in the lovely Pacific Northwest, or if you live in British Columbia, it might be worth checking out one of the best-kept secrets in Mopars.
This is one very nice looking Dart. I’ve already mentioned a friend of mine many years ago having a Dart with the 273, and they do indeed punch above their weight class. Very nice one here, thanks Aaron.
Oh man, here’s a sweetheart for ya’. My 2nd( ’63) and 3rd (’65) cars were Valiants, so I’ve always had a kindred attraction to Darts. It’s amazing how the car makers could take a car, use it as a base, and create a whole different car. Visually, you really couldn’t tell. It appealed to a different group than the Valiant. Someone really did a nice job, and must be tough to let it go. What’s cool, is whether a particular make appeals to you or not, if you are reading this, you know a nice car when you see it, and it’s right here. This is what folks in the future will want.
My first car was a 65 dodge dart with the 273, my dad paid 100 bucks for it and helped me paint it. He told me that was the only time he would buy me a car and the rest was on me!