Dodge had some interesting names for their Darts, possibly as the result of the 2 martini lunches popular at the time. Two-door hardtops were called “Swingers”, as in cool or hip. The Dodge version of the Plymouth Duster was going to be named the Beaver, but in a sober moment, they renamed it Dodge Demon instead. Thanks go out to Matt W for finding us this golden opportunity listed on eBay in Fargo, North Dakota. With 4 days left, bidding is at $5,500 with no reserve price. This cool little Swinger has a six-cylinder engine and an automatic with factory AC. It was sitting from 1978 until recently and is said to have only about 65,000 miles. Because it was driven for only 7 years, the mileage might be accurate but if that’s true the condition of the front seat would be a puzzle. The seller has had the engine rebuilt. It runs and drives great.
It’s hard to imagine how they could drive this with the seat like that. Perhaps the seat was ripped and then damaged further during its long nap. The rest of the interior looks really nice.
It could use a good detailing, but it looks tidy and original under the hood. The little slant six is showing signs of a rebuild in its shiny new paint. The engine is rated at 125 horsepower with just under a 200 CID.
The concave back window was a strange idea. It makes the C Pillar really thick and limits visibility. Also, rainwater seems to stick to the back window at highway speed making it hard to see behind you. Otherwise, these were a typical little point A to point B sedans. They were fairly quiet, drove OK and were reliable. This example looks to be in great shape all around. Bidders will decide what it’s really worth. I would consider buying a car like this as a second car. It will likely need some rubber bits replaced, the upholstery repaired as well as any mechanical issues resolved. It would be fun to dream of building a sleeper some day. I like original cars, but there are also some other great possibilities for fun here.
Why Chrysler ever replaced the 170 with the 198 is beyond me, why not just make them all 225s? Ya had to be a fool to not pay the extra 20 bucks to do that, nickel and diming your customers, cheap SOBs. Too bad a 2bbl 225 wasn’t offered in those years like Austrailia had, wonderful engines. Of course a 318 in those years was almost the same price.
I don’t know why they had a 198, and a 225, but the blocks of the 2 engines were the same, whereas the 170 and 225 had different blocks. Using the same block was a cost-saving measure.
It reminds me of my step-sister’s first car, albeit her’s was a couple or three years older. 225/Torqueflite, P/S, P/B and A/C. She still says it was one of the best cars she ever owned.
What’s the market value on one of these, today? My thinking is that for that kind of money, I’d rather have a V8 under the hood (and I love the ol’ Slant Six).
I think the term ‘Swinger’ was to attract the so-called ‘Youth Market’ (who are all geriatrics, now, myself included), meaning ‘hip’. I can’t speak regarding your other suggestion, David, but knew that those kinds of activities did go on, back then… ;-)
This model with a 340/four-speed is a quick little machine. I did some suspension tuning to a friend’s ’70 Swinger 340 back in the mid-1970s (can you say, ‘Pro-Touring..?” Sure, I knew you could.) and it turned out to be rapid around corners, as well as a straight line, and surprised a lot of people at the late-night races at ‘Mulholland International Raceway’, i.e. Mulholland Drive.
I sure do wish they had named it the Beaver! I coulda had a LOT of fun with that! The mind boggles.
“Ward, are you driving to work today?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Alright, but take the Ford. I want to drive the Beaver.”
Or what you would call it if you took the door handles and trim off of it………
My buddy’s last name is Beaver, he had two daughters. Poor girls.
I had a 74 w/ the 225. Gutless engine on the highway, at least when accelerating. It also had a worn driver’s seat. Seems the springs gave out rather quickly.Passenger and rear seat were near pristine. Oil pump gave out on the highway and a bearing spun.
Many 1974’s barely ran. Strict smog regulations had kicked in, but catalytic converters didn’t show up until the ’75 models which ran better. I had a ’74 of this car with a 318 and it was not lively at all.
Looks like a nice car, but definitely needs a 340 transplant.
I don’t know how you guys are getting away with all of the beaver comments. Anything remotely risque that I post always gets deleted.
When I married my wife (in 1974) her parents gave us a quite well used one of these, seems to be nearly exactly like this one, color and all. It was so very MoPar; everything worked, just loosely. Sloppy door closing sound, very noisy slant six engine, (and that starter sound, oh lord!) transmission that slid from one gear to the next, some dash knobs worked hard, some moved with next to no effort. Everything was loosee-goosie. I thought it was at the end of it’s life. We sold it at a bargain price to a friend. Two weeks later I hear that they are traveling in Kansas (from Ohio). I thought they were nuts. They must have driven that thing for another five or more years after that. I couldn’t believe it.
That’s one of the most perfect descriptions of living with a MoPar I’ve ever read. Thank you.
All Mopars of that era had noisy starters. That’s just how they were. On practically all crime/private eye TV shows of the Seventies, they used the Mopar starter sound effect for nearly all cars, regardless of make. Listen for it the next time you watch The Rockford Files, for example. Except for Jim’s Firebird and Rocky’s Sierra, nearly all car starters sound like Mopars, even the Ford LTDs and Chevy Caprices.
At the recent Mopars at the Strip, I saw a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger that had a modern 5.7-liter Hemi installed. It’s the ultimate sleeper although this car has a bit of a giveaway with the lowered Hotchkis sport suspension. It was built by Absolute Performance in Sandy, Utah.
Maybe with all the early 2005-2008 LX cars now inhabiting junkyards, a 5.7-liter Hemi transplant might make even more sense than a 340.
I saw modern Hemis installed in a wide variety of Mopars. Will the Gen-Three Hemi be the small-block Chevy for Mopar enthusiasts?
Re these $200.00 cars really worth that much now in this condition?
Full disclosure, I have 2 of these, one four door and one two door.
I wonder if Mexican market Darts of that vintage would be road-legal in the USA?
If they can, you might have a business opportunity, there, Miguel – stranger things have happened in this hobby.
The trick would be to find some cars with no rust. That would be difficult as rust was a factory option on these cars.
I think the Super Bees would do well in the US. The Super Bee in Mexico was based on a Plymouth Duster.
The 225 slant six when tuned and oiled changed regularly ran usually 250,000 miles.
This was a great dependable vehicle back then .
I know the military had many vehicle
with the slant six 225 in their fleet for years 👀
What Classic S teel said….you could abuse the slant six pretty bad….but if you checked the oil as you should….never heard of bearing issues
As for the back window – having owned a few – hopefully the writer has as well – never had an issue with that as well.
In farming peas, the combine was powered by a slant/6 . I was a Viner driver in the late 70s. Those ran 24/6 during the harvest time. Those engines never had a issue-the rest of the combine did.
I asked a mechanic working to fix something(not the engine!)about the engines, what they where. I just remember him saying that they had the hours run time that would equal 500,000 miles to a car.
Have to agree with you erikj on the slant six being a good engine. We had two of them powering swathers. I think they were however industrial versions with better valves and other components. Later machines were diesel powered and the Chryslers seemed to fade out of farm machinery. Not sure when they stopped producing them.
I bought a one owner 225, a 4 door, around 1980.
It was a 1970 model with only 11 000 k.
It was original and comfortably towed a trailer with 3 big bikes to some bike rallies in Southern Africa.
That car was more comfortable by far than 7 hours in the saddle.
Those seats could sleep 2 fully stretched out and one more in the trunk.
RE: The torn seat. Maybe this is one of those rare sellers that removed the seat cover so a buyer could get a true sense of what they are buying?
Tough little cars. Had many.
The Tuffy steering wheel is incorrect.
Front seat will screw up price. It could be fixed for 300 bucks.
Why sell it like that ?
I had a 1971 Dart Swinger like this except it was Burnt Orange with Black Vinyl top. It had the 6 cyl, no AC. My father picked it up in 1983 for 25 dollars because the person thought the engine was bad. It only had a bad starter. It had about 70000 miles on it. I sold it when I bought a 71 Olds 88 Royale which was promptly totaled when I was stopped at a red light. Glad I did not have the Dart for that incident.
Looks like it may have had a carb fire that burned the paint on the hood
The car is from North Dakota. Have you ever sat on or put your knee on a vinyl seat when it is 20 degrees below zero? That’s why the seat is prematurely ripped. Case closed.
Slant six is one of the very best engines ever made. And Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valiants of the 1960s and 1970s are some of the most reliable, long-lived, and inexpensive cars to ever grace the American roadways. Say what you want about them. I love ’em.
Which makes one wonder why the car in the ad had the engine rebuilt at such low mileage.
I learned to drive in my parents 67 dodge corronet 4 door, 3 on the tree and the hard to kill 225 slant 6! Power steering, yes, ac, no. It was good on gas, but borrowing to drive! Was starting to smoke and “drink oil ” , and needed a clutch when dad traded in with 200+k miles! It had servived 2 teenage son’s learning to drive, banging gears and trying to “chirp the tires” !! I think only the 225 was only 6 cylender being used at this time.
I ended up buying this car!!
Will you let us in on about how much you paid?
Probably more than I should have, but its a future car for my son. 6k
They really milked that 1960s A-body styling well into the 1970s in the U.S, I see. In Australia we dropped our Dart equivalent (Valiant Pacer) for a completely different shape in 1971.
At 65,000 miles I would be curious to find out why the engine was rebuilt? I wonder if owner is confused as a 71 225 six cylinder engine needed the valve lash reset intake ,010 exhaust ,020 .
what is the color code for this car?
Color code is GY8