Even though I learned to drive on my dad’s ’65 Beetle, the first car I had as a teenager (that I shared with my twin brother) was a nine-year-old turquoise four-door ’63 Dodge Dart. So, I’ve always been a bit partial to Darts for sentimental reasons. If you like orange and black and a 340 V8 under the hood in a small package, then this 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 could be right up your alley. I’ve joked in past articles about sellers who’ve supplied “scant” descriptions of the five-figure collector cars they’re trying to sell, but this one may set a word record: “340 real H code, Automatic, 8 3/4 rear.” Believe it or not, that’s the extent of the Dart’s description. Currently located in Baldwin Place, New York, this Dart Swinger 340 is for sale here on craigslist for $26,500 or best offer. A swinging’ shout out to Shan for sending this tip to Barn Finds.
Dodge had introduced the two-door hardtop Dart Swinger 340 a year before, and its success brought it back for a second year. The 1970 Darts received a nice face lift (and rear lift) to their three-year-old bodies with a redesigned grille, bumper, and hood upfront and a slanted rear panel, deck lid, and rear bumper that housed tail lamps. I’m not sure why this Swinger 340 has a rear spoiler, but the rest of the exterior looks correct including the bumble-bee tape stripe, blacked-out hood, faux hood scoops, hood pins, and the optional black vinyl top. It’s painted in Hemi Orange, one of five “high-impact” colors available that year, and the paint job looks very presentable, shine (and bright). I’m not spotting any issues or concerns with the exterior based on the photos.
In the all-black, rather utilitarian cabin, you’ll find the standard bench seat (bucket seats and a center console were optional). Only two interior photos are supplied, so it’s hard to assess it accurately, but based on the Dart’s clean exterior and engine bay, I’d assume the carpet, door panels, rear seat, headliner are all in good shape. I’m not seeing any cracks on the top of the black dash and the instrument panel (which includes a 150-MPH speedometer) looks good as well.
The very clean orange-and-black theme continues under the hood with a series of photos of the Dart’s now-legendary 340 V8 with a four-barrel Carter carb that delivered 275 horsepower at 5600 RPM. It’s paired with a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission, an 8 3/4 rear axle, and the current mileage is listed at 25,000.
The popular Dodge Dart was even more popular in 1970 with over 210,000 sold. But even with a more youthful-looking facelift, Darts were still seen as sensible, budget-friendly grocery getters, usually ordered with a slant-six 225 under the hood. That’s what makes this particular Dart even more desirable. Of the 210,000 Darts produced that year, only 6.5% of them (13,785) wore the Swinger 340 badging. Happy Bidding!
Nice looking Dart,but why does it seem that
people seem to think that their Mopars all need
those tacky rear spoilers?And those seats look
fairly spartan compared to the rest of the car.
Those seat covers are from a standard Dart Coupe; the Swinger was an upgrade. Many folks (like the guy I bought mine from) replace the covers with the standard covers not knowing the difference. You can still easily get the Swinger covers and they make a huge difference in the look of the interior!
I know it’s not a Scamp but this still reminds me of Duel with Dennis Weaver.
He would have run circles around the truck with a 340. BTW his was a regular Valiant sedan. The Scamp name was given to the 2 door hardtop.
Yes Anglia, gotta lose that spoiler. Also too bad its an auto. Good luck!
Cheers
GPC
Ahh, my 1st 340/auto car 70′ Swinger tx9 blk/wht stripe. Paid $250 for it 1986. That is after watching it go from perfect to wreck over.@3yr period. It was never for sale as usual. But the then owner had drinking problem….. By the time it was for sale it’s motor.was sitting almost on it’s side. Trans mounts broken and the body was wrinkled on 3 of 4 corners, stripe and fenders rattle canned black. Hood, deck lid and interior were nice at least.
Well, after brake job, fixing 1 bad valve, tuning it up, u-joints etc. Drove it to Baylands every wednesday night for the next 2yrs. Great car best time with my poor driving, 120k mi. and slippery auto 14.65 94mph. Consistently, and it went thru plenty of rear tires in my youthfulness.
Sold it to my best friend in 91′ for @$1k a pair of air jordens and a paint job for my apartment at.the time. He still has it to this day.
He has had some tribulations with it himself.over the years too. Try.as I, might can’t get him to sell it back to me. But, when he does sell it. I’ll be there in a heartbeat.
Love that car and am glad it’s still nearby. Love these 70’s. Yes, the interior are very taxi cab basic. Part of the charm and kept them cheap. Until recently that is. Good memories!
A 340 over a 225 being more desirable? Not in an adult household.
That Adult stuff is way over rated, at 65 I still want the 340, 225 is to Adulty for me EVER!!!
Stupid comment . If you can sell a slant six car over the same model car equipped with a 340 , I’d like to ask your buyer about purchasing some swampland in Florida I have for sale
Don’t sell that 340/TorqueFlite combination short.
With a little massaging, that rig can fly. I “subtly breathed” on a tired lookin’ Duster with this exact setup for my brother, down to the column shift and bench seat. With 3.91s in that 8 3/4 rear and a tight pinion snubber, it could could run low 11s anywhere, any time. And often. I swear, that car could hook up in a car wash.
It was a bad ride on the tough streets of St. Louis in the mid ’70s until big blocks on nitrous moved the bogey deep into the 10s.
Bingo. I saw an episode of cars and zebras and the 340, torqflite, 3.91 gear ⚙️ Mopar car was a speedster. Cant recall the model, dart or duster maybe. I was shocked.
Would that electronic ignition have been original in 1970 or a later upgrade?
It was introduced for the 1972 model year, but MoPar’s electronic ignition was such a common improvement that dealer line mechanics would do the update to fix issues with older models.
Though for the life of me, if I was screwing this little Hemi Orange hotrod together, I’d have to have installed the iconic orange performance box (and hidden an MSD box under the battery tray).
That 340 probably left the factory with a duel point distributor.
No factory dual point!
Upgrade!
All the 340’s with four speeds from 1968 t0 1971 left the factory with a dual point distributor.
My parents bought a 71 Dart had a 318 auto 4 door, green with green interior
It didn’t even have a/c. That thing would haul butt you could do a one tire burnout that was very impressive.
I had two. A 71 dodge demon 340, red w/ white side stripes, automatic. It was a great car. Several years later I got a 70 340 swinger 4 speed, 3.91, lime green with a black tail stripe. It was a a beast!
had a 69 GTS 340 auto in the early 80’s that I bought for $200 – F-U-N!
I owed one of these 340 cars we took in on trade in the mid 70’s as a teenager it was in a Challenger. They were know as big block killers in magazine write ups. They wouldn’t taked down the L78, LS6, or Ram Air Pontiacs but the BB with HP in the 325-350 range they would with ease. The guy that designed the 2nd generation hemi also designed the 340 engine. The 290 hp was at the rear wheels not the flywheel if I remember correctly one of those insurance things back in the day. The J-head engines were the best.
Cool fact,the H-code Dart Swinger was 1970 only..BUT..a Dodge dealer in Alberta with connections to Chrysler Canada managed to get 85 built for 1971 and another 25 built for 1972.They are highly sought after and prized by Mopar fanatics.
Black 71-style grille is incorrect but overall a nice looking Swinger.
No automatic 340’s with dual points!