The Dart Sport was the successor to the Dodge Demon, two years after the latter’s introduction in 1971. The Demon name had come under criticism, so the more benign Dart Sport moniker took its place (but on the same car). This 1973 edition is the 340-performance model, and it has a lot of custom touches both cosmetically and mechanically. Located in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, it looks and runs well, though the caliber of its execution will be a matter of personal taste. The Mopar is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $22,500. Once again, our thanks go to “Lothar… of the Hill People” for this cool tip.
Dart Sports were Plymouth Dusters with a different front clip and taillight treatment. The 340 cubic inch V8 was offered in both cars, and the 1973 model year would be its end-of-line. It was a popular small-block muscle motor that saw nearly 217,000 Chrysler installations since 1968. The Dart Sport 340 was a popular muscle car because it didn’t carry the same insurance stigma as the Pontiac GTO or Chevelle SS 396.
Someone has invested at least a small fortune in customizing this car, which we assume was a 340 from the factory and not a clone on steroids. Besides an assortment of bling, we’re told it has a mild camshaft upgrade, which may mean the engine produces more than its rated 275 hp in its early 1970s heyday. A TorqueFlite automatic transmission is part of the package along with power steering and brakes (discs up front?).
The white paint is flagged by significant blue accents, which may be paint themselves or decals (we’re not told). The bucket seat interior has been customized, too, including the upholstery, steering wheel, and more. An aftermarket stereo has been added to provide tunes to cruise by on Friday night. We’re told the car is clean, well taken care of, and drives nicely. The Dodge looks great, but is it your cup of tea?
Looks like a pair of Rossignol’s I had back in the day…
Lol, right on Fahrvergnugen. One of my very favorite skis too were Rossi èquipe 4S.
What a cool looking car! Some folks really had some imagination, whatever happened to that? Not $5/gallon compliant, but what the heck, let ‘er go! Cheese and beer farts indeed.
It really needs some Cragars or Keystones to get the full cool 70’s look back,those wheels are a nay nay with what’s been done to it.I really dig it otherwise as it takes me back to my teen years :D
Like you said , Cragars or Keystones. My VERY top offer would be Keystones.
I can just see it. Mid-seventies in a high school parking lot. Proud kid pulling up in this thing a half hour before school starts just so they could be seen leaning on it as everyone else pulls in! Ah, much better times.
I could totally see myself sporting Wayfayer knockoffs, left hand out the window waving a “Board of Education” (made in wood shop) and cruising by 7-11 in search of prey.
“You like them spinning tires?”
the hoods cool but the rest looks like a circus on wheels. too much for a circus ride
Tacky abounds!!
Wow! That’s just hideous!
Very nice $15,000.00 car
Brings me back to old days of the World of Wheels…
The Good: Restored, so rust and bodywork are non-issues. The Bad: The alloy wheels, while not exactly ugly, don’t fit the style of the car. Vintage Cragars or stock Mopar pieces would look better. The Ugly: That paint job, but worse, the “custom” interior, along with that aftermarket steering wheel. The whole thing looks like “Otter’s” room at the Delta House in “Animal House” (1978), or the back of a seventies custom Chevy Van, a.k.a. a rolling whore house, LOL! The Verdict: Plan on spending big bucks on a repaint and restoring the interior to bone stock original specs! I don’t think that the exterior graphics are decals. I wish they were, at least those are easier to remove. Paint jobs like this must be painted over, at considerable expense!
I’m not sure I can agree w/ that plan, Robert, other than maybe the part about the wheels.
This car is not for me (or you) but some people like the “so-over-the-top-it’s-awesome” look. I can’t see repainting it. If someone wants a stock-looking Dodge Dart, they should just start w/ a different car.
I think at this point, this particular car should just remain a throwback disco sled. It looks cool. It’d get a lot of attention wherever one drives it, including weekend car shows.
To each his own. Love it or hate it, it sure is different! I agree, repainting would cost a fortune, so if the paint scheme isn’t to your liking, you’re probably better off looking for another example. I merely pointed out that it will be expensive to change it, if it isn’t simply decals that can be removed fairly easily. Rust free examples are getting harder to find every day, as most of these succumbed to the dreaded tin worm long ago, and ended up being recycled as scrap metal, so if the finish isn’t to your taste, then buying it and repainting it might be worth it after all. That is a decision for a potential buyer to make. Count me out, but I hope someone buys it. GLWTS in any case.
Thank you for writing exactly what i see from the pictures and someone also wrote “tacky” which is politely appropriate
I drove one of these just out of High School sans the hippie van color scheme , talk about a chick magnet !! I kind of like the wierd blue theme actually and its definitely a one of a kind
Wow, seats are hideous to begin with. Not to mention the front seats are mismatched.
Passenger has black trim, and the driver seat has blue back trim. And a patch!
Don’t mean to dash anyone’s dream but this thing with its colours having no direction is less to do with an attempt at custom paint scheme, and more to do with the rest of it looking like I was put together from left over project parts.
The aftermarket diamond button-tufted door panels are period-correct I guess, but as one who built and installed hundreds of these in the day they didn’t age well. Like so many other mods, the factory stuff generally looks better.
I love it. I’d change the rims to something more 70’s accurate, and then drive and enjoy
I like it! If it can’t be a 70-72, then you might as well put the BNG treatment on it. The graphics accentuate the body lines, are well done, and sort of balance the square nose.
The interior seems awfully tired though. I wasn’t a fan of those wheels when they were new and still don’t care for them. A set of polished Anson slots would look much better. Plus I’d put a bit more stagger to get the big ‘n little look.
Two 20K cars today, an interesting choice.
I really like Dodge Darts – the entire concept behind them was excellent for a downsized car that could really throw a heavy punch if so equipped. — I also very much dislike decal-laden cars – and this Dart is decal-horrific and those wheels are ALL wrong for the car. Not only is it way overpriced – it’s also ugly as you-know-what. This one is going to be up for sale for a very long time. We’ll probably see it again here in 6 months or so.
True. I believe the phrase you are looking for is: “Ugly as sin!”, LOL! Also, the A-Body twins, the Dart/Valiant and Demon/Duster were far better cars than their competition from Ford, the Comet/Maverick twins. But then again, so were the X-platform offerings from GM, the Nova and its badge-engineered sisters from Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac! Among the Big Three, Ford was number three (3) in the compact car domestic market, at least in terms of the quality of the driving experience!
Yep – close enough. — A friend bought a ’76 Dart with the upgraded slant six and four on the floor with a Hurst shifter. It amazed me how much power that slant six produced and with the 4-speed manual on the floor / Hurst pistol-grip shifter, it was pure fun to drive. I regret not buying it from her when she decided to trade it in on a Dodge Omni GT years later, which also had plenty of power for its weight class and was a lot of fun to drive too, but it just didn’t have the class of the Dart IMO.