A new broad grille without the center divider was a revised feature of the 1972 Dart lineup and it would be the last year for the cool but contentious “Demon” model. This one isn’t a Demon but a Swinger, as in a 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger. The seller has it listed here on eBay in Sewickley, Pennsylvania and there is an unmet opening bid price listed of $3,200 and a $4,500 buy-it-now price. Thanks to Larry D. for the tip!
The body on this car is a little rugged, to say the least. Any good home-garage Dart lover could probably restore this car without breaking the bank, but is that even a remote possibility that someone would restore this car? I like to think that it is. The seller says that it has rust, old, cracking bodywork, faded paint, dings, dents, and scratches, and you can see for yourself that it’ll be a chore to bring it back.
The seller mentions that they started taking the vinyl top off and it’s almost all off. They say that it was a one-owner car until this year and it has just 59,000 miles on it. It’s sad that rust has taken over the body and I’d want to see the underside on this one. It’s hard to argue with this Swinger two-door hardtop body style, though.
The interior, on the other hand, looks outstanding! It’s almost like it’s a totally different car once you open the door/doors. The seats are beautiful both in the front and in the rear, they basically look brand new, as does the headliner and almost everything else. Gorgeous. One thing, though, there’s a hose sticking out of the bottom part of the dash that isn’t mentioned. Maybe it’s just a heater or vent hose that fell off from under the dash and could be put back in place.
The engine and engine compartment carry on the surface corrosion theme of the body, unfortunately. This is Dodge’s 225 cubic-inch slant-six which had 110 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque. It “starts and moves” but will need to have the new fuel system (tank, lines, sending unit, filler neck seal, etc.) installed that the seller is including with the sale. The brakes were redone six years ago but they’re already bad so that makes me worry about the underside. The pedal goes to the floor due to a leaky brake line which is rarely a good thing. Any thoughts on this one – can it be saved?
Calling Sam Drucker….Calling Sam Drucker….come right away.
The swingers back then weren’t driving Darts…..believe me. lol
That’s honestly not a bad buy-it-now price assuming there’s no horrific rust underneath. That interior does look phenomenal. Spend maybe $4-5k on some mild body work and a new vinyl top to spruce things up (not a full respray) and for $10 large you have a nice cruiser.
I thought it might be an early hybrid with that big fat charging cord running up under the hood.
It’s a rated out P.O.S. and not worth over $750, only a fool would pay any more than that.
The left rear quarter looks pretty sketchy. Is that rust through under the hood on the right inner fender? I see the surface rust, but there’s other areas that look black, as if you’re seeing through it. As stated, the interior is really good, that can be expensive to restore.
Really surprised to see a black interior with this color ! Most A bodies in this color -and there were a lot painted this shade , either had a beige or dark green interior .
It does look like it was driven by someone who wasn’t the best at driving – reminds me of a very old woman who had a red 64 Valiant when I was a kid .. the car was rarely driven and always garaged, but she used to hit the back of the garage whenever she pulled in, and both sides of the car were creased and covered in the white paint from the sides of the garage.
This is the black-and-white interior. Cloth and vinyl. You could only get this in 1971 and 1972. This is a much nicer interior than what came in 1973 and later – which had less chrome accents. This is the car’s main asset. The hose sticking out under the dash is part of the heater duct that lets air defrost the windshield. It would just need to be hooked back up. This car does not have a lot of options. Just power steering, it looks like. It’s worth restoring – but wow – the body work that will be needed. You have to wonder why the right fender got so messed up. There’s no way I’d spend $4500 on this. There’s so much rust. If you could get it at a lower price, maybe $2500, maybe. I do hope someone restores this.
“There is an unmet opening bid price listed of $3,200 and a $4,500 buy-it-now price.”
Uh, no thanks.
I had the Plymouth version of this back in the 80s. They do not hold up well in the northeast as there is no front wheel wells to speak of. All that salty spray just hits the inside of the fenders. The right fender of mine literally fell off with fewer miles than this one has. That slant six will run forever though.
I grew up around a great deal of these cars along with the Duster and the Scamp (Very Weird name for a car) Very little interest or better yet no interest at all for me as a young kid. However an old friend of mine bought a 71 Demon in 1982 Yellow exterior Black interior 5 speed stick with big Crager wheels and a beautiful old school muscle car sounding exhaust..Unfortunately the car was stolen within six months because he foolishly kept parking the car at his job at night because his mother didn’t like the sound of the exhaust and felt it was disturbing the neighbors as well as herself. Now that was a beautiful and memorable Dart.
My ’72’s interior looks just like this and is in about the same condition. The exterior paint is baked mostly off, but the interior short of the carpet, is about like new, even the headliner. I’m going to put in new carpet, and that’s it.
That left rear quarter has more mud in it than the Mississippi swamp.
One can pick up decent examples of these all day in southern states for under $5k, with the amount of work this needs, I’d pass. These were good cars and the six is more than adequate power. Cruise all day at 70+ and deliver 25mpg.
$1500.00 car at best. Too much bodywork needed.