I’m not usually a fan of black cars but isn’t this Dart listed on eBay a beauty? This droptop Dodge started out gold but has been black for 30 years. It’s very original otherwise and despite living in Prior Lake, Minnesota there’s no rust showing, not even on the bottom. The $8,500 price tag will put most folks off, especially when original means a slant six, but a seller can always try. It’s had a lot of mechanical attention lately and is said to run and drive great. There was a V8 235 horsepower version of the dart called the Dart Charger introduced in 1965. They built about 150 of them and were all painted yellow with black interiors.
Any car with bucket seats and a floor shifter was pretty sporty for 1965, especially when applied to a smaller car like this little A body Dodge.
The original upholstery is looking pretty spiffy from here, but the driver’s seat bottom will need some work.
The top looks pretty good, but that back window is long gone. A new window should be available and fairly easy to install.
This is the larger 225 CID 145 horsepower six cylinder. For $50 it was a bargain upgrade over the 170 CID with only about 100 horsepower. A 273 CID V8 was also an option. It looks pretty bare under the hood with power nothing, but it is undisturbed and original. That remains of that radiator overflow bottle will need some attention.
Several photos of the underside were provided showing remarkably solid floors and structure. This is amazing for a convertible in the rust belt.
This end looks really nice as well. I wonder what the right side looks like. Is the seller hiding something over there? This droptop looks like it’s ready to cruise. I would redo the front seats, think about adding AC and enjoy it just as it is. Subframe connectors would eliminate some of the typical cowl shake and stiffen it up. It would be tempting to upgrade the brakes and suspension. Many folks would upgrade the engine as well. There is some real potential here, whatever the new owner has in mind for this.
I thought these had to be painted red or white.
These darts are growing on me. Hope there are some left in driver condition when I’m ready to retire.
Nothing at all wrong with the driveline. A 225 backed up by a 904 is about as indestructible as they come. If I only had the room…..
I owned a 1964 Dart GT convertible 170/4-speed briefly ( also black ).
I’m a car guy, but I just couldn’t love that one… perhaps it was the well-abused overall condition, the work-most-of-the-time-but-not-always drum brakes, and with the odd ergos with the shifter poking into the driver’s space I could never get comfortable.
Don’t miss it.
Dart GT. Never heard of a Dart Charger.
The “Charger” was a 273 V8 and it would be called a “Commando” 273 if it were installed in a Barracuda or Valiant. Came with a solid lifter hi-lift cam, forged crank, 10.5:1 popup pistons, and a Carter AFB 4v. There was an even higher ouput version that you could order called the “D-Dart” option that produced 275 hp.
Great little cars. I have a similar (but equipped with the Charger V8) 66 GT convertible.
Like….
Nice car. Does everything need to have excessive HP?
Do a little touch up on the drivers cushion.
Leave the rest of the seats alone they can not be duplicated.
Drive and enjoy.
David, That is a windshield washer tank. Overflow tanks did not appear, as factory equipment, until the 1970’s. Nice looking car. It would be fun to drive with the 225 /6.
Sleek Black Beauty. Miss you, Tom Magliozzi. For those who don’t know, check out cartalk.com
Tommy we will always love ya! He never put the top up as I recall.
I understand the slant 6 cyclinder engine is noted as a good engine, ( And I had one in a 1962 Plymouth belveder) But personally did not like to work on them, Especially the lack of space working on the distributer and changing points, Setting the dwell angle etc. Lets not forget the torsion bar suspension rubber grommets dry rotting away.
I don’t remember the trio below the front fender and door. Was this a GT only add on?
Not an add on ,they were on the gt’s but buy the late 60s usually they one fell off from door rust
Decent little car. Not much to go wrong on that baby.
This is a good looking car. I would do some upgrades like brakes and some engine mods. The slant six can be a screamer with a little work.
Still a buzz saw. Can’t beat the rumble of a good ole V8.
WoW !!!
That’s a pretty leaner.
I Had a 65 Dart convertible with the V-8, but not the GT trim that this car is, and I loved it. I sold it for $8500 , and that was several years ago, I would just say it was a great driver, and got more attention than its counter parts, the 65 Mustangs.
What would you do to a slant 6 engine to optimize its performance vs. Upgrading to V-8
John
You could do bigger valves and head work, more aggressive higher lift cam, electronic fuel injection, turbo or supercharger, etc. All of which is readily available for the slant six.
Enlarge the oem type exhaust. Oem is restrictive to keep factory costs down.
i thought these all had the push button shifting
1964 was the last year for the push button automatics at Chrysler.
Now, they have rotary dial shift..on trucks anyway.
What a great way to get into the hobby for cheap and have a nice car that you can get parts at NAPA. And a ragtop to boot. Take the kids for ice cream.
My Dad was a chemist working for Shell, and told me that their research showed the 225 slant 6 showed less wear under “normal” and “harsh” driving conditions (like neglected oil & filter changes ) than any other American production engine at the time. He bought a used ’63 Dart a few weeks later, and then another one for Mom ( a Dart GT 2dr hardtop ) a few months later. He ended up selling the first Dart when his carpool added another member, as the Dart wasn’t big enough for 5 men to ride comfortably. Mom’s Dart we kept for over 10 years, and it served as a vehicle for both my brother and sister while they were in high school. I used it as a spare after returning from Vietnam, and in about 1975 Dad offered the car to me, but I had no place for it at the time, having our 2 daily drivers, a motorcycle, and a pickup truck, with only the wife’s car and the motorcycle getting to park in the garage…… I’d love to still have that Dart ! I’d probably fit it ( or the one in the ad ) with disc brakes and A/C , and an upgraded radio/CD player, and just enjoy it ! I’d also make sure to insure it with Hagerty, Grundy, or one of the other top tier collector car insurers for an agreed value. The alternative is to have an insurance company “total” your baby based on low blue book value because the damage would cost more than THEY claim your “old” car is worth ! With an “agreed value” policy, you and the insurance company agree on a value, based on what it would cost to replace your vehicle with another as close to yours as possible, and if the car is a total loss, they pay you the agreed upon amount. The cost is quite reasonable, and it gets even less expensive when you insure multiple cars, because they recognize that you can only drive one at a time. There are a few stipulations – the car must be garaged when not in use, and there may be annual mileage limits -5,000 miles/year is common. I was even able to insure my project vehicle – it is covered when in my garage, at a shop, or when on a trailer or rollback being transported to or from a shop.
Too bad they never mated 2 slant sixes with a common crankcase and made a V12. They mated 5 flathead sixes on a common crankcase for tank engines in WW2. Here I go dreaming again of what iffs.
Doug, good to know information …Thanx !! Can my dirt floor outbuildings be considered ‘garaged’? I AM improving things around the ‘ol homestead as this is posted !!
I thought those Dart Chargers were called D Stock Darts for the NHRA class ?
I had a ‘65 two door post Dart with the Hi-Po 273 v8. Fave car I ever owned. Great engine. I also had a ‘63 with the push button and the slant but it was slow and a beater. The 318s were ubiquitous in a lot of mopars in the 60s but they’re prone to overheating and seem to not last long.
While building my 1st 66 Charger, I bought a friend’s 66 Dart hardtop that he fitted w/65 GT interior, 225 auto on the floor, the engines are next to indestructible , the car was fast actually as well( relatively speaking of course ), a shift kit in the Torqueflite/8-3/4 posi could put rubber down & chirp into 2nd – a dozen or so Mopars later, I got my droptop 65(Coronet)out west & 7yrs in the back of my collision shop to keep me busy @ night/lost track of $$$ as I didn’t care, and it sits in my garage bc of health issues since 2001 – not good for my health, what might come next is really making me sick !