The 1960s was the decade of the mid-size muscle car. Just a few years later, that honor went to compact cars (for a short time) like the Chevy Nova SS and the Plymouth Duster 340. The seller has a 1972 edition of the latter, which was in its third year in the Mopar family. Over at Dodge, a similar car was sold as the Demon 340. This car was found in a barn years ago and was intended to be a restoration project, but that’s not happening under the seller’s watch. Located in Halifax, Pennsylvania, this major project is available here on craigslist for $9,000.
Plymouth sold nearly 25,000 Duster 340s in 1970 but found fewer than 16,000 buyers in 1972. Demand for performance cars was off due in part to a detuning process for emissions purposes. That didn’t mean the Duster 340 wasn’t a hot car for its size, but it had a lower compression ratio that enabled the machines to run on regular fuel instead of “hi-test”.
According to the seller, this Duster only had 38,000 miles when it was pulled out of a barn. We assume something went wrong with it at some point, and it languished for years without any attention. On the plus side, this vehicle is numbers-matching, which is great if the original drivetrain can be salvaged. The car is rated as “fair” by the seller, but it’s going to need loads of body, paint, interior, and mechanical work.
Since the seller has two other projects in the mix, he/she has decided it’s time for someone else to resurrect this former hot rod. It’s hard to tell what color the Plymouth is, and the seller thinks the vinyl roof covering has a floral pattern. This is a bench seat car with an automatic tranny, but the front seat is shot, and we don’t know if the rear area is equally rough. The build sheet was discovered and verifies it’s a legit Duster 340. Thanks for the tip, “Zen”!
Rough! Even I give these cars a positive outlook but this baby is rough 😕 it could be brought back but not by a novice hobby restoration person. This one would be a great project and challenge for Mark Worman and his crew at Graveyard Cars! I hope someone saves it. Could be a nice car again 🤔
Looks like the seller converted it from a Duster to a Ruster.
All Dusters were shipped from the factory with the Ruster option included in the base price 😆😂😆
LOFAO
The rear panel on the 72s, a one year-only panel, is nearly impossible to find. I know someone who gave up looking for one, and had to use bondo. I know someone who had one of these from new, kept it in a garage, and in 6 years it needed rust repairs. It’s a shame to see a 340 Duster so far gone.
Oh wow that seems expensive yeah. You could probably get a very nice one of these for under forty, so I don’t know what the incentive here would be.
So 38,000 miles on the clock?
Looks like driven by everyone with the seat covers worn and body trashed thru rain and snow for 238,000 miles.
A cool machine shop by me makes new fenders, frames and so much more for classic hot rods but this one to me is past its saving point with cost .
Good luck with sale…
The good: They are somewhat rare. 1972 340 Dusters get a bad rap because of the lower compression AND smaller valves in the heads. But all of this can be corrected in an instant with a 404 stroker kit. If it does indeed have a “floral” vinyl top, (Mod Top, and it may as they seem to show up most often on this color car) this will be VERY unusual and could change the price trajectory on it. If you have the build sheet, SHOW IT. Otherwise don’t waste our time.
The bad: So many things wrong with this that make the asking price unrealistic. Wrong year, wrong color, ridiculous mileage claim, trashed. Yes it may be a good starting point at 1/2 the price.
The Duster twister a couple days ago for the same price was a much better value.
Whoa, even the Mexican blanket is trashed.
Roof has floral pattern ???? No that’s brown rust, lt green alge , and spots of dark green moss. Pay 9,000.00 and sink 30,000 thousand into restoration = 40 thou then you have a 20,000 car. And 10 years of your life gone in the process. Makes since to me ….
Get it running and have a cool beater but only if the seller accepts the coming reality check.
Mopar fever hits another seller..the rust on this is tetanus central.If the engine turns still,offer up 750 bucks(it aint a 1971 340 which is the primo) Otherwise this is just junk.
find a mint western car and put all the parts from this into that car. you will way ahead of the game
The rust on the rear panel alone scares me enough, none less being a PA car and probably sitting on a dirt barn floor for 30 years. Unless you’ve already got a garage full of the parts needed to restore and can do all the work yourself I think you’d be more upside down $$ than the S.S. Poseidon.
Curious about last owner. Al Bundy comes to mind!
Just noticed the mention of floral top..or Mod-Top,Ummm..it was only 69-70 so if this had a floral top someone’s mom used a roll of mac-tac on it :P
438,000 miles.