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Original or Repainted? 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340

081716 Barn Finds - 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger - 1

Thanks to Tristan C. for sending this tip in! This is a 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 and it’s listed on Hemmings for $16,000, but that’s “negotiable”. It’s located in beautiful Monument, Colorado, a little over an hour south of Denver. The seller isn’t sure if the paint is faded red or if it has been repainted orange at some point, what do you think?

081716 Barn Finds - 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger - 2

The seller says that this “Brite Red” (that’s the actual color name!) Dart Swinger 340 is mostly original and is in good condition, although they mention that they’re not sure if the paint is just faded or has been repainted orange at some point. What do you think? This is a fourth-generation Dart and the body style changed quite a bit from its first appearance in 1967 through the last year of this generation in 1976. I prefer these older, boxy cars over the “newer” mid-70s ones, but that’s just me. The seller says that with “this Dart, you will not find disasters from amateur restoration attempts, numerous original parts replaced by aftermarket junk, extensive street/track racing modifications, or a non-original engine in place of the one-of-a-kind 340 V-8 that made these cars so quick and collectable. (sic)”

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This car, according to the seller, is in good condition and there “are no signs of major collision damage, although the body possesses minor dents, scratches, door dings, and such.” The two-door hardtop Swinger was new for 1969, replacing the two-door sedan. Dodge also offered this model, the Swinger 340 with, you guessed it, a 340 V8! Of course, the top of the heap was the Dart GTS with an available 440 V8. I would argue that sometimes a smaller, lighter 340 V8 is preferable to a 440 V8, who’s with me on that? Hello? Guys?..

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This is a 4-speed car with a Hurst shifter. It’s always a little strange to see a floor shifter with a bench seat, but any time that I see a manual transmission I don’t care what it’s next to. The interior looks good here, maybe just needing some new carpet, but seeing what’s underneath that carpet first may be more important. Carpet was actually an option on these cars. The front seats themselves look perfect to me, as does the backseat. Dodge made a little over 16,000 Swinger 340s pretty evenly split between manual and automatic cars, and I bet that there aren’t too many left in either configuration that haven’t either been heavily modified or are rusted beyond recognition.

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Here’s the business end, and it was all business. The Dart Swinger was a $2,800 car when new, quite a bit less than the GTS and you still got a major tire-burner for your money. According to Terry McGean of Hemmings, “The Swinger 340 included dual exhaust, Rallye suspension, a heavy-duty limited-slip differential with 3.23:1 gears (3.55 or 3.91 were optional), and the buyer’s choice of heavy-duty TorqueFlite automatic or manual four-speed.” You still got 275 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque with the Swinger 340, which I’m reasonable sure would smoke the rear tires if a person had such an inclination. Are any of you Mopar fans? How about Dart fans? If so, what do you think about the Dart Swinger 340? Also do you think this paint has just faded or has it been repainted from what you can tell?

Comments

  1. Avatar Tom Member

    Need to see it in person or some better photos of the jams to see if it was repainted but from everything I see here, looks mighty original to me. Cool car.

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  2. Avatar JW

    I like it and if I had 16K laying around it would be mine.

    Like 1
  3. Avatar geebee

    To me, the 340 was always one of those “over achiever” engines, that just smoked tires easier than it should have been able to. Maybe it was simply the relatively light cars so many of them ended up in. I’d agree with you, in this car, I’d prefer it to anything else that was offered.

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  4. Avatar David C

    I’ve owned two and loved them both. I first owned a red 71 Demon 340 auto, great car. I later owned a 70 Swinger 340 3 speed which I converted to a 4 speed 3.91 posi, lime green with a flat black hood with 2 scoops. That car was bad ass! I had several additional “go fast” mods on it. Way back when I worked for a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer which helped out. I’ve owned a few different Mopars. 67 GTX, 70 Cuda, 76 Volare (the last one was not that cool but a pretty good car) I doubt the paint is original but it’s hard to tell. The guy I sold my Swinger to painted orange as soon as he bought it.

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  5. Avatar dirtyharry

    I don’t see any reason to doubt the seller. It looks original in and out. I have seen these cars with gears and engine mods, which could just about pull the front wheels off the ground. They are fun and look great today. I agree with the seller in that it is harder and harder to locate one of these that isn’t a hacked up mess. I would think it is worth 10k.

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  6. Avatar RoughDiamond

    My bucket list car! Considering the escalating prices of Mopars, this won’t last long at all as it’s a great buy if all checks out.

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  7. Avatar Mike

    I would say from the pictures here that it is the original paint, but I would want to see it up close and personal. Did anybody notice or was it just me that it will need a heater core, or at least the owner would need to explain why the heater connections are by-past to me, most likely needs a heater core!! I dated a girl in High School and her dad had one of these, it was a nice car, and I think she still has it!!
    I say it would go for around 10K, on an easy day!!!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Steve

    Was a heater core bypass an option on the Swinger package? :)
    This one seems to have one.

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  9. Avatar Doug Myers

    Looks like faded r4 red. This car is a steal! Someone grab it.

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  10. Avatar PaulG

    I agree with the seller, that it’s quite original, and a great platform for a full-on resto. However, there is quite a bit of rust that must fall under the “and such” portion of the body description. If it has rust, state it. (to any potential purchasers, by all means look at the additional photos, where the pictures show much more…)
    Otherwise a great package that deserves to be brought back to 100%

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  11. Avatar Rando

    They seller has left out mentioning the rusty quarters and bubbly fenders. Where is the star on the passenger side fender? But still looks solid enough. Wish I had the money for it. I had a 71 Swinger with 318, 2bbl and it was a great car. Drum brakes can be an adventure, but fun car.

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    • Avatar brian crowe

      that’s all the rust I seen was the pass. rear quarter and a bubbly spot on drivers fender. The thing that bothers me is the caked on undercoating. Evey time I see that I just think it looks disscusting.

      Like 0
  12. Avatar Ed P

    A 318 will make these cars scoot. A 340 must be amazing. The paint is single stage and may be able to be brought back to life. Go over the mechanicals to be sure the car is safe and drive it. Have fun!!

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Skip

    Nice Dart. First Dart I ever got to ride in was a baby blue ’63 two-door model, slant-six. It was almost the twin of my ’63 Valiant, except mine was green: the shade of green that Border Patrol cars used to be.

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  14. Avatar Steve

    I’d like to be the new owner of this one! My 1st was a 69 340 Swinger, GREAT car! Had another one, 69 340 GTS I had to rebuild from the shell and had all the pieces, in NC, when I was in the USMC. Another great Dart. Maybe I’ll try to see if I can get in n this one…who knows?

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  15. Avatar rotag999

    With the heater core tubes hanging out believe this one just leaks. This is no Factory race car but have owned a 69 340 swinger that drove fine but had some rear frame damage, I had a 67 Cuda notchback that i put the motor in i paid only $500 for the dart and sold the body for $125.00 Wish i could get a deal like that again !

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  16. Avatar stillrunners

    Nice car….and on the third year for this body – in 67 you had the GT with a 273 with an optional GTS 383 in mid-year. In 1968 you had the GTS with the 340 – which I owned and should have not parted with – and the 383. By 1969 the Swinger name appeared with the 340 and 383 as still an option with Grand Spalding Dodge and others making a 440 version of them. The Swinger name would carry on for a year or so along with the 340. The 4 speeds are rare in the mopar world as the Tourqeflite had proven it self over the years.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Walter Joy

      And if I have done my research correctly, all the GSS Darts (383 and 440) cars had manual brakes and steering due to the size of the motor and all had automatics due to its strength. Mr. Norm (who I’ve met a few times) just did it to prove to Dodge they could fit.

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  17. Avatar RNR

    The asking price is dirt cheap for a Swinger 340 in this condition. The lack of a pentastar on the right front fender indicates some paint work in the past. However, the overall condition and dealership sticker on the deck lid leads me to beleave that there was a resale paint job in its past when it was just a late model used car. The red, which was on the orange side when new, is likely faded. My only quibble is the with the white letter tires and ’70’s Ralley wheels – if it became mine, I’d paint some steel wheels to match with dog dish caps, wrap em with F70 red lines, buff it and drive the h–l out of it!

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Eric

    I own a 1969 4 door and the paint is very much like this . In my opinion , I would say that this is original paint but oxidized.

    Like 0
    • Avatar rotag999

      Nice dual option wheel cover’s !

      Like 0
  19. Avatar Fiete T

    A-bodies were the one Mopar I fit in and don’t look like “Little guy in a big car.” I’m not really short or the like, but a B-body of the era is 16+’ long. A C-body? 18’6″ bumper-to-bumper…so I’d have to be something like 6’2″ to look normal in the bigger cars. Not to mention the A’s are the ones you can make stop & handle- sorry, IMHO,without a ton of cash & aftermarket parts, the bigger Mopars of the era can’t keep up with the performance you can get from an A-body

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  20. Avatar B. Schwartz

    The 340 was the largest engine ever available in a Dart Swinger. For 1969 if you wanted the 383 you had to order the GTS which was also available with the 340 and 440. These cars were available right from Chrysler. The 440, known as the “M” code could only be had with an automatic. The GTS was dropped in 1970 leaving the 340 Swinger as the lone performance Dart. There were a hand full of 340 Swingers built in 71 as well. These are quite rare.

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  21. Avatar Mopar

    Hahaha lol…..
    14 in on the back, 13 in on the front.

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  22. Avatar Terry Bowman

    I still have one just like this one except, a ball shifter knob, seat pattern different, all the 4-speed 340’s manuals i have seen including mine are hemi orange( the automatics were blue)I have an original brochure that shows the same. I don’t see a dash pot on the carb, being a 4-speed. Going back to the original question, the R4 red(which is also my color) does have a tint of orange in it. I do agree as mentioned above that it was repainted at some time or at least part of. The fading on the top of the fenders tells me they may be original paint. The grill is painted correct for a swinger. Don’t see the fuel line next to the dip stick and the super coil needs to go. Master cylinder cap needs to be changed to the correct one.

    Like 0
  23. Avatar Ron

    That orange with a white stripe was a stock color. My friend had one. Almost a hemi orange, I am not sure of the official color name from Dodge

    Like 0
  24. Avatar Ron

    The color was called Vitamin C

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  25. Avatar Terry Bowman

    Ron, Vitamin “C” was a Plymouth color in 1970 and was called “Go Mango” in the Dodge format (I have a Go Mango 340 Dart). The 69′ Dart in this photo in a R4(bright Red), I also have one in the 340 swinger format as mentioned above.

    Like 0

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