One of Plymouth’s most successful ventures of the 1970s was the addition of the Duster fastback to the Valiant compact lineup. It took a rather stodgy sedan and turned it into a sporty youth car from 1970 to 1976. Two of the options available were the Gold Duster and Space Duster packages, which the seller’s 1973 Duster has both plus a hand-operated sunroof. Off the road since 1990, this Mopar is pretty rough and won’t move on its own. Located in Milford, Massachusetts, this once-attractive Plymouth is available here on eBay for $3,720 OBO.
While the Duster had the same front clip as a Valiant, the rest of the car used its own body shell, creating a vehicle that was both attractive and hip. And Plymouth didn’t rest on its laurels, either, and always came up with ways to generate more sales. Two of those ways were extra packages that this example happens to have both. One is the Gold Duster, which ironically did not require gold paint. It came with a higher grade of interior furnishings, exterior striping, and a canopy vinyl roof that had a snakeskin pattern.
In addition, this Plymouth has the Space Duster feature, which was designed to make the car more flexible in terms of cargo. It came with a fold-down rear seat that enlarged the size of the trunk. And the latter was now carpeted to match the rest of the interior. The end result was about 56 cubic feet of room behind the front seats to carry stuff. But the car was still a coupe without being a hatchback, which would have made a lot of sense with what the Space Duster was trying to be.
The seller’s listing requires multiple reads for you to work through the run-on sentences and unnecessary punctuation. As best we can tell, this Duster was parked in the early 1990s and left to Mother Nature, which may have been kinder than most New England winters would allow. There is some rust, and the 318 cubic inch V8 hasn’t run in decades. The car came from Connecticut at one point, so no title or other paperwork will be provided. The auto even has the rare moon or sunroof option that was still a new concept in the declining market for convertibles.
We’re told this machine is numbers-matching, which might be more important if this was a Duster 340 muscle car. When it was built, this Plymouth was all about style and function, including the use of bucket seats rather than a bench. As cool as this car might have been to a 20-something back in the day, a restoration here will be a big undertaking for the same person who is now a 70-something. The brakes are locked up, so loading and unloading will be a challenge.
too bad the weather has got to this one was a cool car back in the day LOL
Yep….even the rare sunroof – roof – would not be a donor….
Plymouth, Dodges, and Chrysler of this era do not fair well in these conditions. Shockingly the area where the rear quarters meet the roof line are in really good condition, normally that is toast. I’d be very concerned about the front frame and torque boxes.
And where the leaf springs bolt in, that rotted and broke on my mother’s 75 Silver Duster. This one has nice rare options, I hope it isn’t too far gone, and it likely is. Another victim of “I’m gonna get to it, someday…”.
rare with the sunroof but you can bet sitting in the dirt the frame rails are rotted and then some. should have pulled it out of where it is and put some tires that hold air on it.
I had one of these as a winter beater, I found out the weak point on Dusters is the frame.
All I can say ,Is WOW
Look, its a Plymouth Nova…..
Hello Mark Worman? Have I got a car for you! You will need to write a large check to bring this car back from the grave! The good news is that that 318 can become a 340 with very little machine work. GLWTS!
Unfortunately, after sitting outside for way way too long, I don’t believe it would financially worthwhile to restore. I see a parts car. Years ago, it would have been a good project.
Great post Robert A Jr. !
Hard pass even if it were free. Too far gone.
My neighbor on my block in DC brought a new Gold Duster for her son,but he was in college and she would let me drive her to work and i would keep the car all day! I got my license at 16 and I had a nice time with that car,318 and it was yellow! Brand new! I’m 73 now, I had that 318 rolling! I had some good times here the DC area!
This one’s a goner. Parts car at best. Too damn bad.
One too many zeros…
Was once a nice car
As others have noted, a desirable car in its day.
Bonus points if you can successfully read through the ad verbiage.
In automotive sales jargon: a sun roof you open to see the sun. : a moon roof, you see the sun all the time through but it is darker, so you have to open it up to see the moon. Or simpler, sunroof metal and moonroof glass. So the problem comes when you have a glass hole in the roof that comes out. Like my ’87 LX 5.0 Mustang and my ’81 Ford Durango. I haven’t come up with a proper desciptionary word for one. Ford just calls it a sun roof. But it’s see through but dark shaded so it needs to be removed to see the moon.
Personally, I only like sunroofs for the added ventilation properties. Otherwise I don’t like halfway convertibles. I want all sun or no sun. The halfway in and out of the sun drives me nuts. (Yes, I know, a short trip!)
Back to the rusty Dustpan. It’s just another rusty Mopar from the rust belt. They were a cool answer to the restyled Nova. The Dustpan got better fuel economy because of lighter weight AND that 318 really sipped the fuel. The later Nova handled better as it was a Camaro underneath. And the suspension had alot more adjustability to make it even better. But, I still liked the Dustpan better. This is nothing but a very good parts car.
Still can be saved, not to far gone and the car looks complete.
700$ and its yours.