Parked 36 Years: 1973 Plymouth Duster

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.