Mopar cars are hot these days and prices of Challengers, Cudas, and all the rest are sky high. In that context, while the Dodge Dart Swinger may not be as desirable as the sportier muscle cars of the late sixties and early seventies, these cars are now, as they were when new, economical and attractive alternatives. This 1971 Swinger is for sale on Craigslist, and is located in Dalton, in western Massachusetts, with an asking price of $11,000.
What makes this car stand out is the fact that it is from California, and the seller says it is rust-free and bondo-free as well. While it seems unlikely that the paint could be original, it looks very clean overall, and the chrome is great, as the seller says. The bench seat interior looks pretty nice too, and appears to have its original upholstery in place.
This Swinger is equipped with the 318 cid V-8 engine, dual exhausts, the 904 automatic transmission and 7 1/4 rear end. In the pictures you will see that it is wearing a Swinger 340 hood, but the original hood comes with the car. Mag wheels are on the car now, but the original issue rally wheels are also available. An aftermarket A/C unit is present, but not hooked up. Power steering is also present, but not hooked up either (I do have to wonder why not).
The seller mentions 67,000 miles but it’s not clear whether that is for the engine or for the entire car. It would be good to know for sure, but at least from the photos shown, this car looks very much like a low mileage survivor. If you like these cars, either the Plymouth Valiant or the Dodge Dart in their many variations, here’s a fun website to visit. Based on my online price research, with NADA showing top value for this car at $10,500, I’d guess that this car’s value would be closer to $7,500. Then again, Mopar prices are crazy right now, and I found quite a few Swingers for sale for way more than this car’s asking price, so maybe this actually is a good deal, especially considering its California roots. I’m looking forward to hearing from our readers on this nice looking Swinger, which sure looks like a fun and easy-to-maintain almost-but-not-quite muscle car you could drive daily.
The Seller’s price is way off kilter…This is a $7k Mopar at best,maybe less. I get that there has been a lot of tech time put into it but in all reality, it is worth, what it’s worth. Is it a numbers car?
The clean interior would help in the sale (putting it up for $8500 or best offer) with the owner settling for for $7k or $7500. cash and carry. I would go into an auction at a much lower price, and I do mean a much lower price on this Mopar example. My starting bid would be $2500. without an up-close assessment.
I bought one in 87 or so for $600. Drove the crap out of it and traded to a friend in 91 cause he needed a car and we were going to trade it. Dealer was going to allow $1000 for whatever we brought it, so I traded my buddy for a POS Mazda GLC for my trade. He drove the Dart for 10 more years and eventually sold it to a guy wanting to build a drag car.
This is a great car. this one is so high because of the skinny drag stars, lack of rust(!), dual exhausts, and the scoops. Right? Gotta be so. I’d love to have one like this but not at that price.
I really like the look of these cars and the blue sets this one off, have a car buddy who has a gold with black vinyl top one. No power house but just a nice survivor car. He paid $4500 for it 5 years ago so my guess would be 7 to 8K today.
I always like this body style of the Dart. I may have found its twin on craigslist in St Paul.
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/5487807374.html
The rallye wheels also add some value if they are in good shape and complete.
I’m an a-body freak, but as others have stated this an 8k car at the very top. To put any hp in it would take a complete driveline upgrade.
like most say…..but in that kinda shape – it might just bring $9500 across the big pond…..