Plymouth introduced the Duster in 1970, a fastback version of the compact Valiant. The goal was to bring younger buyers into the Chrysler fold. One of the carrots they dangled was the Duster 340, a smaller budget muscle car with a 340 cubic inch V8 rated at 275 hp. It worked, and 24,875 Duster 340s were sold in the first year. They followed up with 12,866 copies the next year, but by then Dodge had the Demon 340 to peddle, which was essentially the same machine. The seller has a ’71 Duster 340 that’s said to be a barn find with a replacement engine that runs.
This Mopar looks to be fairly solid though we don’t know how long it was off the road. The seller has only owned it for a brief time and mostly cleaned it up. He/she has been able to get it to run around the yard, but the vehicle is not ready for any longer excursions. It needs a new clutch in support of the 4-speed manual transmission, which replaced the original 3-speed some time ago. Perhaps that change was made when the original 340 was ditched for another that’s period-correct.
The seller suggests the buyer go through the brakes, change all the fluids, repack the wheel bearings, and other stuff that may have gone amiss from sitting so long. Also, one of the rear leaf spring brackets needs a bit of welding to restore its functionality. The interior is mostly okay, and the seller says it has leather upholstery, but I’d bet on just fancy vinyl. The seller provides a lot of photos of the undercarriage and things look as they should.
The overall vehicle has 99,000 miles on it, but we don’t know how many miles the engine or transmission has accumulated. As far as projects go, this one might be ready for an outing after a few weekends of work. The last photo here shows the car all cleaned up. Located in Sunrise Beach, Missouri, this popular Mopar is available here on eBay where the latest bid of $10,100 is below the seller’s reserve.
Uh…all Chrysler V8’s that aren’t hemis or polys are wedges.
Breath in breathe out……
This is just me but i never liked these dusters. A few people had them back then but riding in them compared to gm felt like a tin can ….
Plus side of Tin cans is liteweight 💁♂️ But i here ya.
I bought one of these new in 1970. Same color, 4spd, console, buckets, PS/PB/AC suregrip rear. Loved it! Wrecked 3 times (none my fault) and traded it for a 65 Vette that I still have. One of the absolute favorite cars I’ve had in 65+ years of driving.
no different from a Nova
I really like 340 A-body’s, I let one get away as my first car. Even then, in the early-80’s in a rust free area, most were beat to death.
This is worth looking into, but a deal killer would be any seller that hadn’t put it in their own name. I’ve had several friends that had major issues by either not checking or not caring they weren’t buying from the actual owner.
Steve R
Sold for a high bid of $20,000.
Steve R
I just have to say…… Doesnt it seem just a little ironic seeing the “Duster” name…….All covered in Dust?????? Im just saying……
But that being said, these were a dime a dozen when I was a kid, and in the area I lived, by the mid to late 80s, most of these barely had any quarter panels or lower front fenders hanging on them. So to see one that looks as solid sheet metal wise like this one is a treat. And 340s were very well known as strong runners.
340 manual is ideal. Torq-flite, just add some deep gears like 3.91 ⚙️ and lookout.
What a fun project! Looks like a B5 respray over a lighter blue. A lot of nice features on this.
I would imagine the reserve is in the $20’s.
There’s no telling what the original color was, but it’s almost certainly not its original color now, with the underhood area painted black. Only the fender tag or build sheet, if either is available, knows for sure.
It may be the lighting, but to me it’s neither EB5 (the most famous of the three consecutive B5s offered) nor GB5 (The correct B5 for 1971) — it’s too dark for either.
Phil, the tag of which there is a photo shows it is GB5. The hood painted black with the 340 wedge graphic was part of the optional graphic package and the underside was black also I believe
I think the lighting makes it look darker than it really is
There’s a picture of the fender tag and that trunk picture shows the orginal blue paint…..
Over $10k and no brakes. What is the world coming too.
The ebay ad says it has a postal grip shifter. Ha Ha
The pictures show one too.
Steve R
One picture shows that they at least washed it. Why they didn’t do that before taking all of the other pictures is a mystery, though. If it had a console and a/c it would be perfect, but those are easy add-ons through the aftermarket. The fender tag appears to still be there, so that’s a plus. Replace all of the rubber bits (hoses, belts, weatherstripping), the brake bits, and drive it!
Mine was a 71 duster 340 sassy grass green black stripes and factory go wing. I paid cash and had money to burn. Adding a crane cam & manual rockers, LD 340 intake a 750 DP Holley and hooker headers. It woke that car up. My best friend and his dad who was a stock car mechanic
Did a lot of work with shock’s suspension and rear end. We added bigger disc up front and changed the rear over to a limited slip 4:10.
On the street it was as wicked as they came. Not only did it pull hard but shift point was 7300 rpm
We put the car on a truck scale it came in at 3050 lbs. I’m sure the scale wasn’t perfect but it was close.
we didn’t lose many street races.
Well no, it shows a PISTOL GRIP shifter.
Nice car – 150mph speedo and factory tach are a nice touch – he has other projects so the reserve is close to what he needs to finish those….
I like this one,graphics & all.I don’t remember
many with a V8.Seems the ones I saw all had
6 cylinders in them.
I love these cars. My mom brought a 71 bran new, white with blue interior had a 225 slant six with a/c, you need that in South Florida bought from Fred Drake Chrysler Plymouth in Lauderhill, FL. It got passed down to me and I had two 340’s after that,and get this, our last name is Dust.
RMac, the 1971 graphics option on the Duster 340 got the top of the hood painted matte black, but nothing underneath. Any Chrysler product from this era that wasn’t black (TX9) from the factory and is black in the engine compartment now has been resprayed.
Phil
You are correct and the paint in the trunk is obviously the original b5 blue and is much lighter and les purple than the exterior. But this was originally b5 blue according to the tag
Do any of you guys remember the 1994 Plymouth Duster? I traded an Escort GT for a new one in ’94 for my commuter car from Hilton Head to Miami. Green with tan interior, 5 speed (I think!) V6 141hp front wheel drive. Was just a tarted up Sundance. Ordered it just because of the name, since I had a new 70 340 when I was in the Navy. What a disappointment!
Sold for 20K, which makes it a good value for both parties.