The seller says that this 1972 Plymouth Duster “does have some rust“, and they aren’t kidding. Although, most of it seems to be relegated to the underside. Whether that’s a good thing or not is up to the next owner to decide and bidders have driven the price up to $1,075, here on eBay. It’s located in Rutledge, Tennessee I hope that it can be saved and put back on the road again.
According to the body tag, and kudos to the seller for providing such good photos, this color is TB3, “Super Blue” Basin Street Blue and it’s gorgeous, or it would have been when it was new. The rust color, on the other hand, could be Fe2O3 but that’s another story. If the “patina” (i.e., surface rust) was the only rust issue that would be easy, but it isn’t. There is an incredible amount of rust underneath, including holes in several places, including on the frame, or what constitutes the frame on a Duster. The seller has provided a walkaround video here and a start-up video here. It seems to run great!
The Duster was made from 1969 for the 1970 model year, through the 1976 model year, the same year when Volares and Aspens (Dodge Aspens, not trees) were running around, so this car was fairly ancient by then. This isn’t quite the Super Blue Basin Street Blue car that Adam showed us here on Barn Finds a little over a month ago, but I grew up on slant-six engines paired with three-on-the-tree transmissions, so that combo would always be my first choice. Ok, maybe a Hemi with a four-speed would be first, but after that…
The dash is wrinklier’n, well than me, and it’ll take a lot of work to bring this interior back into shape. The rust is first, of course, and then cosmetics. Once that solid rust-free body and underside are ready to go, the rest will be fun – not that welding isn’t fun but you know what I mean. Hey, the trunk looks good, from the top side at least. The seller says that this is a southern barn find that was parked since 1989 and this car is about as basic as it gets, with manual steering and manual brakes, and not even a passenger side mirror.
The engine is missing a few things as you can see, and it’s a 225-cu.in. OHV Slant-Six with 110 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the famous three-speed manual and column shifter (three-on-the-tree), this car isn’t for speed, it’s just for havin’ and usin’, as the old man used to say. It does run (on a bottle of gas) and drives, but has no brakes or radiator, so there’s that. I would probably be the only one here who would restore this car back to how it came from the factory. How would you redo this one?
My college roommate was gifted one of these cars by his Aunt around 1984, so it was just 12 years old at the time and in pretty rough shape as Ohio cars tended to be in those days. But, the 225 ran, and started on the coldest winter mornings.
It became the household car for a bunch of us college goofballs…no maintenance, no insurance, no heat, bad tires etc. The rear quarters were rusted out pretty bad, and I remember a coffee mug in the trunk falling out onto the street when I was making a left turn.
Also, in the start-up video, the chap starts the car and runs it with no radiator. Don’t worry, the slant 6 couldn’t care less, it just wants to run, and will be fine.
Another college buddy had his Grandmother’s 68 Valiant with a 225. After he upgraded to a Vega or some other terrible 70s car, he decided to have some fun and drain all the oil out of the 225, and just run it around town until the engine blew up (college kid logic, right?). After 3 days the engine was still running just fine, so he put 5 quarts of oil in it and sold the car for $300.
Only memory I can offer here is getting a ride in one by a kind lady who worked the nightshift at the same supermarket as myself. She was a bit on the short side; about five foot two inches. Had to wear home made wooden clogs to reach the pedals.
We nicknamed these cars Rusters.
I want a 1974 Duster slant 6. 225 ,with stock 3 speed on the floor. I had a red exterior with black interior no air conditioning. Dad bought it when I was in highschool ,would be fun to be driving it today. Best basic car ever !
What’s missing off the engine, Scotty?
being from new england, the underside rust on this is nothing. though for me it would become a restomod… 833a od 4spd, motor warmed up with a progressive 2bbl add in a/c and maybe powerful steering for the tight parking lot turns. if the bidding doesn’t get stoopid someone is gonna get a decent buildable ruster.
boatman, i think scotty didn’t quite finish that sentence lol cuz the only thing i see missing is the semi optional radiator in front of the engine :-)
Uuhhh… red hoses?
dagnabit ya got me too scotty, yes there does seem to be somthing missing from between those two oxide colored steel lines just below the air cleaner
I thought that was a good thing, Scotty!
A fule filter, and is this a air cooled 225 slant 6 ? There is not a RADIATOR visible!!!!!!
If I had it, I’d 198 it, paint it purple and offer it to my brother. His first new car was equipped that way.
Boy what memories. Got a 74′ w/225 auto in about 79′. And while it was a FL car, I was lucky enough that it stayed mostly rust free. That 225 just ran, always, no fuss no muss.
Crossed the country 4 times and sold it in 84′ for what I had originally paid.
Bought this identical model new in 1972. $2200. plus tax.
Leaving the dealership with 7 miles on the odometer I put the clutch in at a stoplight and the pedal stayed glued to the floorboard.
Next day after dealer fixed the clutch pedal I rolled the drivers side window down and the glass fell into the door and would not roll up.
At the one year mark this garage kept Duster with 4000 miles on it started to show signs of a really poor paint job. Every time I’d wash it, the hose water would actually blow big patches of paint clean off, right down to the primer.
As for the Slant Six (smallest cubic inch) it ran great…good gas mileage and reliable!
…..and that’s all I have to say about the Duster!
The color is Basin Street Blue , which is what Plymouth called it. Super blue was Dodges name for it – nitpicky rant over .
I had a 72 Duster , same color, with a B5 blue interior and an automatic , I bought it as a 6 year old used car when I was 17. Only had it for a few months when I got rear ended by a drunk driver in a new Caddy he rented for a wedding . Needless to say, my car was totalled ; the side mounted bumper jack actually was sticking out of the rear quarter panel right next to the rear pop out glass. The Caddy didnt look much better , but being new and being a Caddy , it was probably repaired .
You’re 100% right, Don! My mistake, I slipped over to Dodge for a second there when I was looking up the body tag color code, my apologies.
My girlfriend at the time wanted a Camaro, but couldn’t afford it so her Dad took her to the Plymouth dealer ordered a basin street blue 72 duster,paid 112 dollars for bucket seats,that came with carpeting and an all synchro 3 speed on the floor, also upgraded the 198 six to the 225 , added a am radio paid 2,765. And had the car for 15 years
Had the same car, plain jane, no radio, just a heater, small engine…the most basic one offered by Plymouth….engine great….the rest of the car, pure Lemon! Bought new in 1972….traded it in on a 71 Fury!
Rust in the frame?!….Forget about it,this car is DOA.not worth putting money into.this cars value?whats a slant six engine and torqueflite going for?
Hold a car forever, not taking care of it. Rust turns to dust. Fitting here.
Dad was always on about a 340 Duster as an affordable hot rod. Miss you dad.
I had one of these and they have a tissue paper type front suspension. had to make an emergency stop to avoid a collision. I was riding on radial front tires and twisted the control arms into pretzel knots, and bent the frame.
Heard that a lot from you, and in all the years I’ve been involved with cars, I’ve never seen that happen, unless you hit something hard- very hard. We even raced a Dart Swinger for several years; that puts a lot strain on suspension parts, and again, never happened . I also worked in a salvage yard in the early 1980s buying and or inventorying cars that came in , again , never saw one come in like that, and A body Mopars that came into the yard were really looked over well by me, as I had two at the time. I’ve owned close to 20 of them in 45 years, not including ones I picked up for parts. I’ve never seen any A body car, or any other car of any year make or model for that matter do what you keep saying .
Someone might want it for that rear panel, which was one year only.
They are a one year only item and the tail light design was known to hold water and rust would start around the bottom of the lights- The Ebay pictures show this one is rotted badly there . Sadly, this one’s destiny is as a parts car . The manual pedal set up and the steering column along with the grille and taillights are likely the reason theres any bids on it
I had a 72 Duster Tor Red black interior slant six three speed floor shifter. Probably the best car I ever had.
Bravo Daniel… Good for you!
My Duster 1972, purchased new is tied for the dubious distinction of being the worst car I’ve ever owned…the other being a1976 Caddie sedan due ville! Go figure….lol
Be interested in your vehicle ownership list
Nostalgia list ….thanks for asking Grape Ape !
Four English Ford’s
Four Caddies
Three USA Ford’s
One Citroen
One Panhard
Two Volvos
Seven Mopars
One MG
One Hillman
One Austin
Two Chevrolets
One Crossfire
Just for the record….the Citroen and the Volvos were the best !
One Saturday in 1984, I decided to change the oil in the aforementioned indestructible ’72 college Duster. So, I go to Nationwise Auto Parts and buy the oil, filter, and a quart of motor flush… Rislone if I recall.
I put the quart of motor flush into the 225 and ran the car for 10 minutes. I go to drain the oil, and out comes…..you guessed it….one quart! The 72 Duster was the perfect car for dumb-ass college guys.
Great story Rex…..for a minute there, I thought you would be reporting that “out came 6 qts.” LOL
They are confused. This is not a duster. It’s a valient
You’re confused ; this is a Duster . Valiant based , but a Duster nonetheless .Dont believe me ? look up Plymouth Duster on your computer . There are thousands of images .
Identical to my 72 Duster…bought new @ $2200. plus taxes.
The last new car I ever purchased. Quite the Lemon!
The car being offered is a 1972 Duster….just like the one I bought new in 1972!
What was wrong with it, that you would call it a lemon , and after you owned an Austin ?
Great question Karl…the Duster was the worst…see my previous post on the lack of quality control.
No complaints on the Austin, it was a Marina (1975) with the 1800 cc MGB engine….traded it at 163,000 miles!