From 1963 to 1976, the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant ran parallel with one another at Chrysler. What one had to offer, the other was likely to muster up, too. Both were A-body compacts and sold well, though the Plymouth variant saw larger production numbers than the Dart. This 1973 Dart is a rather ordinary car for its day – a 4-door sedan, two-tone paint, a small-block engine, and a TorqueFlite automatic. The former may be one of the reasons the seller is having trouble selling this vehicle (though the rust is a likely culprit, too). Located in Merrill, Wisconsin, this Mopar people mover is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $2,200. Another tip brought to us by……..drum roll……”Lothar… of the Hill People”.
As an example of how the Valiant was more popular than the Dart, Plymouth sold 380,600 copies in 1973. This is while Dodge only managed to peddle 135,000 units, just over one-third as many. It must have been in the marketing as the Dart was only a few dollars more than the Valiant. The lion’s share of them may have been built with the venerable 225 cubic inch Slant-Six engine, but the original owner opted for the more potent 318 V8, also a solid Chrysler powerplant.
Since the car runs well enough for the mileage (98,000), we assume either the door count or unibody rust is the problem. Both rear quarter panels have been gnawed on by the rust bug, as has both front fenders. Who knows what else you might find way below? If this were a Dart Swinger 340 with 2-doors, it would probably already have sold because those are hot little cars selling in the high $20,000s when fixed up. The interior of the seller’s car looks quite nice, so the view from the steering wheel isn’t bad.
We’re told this Dodge is on the market (again) because the seller needs a different vehicle for the work detail – perhaps a pickup or van is in his/her future. The asking price is OBO so chances are you could scoop it up for a few dollars less. And if you have something to trade with a manual transmission, that will certainly perk the seller’s interest.
The BF writers seem to have a problem with sedans. The number of doors isn’t the problem with this car. The overwhelming amount of rust is the problem
You don’t restore a car like this you just mechanically maintain it and drive it until she’s done and the more rust that’s showing means that $80k Mercedes is more likely to let you in when you signal u lane change because their afraid you don’t have insurance.
What do you do with these things? A 4 door version of a vanilla car. But, it has a V8! But it has major rust issues! You can’t sink cash into it, but it’s not quite ready for the boneyard. I guess the problem is that $2200, is yesterdays $450.
Right on Big C. I used to buy $500 cars and drive them until they dropped. Inflation = $2000 in today’s money.
This would make a nice parts car for another A-body project. Everything bolted to the K-frame is desirable, as well as the tranny, A/C system, and other bits and bobs. For $2200 it is too expensive as a parts car, and would not be able to be run in any state with an inspection program (too much rust). GLWTS