Gold Duster: 1973 Plymouth Slant-Six Barn Find
The Plymouth Duster was one of the most popular compacts of the 1970s. Launched as the 1960s was on the way out, the Duster was a sporty variant of the Valiant with its own sheet metal back of the cowl. The Gold Duster was a trim option that came with a fancy partial vinyl top, and the seller’s 1973 edition has what should be a rare sunroof. Freshly retrieved from a barn, this project Mopar is available here on craigslist for $6,000 and can be found in Assonet, Massachusetts.
Just shy of 250,000 Dusters were produced in the car’s fourth year, 1973. That excludes another 15,000 or so of the Duster 340s, the performance edition. Many of these automobiles came with Chrysler’s venerable 225 cubic inch Slant-Six engine, which was the case with the seller’s car. The shifter pattern tells us it also has a 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission (my mom had the same setup in her 1974 Dart Sport and they were the best things about that car).
We don’t know how many Dusters had the Gold Duster option like this one. Besides the paint color and matching interior, the Gold Dusters came with a side body stripe and a vinyl roof covering with a snakeskin sort of pattern. The vinyl on this Plymouth looks okay and has a sunroof in the middle of it, something we believe was a rare option in the early 1970s. Convertibles were still in demand, but that market was waning, and the Valiant/Duster did not offer that body style.
From the photos provided, this Gold Duster was found in a barn where the state inspection was last done in 2008. It has since been given a good bath, but probably not much more. There are little dings and dents and rust forming on the visible body panels (what about the chassis?). And the interior needs a redo with surface rust even present on the metal portion of the dashboard.
This is said to be a one-owner car, so perhaps it quit running and that’s how it ended up in the barn. We’re old the Slant-Six turns freely, so perhaps it may respond. Would you restore it the way it is or go for a Duster 340 clone?
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Comments
I’ve known for a while that a sunroof was an option on Dusters, but I’ve only seen them in pictures, never in person. I hope this car is salvageable. Most of them rotted away and got junked.
Rare, yes. Valuable, doesn’t look that way, certainly nobody has been interested enough to cough up $6,000 over the last month it’s been advertised.
If this is someone’s dream car, it’s time for them to step up with some cash. Otherwise this car will compete on price with all of the other cars lacking a strong following in better condition for less money.
Steve R
“Convertibles were still in demand ” ? Most car lines had already stopped making them by 73 and a few years later they were all gone .
Very right, 1973 seen an increase of Mustang convertible sales but only because word was out it was the last year.
I’m a big fan of A body Mopars for over 40 years , own a 73 Duster 340 , and live on the East Coast, and yes, the steel sliding roof is a rare option . That being said, cutting the roof assembly off to use on a better car is really all this car is worth – Gold Dusters were generally a higher option car , but other than the sliding roof and chrome rocker moldings , this is basically a run of the mill Duster , and after likely spending all its running life on the salty East Coast and then sitting in the dirt exposed to all kinds of rotten New England weather , its has rusted away past the point of no return – it needs quarters, fenders , and possibly doors, and I’ll guarantee the damp earth has claimed the trunk floor and a good part of the interior floor pans. Not including an underhood photo leads me to think the inner aprons are bad as well . Sad to say, but the seller will be lucky to get a grand for this parts car.
No mention of what was done to address the collapsed front suspension visible in the barn photos. These were susceptible to rust at the torsion bar mounts, so I’d want to know what was done before buying.
Had a 74 Dart Sport with that 6 cyl in it , drove the heck out of it , crashed it 2X and walked away and fixed it again . Sunroof leaked like crazy and could fix that . Rust finally killed my dreams and I sold it to a guy who dropped a bigger V8 in it and ran 1/4 miles in it . I want a solid one now again ! Rust is much an issue on these .
Ex wife had same in Dodge.. a Dodge sport convertriple… 3 cars in 1. Back seats folded down and the sunroof was a manual crank type with plastic gear rack which was a little iffy. I cautioned her on opening it too fast but of course….. well she stripped all the teeth off and it didn’t close properly… and it became her problem…
These are not performance cars, nothing about a gold duster says speed. Up front, 6 cylinder torsion bars, small radiator, so so engine small transmission weak drive line, weak rear leaf springs and 7 1/4 open rear end.
Nonetheless…. They were very pleasant and reliable cars…. My buddy’s only new car was a 73 slant auto and it lasted way over 125k in Ohio winters….
its not supposed to be a performance car, most compacts weren’t , and nobody would ever say the driveline on one of these was weak , the 225 slant six and the 904 transmissions are legendary for their durability
I have driven a few b-body slant 6 cars as well as a-bodies and I owned a 1980 LeBaron 2-dr with a slant 6 for 30k miles – bought for $100. They all ran well, smoothly, and quietly (once the valves were adjusted). With four mains, I did have a lot of expectations of monster power. Yet these engines could reliably make 200k miles with few issues, and for many owners, few oil changes either.