Nicest One Left? 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger
The final generation of the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant compacts (1967-76) produced some generally reliable automobiles, but their initial styling wouldn’t do much to raise the pulse. So, Dodge added the Swinger 2-door hardtop in 1969 and Plymouth the Duster fastback in 1970 to liven things up. And sales did pick up, particularly with a 340 V8 under the hood. The seller’s 1974 Swinger doesn’t have that hot small block but is one of the cleanest survivor-quality examples you’re likely to find after nearly 50 years. Located in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, this Golden Fawn Dodge presents as an automobile that should attract attention at Cars & Coffee, even with a Slant-Six engine. Kudos to Mitchell G. for the tip, and BTW, the asking price is $18,000 here on craigslist.
To keep parity within the brands, Plymouth added their version of the Swinger in 1971 and called it the Scamp. Dodge did the same with the Duster in the form of the Demon that same year, though the name was changed to Dart Sport in 1973 because supposedly the moniker didn’t sit well within the religious community. The 1974 model year would be a good one in terms of sales for Chrysler’s Mopars as the public was flocking to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars after the 1973 OPEC oil embargo.
The seller’s car wears those bigger bumpers mandated in 1973 and 1974 to provide better sheet metal protection in case of low-speed collisions. In the case of this Dart, it meant larger protruding guards with massive rubber tips, which added up to a heavier and bulkier-looking car. This example looks as though it recently rolled off the showroom floor. We’re told it’s “100% original in every aspect” which should mean that the paint, vinyl top, and interior are all from the day the Dart was built.
With an odometer reading of under 69,000 miles, it appears this Dodge has been used sparingly over the years. After all, that averages out to just 1,400 miles per calendar. The 225 cubic inch Slant-Six is said to run excellently and is paired with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission. That combination is one of the most durable in the automotive world from the 1970s. Open the trunk, and you should find the original spare tire (on the rim) along with all the tools needed to change a flat. If this isn’t the cleanest ’74 Dart Swinger left out there, it’s surely in the Top 10.
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Comments
Its nice but $18,000 nice I don’t think so I sold mine for $2500 and it was just as clean annoying problem was the gasket around where the windshield wiper went to the outside leaked so when it rained it would drip water on my foot giving me wet socks going to work. My problem now is I got the new car bug so I just get a new car every 3+/- years and keep it under factory warranty.
That sounds expensive. I can buy a lot of car repairs for a perpetual new car payment. Try buying a reliable brand, perhaps one of the Japanese ones. My last Dodge was somewhat troublesome but my Hondas have never let me down, ever. I drive them well past 200K miles, our son had one of our Civics up to almost 350K. I am retired now, but when I worked, I could have easily afforded a new car every year, but I feel that is a poor use of capital, so many better places where it could go.
18 K for the Leaning Tower of Power ? No , thank you . Shoulda had a V-8 .
I pay cash I then make payments to money market account. I then sell my existing car and put that cash back in the money market account, with this stupid overpriced used car market I was able to sell my 2019 Volkswagen Tigaun in 2022 for the same $25k I paid for it new.
Everything breaks down including Hondas. I have seen a lot of them parked along the interstate highways.
A friend of mine had that same leaking problem with his 1974 Duster. He had one of those floor hump trays and he kept a plastic coffee cup in it. Fortunately, it caught the water when it rained.
I used to sell these, and I can attest to the fact that your complaint about the drip rail was valid. It was a huge complaint from owners. That plus the fact that many would stall in the middle of an intersection while turning. $18k? I don’t think so.
The price is stratospheric, but if you like these you couldn’t restore one for that. This would be a great errand car for the weekends, and you could drive it for at least 30 more years.
In ten years you won’t be able to afford the petrol. This gets 21-23 MPG (on a good day). For this kind of money (18K), you could almost buy a brand new car with a warranty and many comfort features not found here, that will get double the MPG. Of course, if this is your dream car and want it for decades to come, then buy, though most of us who have an emotional connection to these cars shouldn’t be driving in 30 years (if we are even above ground level).
What new car for $18000?
Roykirk(fan of Nomad’s creator on Star Trek TOS?), i think he means the 4 door only Nissan Versa(watch out for their CVTs, tho u can get a manual trans) & 4 door only 3 cyl Mits Mirage(would not want to sit in back seat of latter – can’t believe Mits still sells anything in the USA).
A disgrace that all the other manufacturers have no car starting in the $teens, considering what they ALL offered in 1971, adjusted for inflation.
Younger single people IMO do not look cool at all driving a 4 door anything!
You can’t dispute the fact that this Dodge Dart Swinger is a very clean example. What you can dispute is the price; that’s a lot of money for a slant six and no A/C.
What no a/C ? Can’t have it in SC….
Nicest one left 😂
Love it
I’d use it for Door dash and running errands. Can’t beat a slant 6/aTorque
Flite for reliability. With new car prices well over $35, 000 for a base
model, you know, crank windows, no
air conditioning, no radio, and only I
airbag, this car would be a bargain as
a daily driver. Your payment would
only be $350 a month as opposed to
$550-$850 a month for a new Hyundai Accent. Saw a used one
selling for $26,000 for a 2012 model
just after COVID when used car prices
here in Florida went through the roof.
Even then this dart would still have
been worth it. Just add vintage Air
to it and save yourself some cash.
If it’s really rust and rot free, then it’s one of the few that managed to avoid it because most of these rotted away. It’s nice to see, but it’s only special because of it’s condition. A slant six with no air is a boring car. I doubt if anyone will pay anywhere near the asking price.
My first girlfriend had a blue ’72 Dart with a slant six – and this was in 1992! She might still be driving it today if it weren’t for an exhaust leak (that leaked exhaust into the passenger compartment) that finally did it in a couple years later. Otherwise that car was near bulletproof.
Having the 6 is a plus in my book. But for 18 HhhhaaAa thousand HhhhaaAa
The 6 if original makes it more rare than the 8 cylinder
I loved the army green 75 Dodge Dart that I had as a young Sailor. It was very reliable & only cost me $50 to buy in 1990. I drove that car many fun miles before passed it to my brother. He sold it to another boy. It finally died at over 400k on original slant 6 because the boy didn’t maintain it or change the oil regularly ike he was told.
had a 76 swinger,died on lefts.while rebuilding carb,figured out foam float was weighted down w/gas.changed to metal,done
I had a Dart swinger, the cheapest model available, it came from a little old lady and was as nice as this one. Several years ago. ago I paid $1,000 for it and loved it. I even passed on to my son and he loved it. However as nice as this car is and I do appreciate it, I just can’t wrap my head around $18,000 for it.
I had a number of these in different forms…. slant six Valiants/Darts and a 71 340 Duster. They were all great cars. The slant-six was one of the most reliable engines of the time period. They were easy to work on, good on gas, and had enough power to get out of their own way. The only thing that failed was the ballast resistor. If you open the hood and look at the Driver side firewall, it’s that white ceramic looking thing with the wires coming out of it. They would crack and the the car would try to start in the worst way, but couldn’t. Put a new one on, they would start right up. This slant six was probably the most reliable engine that Mother Mopar ever made. This is a 74…..the last year before Government mandated catalytic converters and smog pumps. It had a bit more pep than the 75’s and later because those items caused more drag on the engine and added a bunch of vacuum hoses. Also, the Swinger/Scamp models still had back windows that rolled down. Duster/Demons didn’t. They had the pop out windows. Yes, $18 thousand seems high, but it’s only original once, and it’s not easy to find one like this anymore. What will $18 K buy you now? A used and beat up Hyundai with high mileage? The flip side is that the old car prices have, indeed, gotten bloated. I’ve seen 340 Duster Clones/“Tribute”s for 40-50 thousand at the Stealers, sorry, Dealer’s 😊. In my humble opinion, It would be a nice buy around $13 or $14 thousand. A really nice piece of Mopar history.
Could you get a compact Mopar back then like this slant 6 with warning lights for alternator & temp, instead of these gages? Maybe not.
Oddly, you could not get such aux gages at all on a ’68-74 nova if it had the strait 6 motor.
I’m guessing Dodge made this AND the demon/dart sport, & Plymouth made the Valiant AND the Duster to steal more sales from the mustang & Camaro?
The Cuda & Challeger were much bigger than Mustang & Camaro.
I love Ed the welder… shoulda had a v-8!! Lol 😂
Old timer here. In case you don’t remember. Plymouth invested huge sums of money in the small Plymouth Cricket. It was designed to compete with the other small cars like the Pinto and Vega. Well, it was a huge failure. The quality was awful. Chrysler then turned to competing against the other small cars with the Valiant/ Duster-Dart/Demon. The commercials of the time reflected that. They went right after the Vega and others. They could do it because in reality, the Mopars didn’t cost much more and you got more car.
Hilarious that people are talking/complaining about the price like this is a DD. Lol it’s a classic car!