Swinging Survivor: 1970 Dodge Dart 340
UPDATE – We featured this one back in November and it has been relisted multiple times with a $34k asking price. This time it’s listed here on eBay without a reserve so maybe the seller will actually let it go for the high bid?
FROM 11/25/18 – When it came to the muscle car era there was no better equation than to stuff the biggest engine into any car possible. This Dart Swinger 340 is a gorgeous muscle classic that appears to be a near mint survivor that has covered just 15,000 miles in its lifetime. With stunning good looks and a 4-speed, I would spend my future lottery winnings for this in a heartbeat. With time ticking down on this auction, bidding has currently risen to $27,300. Be sure to take in this crisp Mopar here on eBay out of Saint Charles, Missouri.
The 340 V8 is a smooth and crisp runner that operates as it should. Being a 15,000-mile survivor, it is easy to expect the engine compartment to be relatively clean. There are a few minor dirt areas that could be detailed, and there is some paint that has chipped off around the water pump. The 4-speed manual is smooth and certainly makes this little Dart a riot to drive. According to the seller, the only non-factory parts are an electronic distributor and a power disc brake conversion that was performed by the dealership when the car was nearly new.
Incredibly clean inside, I can only smile as I feast my eyes on the tach, bench, and 4 speed shift lever combination. When have you ever seen a Dart dash as nice as this one, other than when these cars were new? While the interior is quite clean, there is some dirt build up in the door jamb area, which gives hints as to how this car has been stored.
Absolutely stunning from afar, there are some very minor details to make mention of. While the seller mentions that the paint is 100% original, I am not so confident in that claim. There is orange peel on the passenger side front fender, and the nose cap. Also, the paint is suffering from minor wear which appears to have occurred from sun exposure. These wear areas almost make the paint look like a two-stage paint and clear combination. The worn areas appear to be on the roof, and on the tail end of the trunk. Thankfully rust is not a concern with this Mopar, and I dare to say that this may be one of the nicest Dart survivors. What do you predict this 340 Swinger will sell for?
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Comments
Very nice. These were a nice switch from all the graphics and cartoons on many other cars of the era.
Agreed. This one looks “all business.”
“business”? More like Monkey Business I have always though that this is too much engine/power for the car, not dafe at all. A six or 318 is all that was ever needed for safe responsible driving..
My ’71 Demon 340 had cool devil decals on it, but it managed to be a badass car anyway. I had friends with Dart Sports and Dusters, but mine was unique. The people I went to high school with had never heard of the Demon.
I love the 150-mph speedometers that came with the Rallye dashes. They went from 1 to 15, and read “MPH X 10.”
In 1980 I had my Chrysler dealer locate a new factory tach for my ’71 340 Wedge Duster. He thought I was dreaming, but for 48 dollars I proved him wrong. This Dart featured is a way better car for quality than an E-body. A mighty tasty little sleeper!
$28,100 and rising. What a stunning car. A pleasant change from usual muscle cars shared here.
Nice car! A buddy of mine had one of these many, many years ago; same colour too. He saved long and hard to buy what was then a 3 year-old example.
I set up the suspension for him so that the Dart would go around corners, as well.
Something tells me that I should send him this link… ;-)
I wouldn’t change a thing. Nice car.
Hot rod versions of Novas , Falcons, AMCs, and Darts were such great muscle cars because you could have the performance without looking like a completely self absorbed hedonist. Kinda practical while being really fast!
Dunno why, but the RWL tires on body-colored steelies with dog dish caps just make this car for me. They seem to say “this car’s all business”. Nice find!
What does RWL mean?
Raised white letter, as I recall.
Super example. Plain Jane that is all business, Built to haul *ss. The only year that the 340 had 10 1/2 :1 compression. Somebody is going to have a great car, Good luck to the new owner.
Cheers
Chas
A friend of mine has a 73 which had a 318 but we just swapped in a 340 crate motor. Here we are at the Goodguys Heartland show in Des Moines, Iowa. He bought it off the original owner rust free for $3,800.
Sounds like a great deal.
But looks like a ’71, not a 73.
Super enjoyable either way, though.
My neighbor bought one of these new and stuck what was known as a 3/4 cam in it. It would sit and ‘thumpity thump” until he punched it and light up the rear tires.
I always thought it was a great car.
WOW, I haven’t heard anyone use the term ” 3/4 cam” in 20+ years…lol I used to say to people who said they had a 3/4 cam, where’s the rest of it ? lol
I do recall when I was about 15 my older brother going into the local speed shop and ordered a 3/4 for his Roadrunner… kinda funny now.
I was a series of Camshaft back in the day by Isky Cams. They used to have a 1/4 cam, 1/2 cam, 3/4 and wait for it, a “full race ” cam.
Looked on their web sit just now and they still list this…
“Various grinds are available for most all American-produced automobile engines. From the mild 3/4-race to the Super Competition”
IIRC, off topic sorry–I believe the term 3/4 cam came from the Flathead ford days. Never heard it used with the newer bump sticks. Its all good, call it what you like!!!
Cheers
GPC
There’s a 1 and a Million chance the original Mopar lacquer paint is original, in my opinion.
It is a really beautiful car otherwise.
This was the first car I ever owned, back in PA. Mine was an automatic, and had the black wrapper around the tail-end. Awesome car on a straightaway.
And it’s not green!
All the Mopar freaks are drooling……..Go ahead and spend all that $$$ because it’s a Mopar! ………..haha!
And the Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Chevy, etc, etc, “freaks” don’t drool and spend big bucks?
A Yeaaaaah…..Mopar freaks are in a class of their own and will spend insane $$$ for a Mopar, running, non running, rusty, don’t matter because it’s a Mopar. See it all the time.
The more of your posts I see, the more I’m convinced you are in a class of your own.
You won’t find many that won’t like this one. It was the muscle car to have on a budget. They had great low end power, like 0-60 in 6.4 seconds, but ran out of steam with high 14’s in the 1/4. Still, it was tire smoking, speed shifting mania, and these were killed as fast as they were made. People had been stuffing big engines in grandma’s Dart for years, but this was the factory package, and even the paperboy could afford one. Cool cars, but Mr. Norms 440 Darts were the ones to beat,,for a while.
Kind of funny how a car with a motor from the factory that would turn over 6000 RPM’s would run out of power on top end.I had a 68 GTS with the 340.The Chevy and Ford guys never knew what hit them.To be truthful the small A body cars with the 340’s were faster top end than the big block cars.
Absolutely excellent. Not often listed for sale( check barnfind search and bringatrailer). Plum crazy is perfect color. I have it’s twin. Extremely fun with the factory Hurst. Galen Govier decided mine some years ago and I was surprised that there were so few of the 13000 + built left unmolested. Back in the day Chrysler had early big problems with purple paint fade and would repaint car under warranty, if you complained hard enough. No real mechanical gremlins; bullet proof powertrain and fun, fun, fun. I’ll never sell mine. Light em up. Smoke em if you got em! GLWTA
Great, great under-the-radar car with highly suitable driveline.Love it’s such a stripper, will surely surprise many at the green lights… Anyone wanting one of Mopar’s popular B-or E-body cars but find them out of economical range in the nearest future?Then better get something like this ; these are the coming skyrocketing Mopars!
Way back in the day, my buddies cousin bought a ’70 Super Bee with a 3/4 race cam. When we saw it on the dealers lot, it was on the window sticker “3/4 race cam”. We thought that it was odd, as we wondered what that constituted.
I got my drivers license in my brothers purple 340(1970), standard steering a bear to parallel park, but it would almost beat my brothers 71 Boss in quarter mile times. Took it to high school to do tuneups , and a lot of test drives, lol, almost time to own one myself.
Except for my 71 Demon , this is the best Mopar that I have ever seen.
Well worth the money. Will not find another low miler A body like this.
IF I had to own a Mopar , this one is pretty nice, but only if I HAD to own one Morley
340 power made a statement in lightweight cars like this Dart and the Plymouth Duster. They were inexpensive cars that ran pretty good stock and could be tweaked to really perform. What’s not to like.
Is Keith done yet ?
A-bodies actually are one the best handling cars of the era, when optioned right. In fact, they were much better handling (similarly optioned) than the E-bodies. The E-bodies were nothing more than B-platforms cut down, the chassis engineers were not allowed to re-tune the suspensions to compensate for that in an effort to save money. The “Fast ratio” the SCCA E-bodies got was screwed because accounting threw up a red flag when casting & forging made the pitman arms; so no matching idler arms were produced. The Ackerman got hosed, the cars ended up turning faster left than right. The bean counters actually ruined AAR & TA cars from being much more successful…thus, no real marketing bravado. They handed that to Mustang, Camaro, & Javelin on a platter. Nice cost cutting, Mopar. Not amazing they are now a foriegn brand…by FIAT nonetheless.
That is sure a pretty car pretty much all the right pieces to. I don’t know much about the 340, it seems there was a smattering of them spread throughout the product line. My dad had a 69 Road Runner with a 383 in it so my learning went from there up to the 440, but always wanted to play with the 340. As far as the cam talk I haven’t heard that term since JR high, it’s pretty funny guys!
I don’t see a tach in the car?
Also the seller says the only two non-original parts are the distributor and the power brake conversion. In the underside picture it sure looks like Flowmaster mufflers.
Great car had a 318 auto. 1st car bought from dealer 399. Dollars. Fun car.
Not a Mopar guy but I have to say somebody is going to get a really nice prize, but it won’t be cheap.
Ended:
Nov 26, 2018, 06:15:00 PM PST
Price:
US $28,500.00
$28,500 seems like a great deal to me. Thoughts?
My humble thoughts are this is the nicest looking car posted in the last 10 days
What a beauty. I’d leave it as-is.
I’m a big Mopar fan, and I’d love to have this in garage next to my Duster 340 , but a Swinger without a vinyl roof looks odd to me . I’m assuming cars from the west coast were less likely to have that option , but it seemed like every Swinger in New England did
Ah, I miss Baylands/Fremont Raceway in my 340/auto/3.23posi Swinger TX9/wht stripe w/ac 120k miles. 14.56/94mph all day. Slushy tranny & all. Stock.
Paid $250 for it in 85′. Got a pair of Air Jordans, my apartment painted & $1000 in 1990! Love these cars.
Still trying to get my buddy to sell it back. It will be mine again someday soon I hope.
$28k for this condition…Very Good deal!
Forgot about this one being posted before, clean machine isn’t it. The best combo for high performance in a Dodge Dart right here.
Some will argue till they’re blue in the face that the 318 was the second coming of God when it comes to Chrysler product of old or even the yawn yawnish slant six. Those handled mundane driving chores without complaint and provided cheap transportation….
This isn’t one of those boring type of cars, not by a long shot. Use to call em cheap thrills, although that part of it has left the building so to speak.
Only thing I would do is swap out the bench for buckets and a console. Rallye dash doesn’t look right with the bench seat
I really love this car. Color not so much, but overall, perfect. Rallye dash, 4 spd, no-frills wheels. Like Mike Tyson coming into the ring in his prime. Strictly business. Great car.
Really is a great looking car.
A couple of friends had them new “back in the day”… Swingers, Demons…
This speaks to me. If the lottery hit, I’d own it.
How about the 1969 M code Dart!
The 440-powered 1969 Dodge Dart GTS was a homologation special, so that Dodge could lay waste to the NHRA’s Factory Super Stock classes. Mr. Norm pioneered the fit in a ’68 Dart, called it GSS (Grand Spaulding Sport, named for his performance-leaning suburban Chicago dealership), and built more than 50 of ’em; Dodge liked it so much that they co-opted the idea a year later. The Grand Spaulding boys once again engineered it, in deference to their initial efforts, but Dodge chose to send the system out to Hurst Performance research, who could better handle the volumes required. A special K-member, new motor mounts, a couple of block modifications to accept the new mount, plus new exhaust manifolds, oil pan and heat shielding made up the conversion.
From the outside, you’d never know anything untoward was happening–only the subtlest of engine callouts on the side-blistered hood would bring attention to itself, and only then if someone knew what they were looking for. The tail stripe was comparatively tame for its day. It offered only factory colors and wheel trims, even the GTS name stayed, carried over from the so-so selling 383 models Dodge was peddling. Inside, same thing: a 120 MPH speedometer (which could be pegged, but only just), a floor shift, and little else–not even a tach. Strippo Road Runners laughed at the paucity of creature comforts. All the better for the purity of its mission. We’re frankly a little shocked that the buckets/console/floor shift made an appearance over a bench seat and column shift, but Mother Mopar always has her reasons.
The 440 was the same basic 375hp RB unit that had been the scourge of the strip since its launch in 1967. Available in B- and select C-bodies, it was widely considered a rival for Mopar’s own Hemi in those days, exchanging a smidge of torque for a little less top-end power.
A total of 640 of these so-called M-code Darts were built, all were dealer-ordered, and all were more or less the same: a 375hp four-barrel 440 Magnum/Torqueflite combo underhood, bucket seats, floor shifter, console, and precious little else. No four-speeds, possibly for clearance issues and probably because the Dart’s rear couldn’t take the extra punishment–no Dana rear was sized for Dart use. No power or disc brakes, only manual 10-inch drums; you couldn’t get manual discs in those days, and you couldn’t fit a power booster under the hood anyway, what with all that engine there. Manual steering only, possibly because the power steering pump might cost a couple of ponies under full throttle off the line, and possibly because the plumbing couldn’t be resolved. Colors, wheel trims, and an optional rear-axle ratio (3.91 gears instead of the stock 3.55s) were about all the boxes you could tick.
Those were nuts! Made about 340 or so ’69 Cuda’s with that set up as well. I don’t know for a fact but I heard doing nothing more than swapping on a pair of slicks would put one of these in the twelves, on the puny factory wheels and tires it went up in a cloud of smoke as anyone would expect. Not for the timid or faint of heart…
Okay is it me? But isn’t the emblem Dart Swinger in the wrong spot which to me makes me think of a repaint and the thought of that emblem Dart Swinger look cool there? (WRONG).
Here was my first NEW car, 1971 DUSTER, 340/TF 727. No power steering or brakes, am radio, and the splint front seat with the fold down center armrest. The lemon twist yellow, the hockey stick stripe, the black interior and the painted wheels and the dog dish caps just screamed at me “Buy Me!”. I paid around 3200 bucks for it. As you say, all business. It was a fun car, and quite frankly quicker off the line than my gas guzzing 383 Road Runner hardtop I owned at the time. It’d run mid 14’s and around 95/96 in the quarter with those factory junk tires.
Beautiful car, I love this body style. I don’t remember seeing Worman do one of these.