Sassy Grass Green! 1971 Dodge Demon 340
Plymouth met with tremendous success when it launched its Valiant-based fastback in 1970 called the Duster. Dodge was quick to lobby Chrysler management to get in on the action with its Dart, so the Demon fastback was born in 1971. It kept that name for two years before pressures from the clergy (supposedly) led to the car being rebranded as the Dart Sport in 1973. This ’71 Demon 340 has been largely restored and has a replacement 340 engine but might just be the nicest example you’ll find at any price. It’s available in Spokane, Washington, and here on eBay where the auction sits at $37,525 with an unmet reserve.
As was the case with the Duster 340, the Demon 340 had the 275 hp small block engine that was popular between 1968 and 1973. In its initial outing in 1971, the Dodge was almost as popular as the Plymouth with 10,100 340s vs. 12,900. While more than 217,000 340s were built in six years, plus whatever the surplus market may have had, you find a lot of Duster or Demon 340 tributes which once housed grocery-getting engines.
The cowl tag for this ‘71 Demon (which was removed) identifies the original color as FJ6 or Sassy Grass Green, one of Chrysler’s wild Hi-Impact colors. The car has been treated to some form of restoration, although it’s not gone as far as a rotisserie. If there are any imperfections with the body, paint, or interior, they’re not prevalent.
The 340 here is a replacement engine that has been tweaked to produce 430 hp. But the car could still be considered numbers matching as the original motor was preserved and comes along with the deal. With a 4-speed manual transmission, this should be one potent little Mopar and the entire suspension has been rebuilt, too. This auto may have lived all its life in the Pacific Northwest, having been sold new at a Dodge dealer in Spokane. The Dodge has only had three owners, which includes the seller. This car resides in British Columbia, but if a U.S. buyer does the deal, he/she can pick it up “south of the border”.
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Comments
The auction listing states numbers matching AND replacement engine. What are the chances? I always wanted a T/A or AAR this color, though this Demon sure is appealing.
As a nice as it is it has a major flaw. With over 400 horsepower in a unibody car after about the 10th burnout it will break in half basically. You have to at least put a partial roll cage in these cars to take away the body flex
I had a buddy who bought a new Duster in 1972. A 318 3sp. A great car, more than enough HP.
Is that so John? My, my you sound informed.
Every Mopar of this era was a unibody car.
I bought a new Duster 340 in 1970. Just about everything you could get on one…buckets, console, A/C, 4 speed, posi rear end. Hi 13s car right out of the box. Spent quite a bit of money trying to get it into the 12s, but never quite got there. Never had any trouble with body flex, drag raced it just about every weekend for 4 years.
Sub frame connectors are an easy, relatively inexpensive cure for that. I use them on my BB 69 Nova & they are very effective.
Hummm🤔, what car want a unibody back then ? We put traction bars on, fay tires, did burnouts in front of the high school every day ! Some guy even put slicks on and took them to the local dragstrip. US 131 Martin dragway ! Can’t recall any car folding up or breaking in half. But we had fun ! If we could only go back with the knowledge we have today!
finally someone who had the foresight to hod rod another motor and keep the numbers matching one. nicely done car. someone will scoff it up as long as the reserve isn’t uneasonable
I’ll agree with you on that. Even add the only unibody I ever saw that tore was a 77 Trans am with a 455 transplant that had been rebuilt. Easily pushed500 hp. T tops split that car not the unibody.
Always liked these cars…. just couldn’t get past the name. Sorry Dodge, not a Demon lover… come over Plymouth Duster.
Are/were you afraid that happily owning 1 might keep you from passing thru them pearly gates? lol
Religious groups did get Dodge to change the name of this car in later model years.
Remove the badges and give it an exorcism.
John, frame connectors are all that’s needed if you plan on whipping a car like this. I ran a 64 valiant with a 383 and beat it regularly at the track with consistent 12.8s @ 103 mph for 9 yrs. Never a frame or body twist issue. But why whip a beauty like this.
My friend put a 440 in one of these and used frame connectors and ran it hard for many years. Never gad feame problems that I remember
Back in 1979 there was a crazy kid that took a Dart, cut the inner fenders and stuffed a 440 in the car. It could literally melt the tires at will anytime anywhere. The car wasn’t in great shape it was actually quite rusty and even with the big block it never broke in half. And trust me that nutty kid now about 67 lol didn’t baby that car
What is it with the insane prices on 70’s MoPars? Geez, these were some of the cheapest cars when new and are now bringing premium prices. I can see the Hemi and winged cars bringing high prices, but this was a economical car, even with the 340. Guess since most of them rusted away in 10 years any that are left are worth more now.
The car is in Green Go, Sassy Grass is a Plymouth color.
My 71 Demon never had any chassis problems, it was a Lm29h1. I can’t count how many burnouts with no issues, buried the speedo several times the 150+, the only problem was it starts to float a bit, that’s when you let off. Car was sold to Beverly hills car club, check out the web site and enter stock #15074.
Sweet car. The Duster is the last affordable muscle car left. But with reserve this outlandish it too will be out of the working man’s reach.
This is a sweet car! I remember when they came out. If we only had a few of the creature features we have now, man would that be a car. I never cared for the duster but the Demon was good looking and even if you didn’t have 430 hp under the hood it was a great to drive. The other car from Chrysler was the GTX. My buddy had one when we were 16. God, that feels like 2 centuries ago. I could remember things better then. Lol!
I bid $45,550 and a no go on the reserve. It’s amazing what these “Dust-Pans” are going for these days.
Nice looking car, very well kept.
Curiously, the seller provides pictures of spare parts but not one of the original block. That’s kind of an important piece.
i thought i saw a red block no heads close up of the stamping number area.
i could be wrong though. i does happen once in a blue moon- he says with a cheeky grin
Bid to $52k & reserve not met. Relished with a buy it now of $70k. Unbelievable what the market has gone too. In todays’s market, I had a million dollars worth of cars when I was a teenager in the 70’s & early 80’s…