Rust-Free Ragtop: 1964 Dodge Dart 270
With yet another 5-6 inches of snow coming down here, my thoughts turn to summer. Who am I kidding, I have never liked winter and I’m always thinking of summer. What better way to get your Vitamin-D fix than with a convertible like this 1964 Dodge Dart 270 ragtop. This survivor, driver, and/or project Dart can be found here on eBay with a current bid price of over $2,500 but the reserve isn’t met yet. There is a buy it now price of $5,000 and it’s located in Fort Ann, New York.
I love the futuristic styling of the third-generation Dart. My personal favorite is the one-year-only second-gen cars, but the ’63 to ’66 Darts are great with those fuselage headlights and the clean styling. It just has somewhat of a space-age look to it.
The seller does mention that the “Power top works great” and it “needs the back window put in, and the car was outside for the summer, so I taped up a plastic window.” The trunk is pretty dinged up and the body panels are also dinged. But, dents and dings aside, the seller says that this Dart “has really no rust at all, and is solid as a rock.” That’s great news, I don’t know if I’ve seen one that didn’t have rust around the rear wheels and bottoms of the doors and elsewhere. A rust-free Dart convertible? All day long, my friends.
The 270 was a mid-trim level above the 170 but below the GT. The interior looks great from what I can see and the “Push button tranny shifts and operates perfectly.” The brakes are somewhat locked up as it had been sitting outside in the summer, which is why the rear window was taped up, but it’s inside now. Bring a ball peen hammer and get those brakes working and drive this baby home.
This car has the optional 225 slant-six, one of the world’s greatest engines. It put out 145 hp, around 45 hp more than the standard 170 slant-six had. There are things that a person can do to boost the horsepower a bit if keeping things bone-stock isn’t your bag. I would maybe just clean the big-H out of this Dart, fix everything that needs fixing and drive it as it looks now. It’s almost in the realm of tv detective car condition, which is cool to me. How would you do up this Dart?
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Comments
Boy I know these A-bodied Darts well. Great cars with the slanty or the 273. They handle well and get good mileage. No rust is really rare!
Make sure that it’ll stop and go! Like you said clean it up and drive it. No shame with this car. If it’s lasted 55 years I see no reason why it shouldn’t last another 55 and I won’t be around to see that.
Great find and well worth the money if the condition is what the seller says it is. That slant 6 (also known as the leaning tower of power) is one of the most bullet proof engines ever produced. Clean it up, fix the brakes and start driving it!
A very cool-looking car. Love the styling; simple and clean. I wouldn’t change a thing on this Dart except for some cosmetic freshening. Clean the interior, detail the engine and give it a fresh coat of paint. The slant six is dependable, durable and adequate for the size. If I were in the market, $5,000 seems like a good price. After paying the $5k and painting it, I wouldn’t think you’d be upside on it. Nice find for someone.
This front-end treatment reminds me of the Chrysler Turbine Car of ’63 &’64.
Exactly.
So much rattle-can red and overspray. I’ve got an MG just like this. I’d like to believe the rust-free claim, and it may be the photo is giving some distortion–to me the area behind the rear wheel on the driver’s side looks like it’s been worked, and the rear fascia on the passenger side has come loose. Still, not a bad price for entry into the vintage convertible hobby.
Squint your eyes and see styling cues from the Chrysler Turbine car.
Yep. Might have to dust off my copy of ‘The Lively Set’ for this one. :D
Surprised no one has pulled the trigger on the BIN price for this yet.
What’s not to like? Simplicity at its best.
Great engine and tranny. Fix the brakes,
the top, and just drive it! I really see Mom
driving this one and it’s priced right too!
Too bad I haven’t been hired by BF so that
I could actually afford it though. Great
find!
I think I see power steering hoses, if so, it’s even better…
Cool car that will gets lots of thumbs up.
Those engines sound GREAT with headers! I’d put on headers and fix whatever needs to be fixed and drive with the top down all summer!
Really sweet.looks like it will just polish up! I love resale red!
There’s one out here in the next town over driven every day by a older fellow wearing a hat like Gilligan did. Rain or shine the top is down. It crossed my mind that maybe it was a hardtop that had had the rood chopped. Haven’t gotten close enough to scope it out.
Wrong coast again!
Love the ball-peen hammer suggestion, Scotty! Works on cantankerous starters too, not to mention would-be car-jackers. Glad to see you give this Dart proper respect for all the right reasons. A buddy of mine in Santa Barbara CA had one of these Dart convertibles until just a few years ago, just a never-restored driver that stayed on the road all those years. Nice one!
Nice write-up as usual, Scotty. I bought this exact model in the early seventies for $100 and used it as a daily driver for the next ten years. Sold it for a super beetle. Should have kept the Dodge. It was very reliable and fun to drive. Just keep a spare ballast resistor to install when the car won’t start. And it has the cool Dodge 50th anniversary medallion on the steering wheel center.
in the early 70’s you could always find a car for $100-$300. Use it for a while and sell it for what you paid for it.
Always kept a few resistors in the glove box for a duster years ago!
One of my someday cars.
not bad for up state…….
Missed out on buying one also red. My ex’s uncle owned it and restored it, including a new top. Then, a lack of interest (I think), made him park it out beside his shop in the Texas sun. I wasn’t looking to buy, but when it was offered, I figured why not? Thought it would be a great car to teach my daughters to drive in. Unfortunately, the deal was shut down by his wife (my daughter’s aunt), who stated she wanted to start driving it. Well, that never happened, the car sat while the top deteriorated and fell in, then was sold for less than I was going to buy it for.
Nice
Went fast