Real H-Code: 1972 Plymouth Duster 340
With the sporty 2-Door body, it’s easy to forget that the Plymouth Duster was actually based on the Valiant, and while it was primarily aimed towards buyers looking for an affordable and economical car there were some engine options that could spruce up performance significantly. For ’72, choices included a pair of slant-six motors along with two V8s, one being the 340 which was as good as it got. And although the latter was down 35 horsepower from the previous year due to a reduction in compression, it still made 240 horses, not all that shabby for the time period. This 1972 Plymouth Duster here on eBay is a factory 340 car, but it’s now equipped with a 360, with lots of love having been poured into this one over the last several years. The car is in the beautiful New England area of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, with bidding currently sitting at $30,100, still south of the reserve.
The owner says he and his father purchased the car in 2014, but prior to that, it had not been registered since 1980. The Mopar was taken to a shop where the body was pulled apart and all the necessary repairs were made, with the results sort of speaking for themselves as the exterior seems to present beautifully from every angle we get to see. The panels line up well, the stripes appear to be straight, and those Radial T/As look right at home on the rally wheels. The rear is also equipped with air shocks, so the driver can raise the car up a bit to give it a meaner stance if you’re into that sort of thing.
Upon his acquisition, the seller says the 340 was long gone, but under the hood was a 360 Magnum instead. As much attention to detail as possible has been given to make the motor look like a stock 340, with a date correct intake manifold added along with a Thermoquad, plus the proper exhaust manifolds. It’s said to run well and has recently received a tune-up, but be aware there is an oil leak that’s believed to be coming from the pan. The Duster was originally equipped with a 727 TorqueFlite, but that was recently changed out with a Tremec 5-Speed manual transmission, with a new differential also added sporting 3.90 gears. It’s said to now be a great highway cruiser.
Another attention-to-detail item can be found inside, as this was originally a column-shift automatic, but that component was replaced with a rebuilt unit correct for a floor shift car. I’m liking the bench seat with the shifter, and everything we can see inside is looking pretty decent overall with all the gauges said to be functioning properly. We also get a few shots from the undercarriage, which appears to be in fine shape plus sub-frame connectors have also been welded in. In these days of $30k and above Dusters, this one certainly seems deserving, I’m just not sure how much higher I’d be willing to go. How about you?
Auctions Ending Soon
1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1Bid Now9 hours$7,100
2003 Porsche Boxster SBid Now10 hours$6,250
1966 Lincoln ContinentalBid Now12 hours$500
2000 Jaguar XJ8LBid Now4 days$1,250
1977 Datsun 280ZBid Now5 days$275
Comments
What we have here is a sweet Mopar!!! I would not be surprised if this hits $40,000. Great drivetrain setup. That’s the way I would go . I would ditch the air shocks re arc the leaf springs and put in either bilsteins or KYB shocks. And change the steering wheel to the Tuff design. Maybe install a aftermarket AC kit . And have fun driving this hot Duster!! Good luck to the next owner! 🐻🇺🇸
Now this I can see at 40k also what a sweet little duster
Cool Mopar. 😎 nice 5spd and steep gears ⚙️ zoom.
I like it, but I don’t think this is a Mopar yellow. Can’t see it going much higher as you are getting into “real” 340 prices.
Nice for the price and its has the optional theft device with the vehicle, standard shift! Insurance companies should be discounting insurance on Standard shift vehicle. The younger generations can’t drive them.
Just to be clear, I have zero interest in this Duster. Firstly, would like to know how a stock cast iron intake bolts up to 360 Magnum cylinder heads. Never a fan of the 360 engines. Early factory 360 cars had rod bearing issues. Then the oil leak repair will not come cheap, probably a rear main seal. The color is wrong, the engine….no thanks, someone is not thinking properly if they spend more than $30k, and that’s too high.
I agree, the yellow does not look like Lemon Twist , and the body plate is out of focus and is rusted out in places, and looks like a lot of paint is on it , so much that you cant make out the paint code.
Awesome looking car. I’ve always loved the 1970-72 Plymouth Duster and Valiant. I hope this bad boy goes to a good owner. As nice as it is, $30k is rather steep. I’d be willing to pay between $15k and $20k.
I agree, the site won’t let me give you a like, but I tried……
I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve had no problems with giving people a “like”.
Not a fan of 360’s, the cast crank never interested me, with some searching you can still find 340’s. The 72 340 dusters had two different cranks, cast for the automatic and forged for the 4 speed. I’m sure it’s a good driving car, but the missing motor and 5 speed do not interest me. The car looks well done I bet the oil leak is a rear main seal, still very beautiful car.
I do love me a good ruster and this one presents well but ultimately it’s a frankencar and should be valued as such. Current auction results are acting like it’s a numbers marching survivor not a restomod.
Oh well, i for one won’t succumb to the peer pressure of spending 20 times the value for these cars and will hold out that one day reality will rear its ugly head again and values of everything will come back down into reality. Or I’ll be long gone and won’t have to worry about it.
Agree with you about not being a fan. This 360 is not a magnum, the first 360’s came out in 71/72 using 340 type heads with smaller valve(s) so the intake date is not an issue. Magnums have completely different heads and many other changes. The fender tag shows paint code FY1 ‘Lemon Twist’. Well in 71, Mopar darkened FY1 and is a different hue than FY1 Lemon twist of ’70 so may be accurate. Also looking at the tag, this was originally an automatic, not a manual car. Not originally a ‘go-wing’ car either and it should have a flat hood with no decals, also per the fender tag. Your dead on about it being worth 30k max. It’s just a clone. But a nice car if you don’t care about originality.
All FY1 cars of any year were intended to be the same color, there was no change for 1971, or in any other year that it was offered. An intentional change in the shade would have resulted in a change in the first letter of the paint code, i.e. a slightly darker yellow in ’71 would have been GY1 or GY2, just as the change in ’71 in “B5 blue” from the 1969-70 version was indicated by the change from EB5 to GB5.
While the ambient lighting may be influencing the appearance of whatever yellow is on this car in these photos, it looks closer to Curious Yellow, although that wasn’t a factory offering in ’72, as it was a one-year-only offering in 1971.
Great ad from an honest seller.
That seems to be a rarity these days.
I to don’t even like the wanta be lemon color it doesn’t work for this wannabe Duster I don’t even see paying over 20k do to non matching numbers and does not have factory drivetrain in it. So basically you got a Duster put together with what it can get to make it run,,,,just a weekend track car to burn cup the rubber in ….nothing special, nothing to brag about. Worth maybe 14k
It brings me memories of my ’71 Twister. My 1st car in 1977, a sheep in wolf’s clothing. It had the same hood and grill but orange in color, which some people called red, propelled by a 2bbl 318 automatic.
My girlfriend discovered an alternate use for the vent doors under the dash. A 12 pack of bottles fit nicely and came out like a vending machine.
I dont know I like dusters but check this one close and you can see undercoat sprayed on the underside And upper cowl painted black its hard to tell if its covering rust. I think this car probably has a lot of yesteryear history You would have to see it in person to make a serious bid
Had a 74 Duster had painted SUBLIME . Also put a black Starsky & Hutch stripe on it factory rallies ,a 340 hood scoop .But it only had a slant 6 could
not get out of its own way.It looked real cool ,ALL SHOW & NO GO …LOL
Made it to $31,100, ended at Reserve Not Met.