One-Owner 35k Mile 1973 Plymouth Duster 340
UPDATE 8/5/24. The seller apparently hasn’t seen enough interest in the car in the last threes months, so the price has been lowered to $28,500 here on craigslist. We’re not aware that anything else has changed about this one-family muscle machine.
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The Duster arrived in 1970 as the new fastback version of the smaller Plymouth Valiant. It was quite popular, and the Duster 340 would become a leader in the growing compact muscle car market. This amazing (or we suspect) example is offered by its original owner and is said to have only traveled 35,000 miles. Other than a repaint and wheels, it’s said to be original and unmolested. Located in Garden City, Michigan, this impressive Mopar is available here on craigslist for $32,500. Our thanks to Tony Primo for another nifty tip!
Developed in 1968, Chrysler’s 340 cubic inch small-block V8 was a hot and in-demand engine. Across six model years, it went into nearly 217,000 Dodges and Plymouths. The 1973 model year was its second best at 51,000 installations and 15,700 Duster 340s were assembled that year. With a 4-barrel carburetor, the engine peaked at 275 hp before detuning and a smaller number of 3×2 barrel versions were sold that were conservatively rated at 290 (in Challengers and ‘Cudas).
We wish there were more current photos of this ’73 Duster. Instead, the seller relies on photo album stuff that shows the car back in the day. So, we’re not treated to much of the interior and engine compartment. Unlike so many of these street roads when they were new, this one was not run into the ground and the claimed mileage is a scant 35k. The engine and transmission are numbers-matching and only the seller and his/her mechanic have ever worked on it.
Apparently, this Plymouth appeared in some movies, though we don’t know which ones. However the seller has documentation to back up claims of originality. It sports “Richard Petty Blue” paint which has only been reapplied once. The bucket seat interior is white as a nice contrast color with the body stripes. We’re told the back seat has never been sat (c’mon, man!). The car’s Cragar mag wheels wear new tires, the car has air shocks, and the exhaust system is from Flowmaster (connected to headers). If you’re looking for a seriously maintained 50-year-old muscle car, could this one be it?
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Comments
Heck yes!!!
This is what a Duster is supposed to look like.
Awesome looking car in the correct color!
My uncle owned a car lot and I used to work for him during the summer months detailing cars and driving cars from the auction. I got to drive the identical car from the auction to his dealership. A classmate of mine bought it and tweaked the engine and suspension slightly and ran it at the Utica Rome Speedway. That brought back some fond memories of my teenage years.
Nice find Primo.. 👌 cool 😎 73 Duster Steep gears, Torq-flite 727, and a 340 is a potent combo on the street or track 🏁
What is with this ad? No modern engine shots? No interior shots. I don’t need to see the snotty nosed teenage pictures from the 70s, a modern buyer needs todays reality, not nostalgia. I would be very careful about this one, very careful indeed.
Did not have your breakfast this morning, Herbert? To each his own.
Nah, I’m grumpy all the time. If you look closer, you will see I wrote that last night just before Mother gave me my glass of warm milk and tucked me snug into bed.
BTW, any thoughts as to the points I made?
Better grab a cup of coffee to eat your attitude. If I’m correct, this owner may have passed and his son has it. It’s numbers matching, low miles. That should tell you what you need to know. Besides your not going to buy it anyway !
I’m not going to buy it because I already have a 73 Duster 340 , but just saying its numbers matching with no proof means very little to a potential buyer, just like saying it was in a movie, and then not saying which movie it was in. I could tell you my Duster was in an episode of “Emergency” – do you believe me ?
The seller says he and his mechanic have done all the work needed for ” all these” years, so I doubt its the sellers son .
I think its one of three things – Its either a fake ad, the seller is too lazy to post decent pictures, or he’s just posting it but doesn’t really want to sell it.
Basin Street Blue , not Petty blue , if you dont mind me being “petty” .
The air cleaner is wrong for the year , it should be a lot bigger and orange ,but my big question is, for being supposedly being a well cared for car with only 35k on it, why would it need to be repainted ?
Maybe from Levi’s rivets scratching up the hood? lol j/k
Correct on both counts, Don.
TB3 was originally in the Chrysler palette so that they could paint corporate vehicles, as that is both Corporate Blue and Plymouth Blue. When added to the High Impact selections for 1972, Plymouth called it Basin Street Blue. It’s often referred to as Petty Blue, and it’s very close, but Richard Petty himself has always maintained that Petty Blue and Corporate Blue were not the same.
The air cleaner observation is also correct. When Chrysler stopped painting high performance engines Hemi Orange as a running change during the 1971 model year, those engines were painted Corporate Blue like all other engines, but the air cleaner assemblies got the Hemi Orange paint treatment.
73 Duster 340s only came with 3:21 or 3:55 rear gears , but the seller says its got 3:73 gears – no mention of any changes to this “original” car.
Better watch out, you might be accused of being judgemental from the peanut gallery.
Bone, 3.73’s are the default gear ratio people tend to state when they don’t know what they actually have. When I worked in automotive we would often need to ask about certain specifications to help choose certain parts, such as carb, intake, camshaft, etc., 3.73’s or 4.11’s were the most common rear rod ratio, M22 (rock crusher) was the most common GM manual transmission. Most people don’t know the specs of their car, they are just parroting something they were told or read in a magazine.
Steve R
No, rock crushers weren’t the most common GM 4-speeds.
Read the add. Look at the pictures, most are recent, definitely worth a look,bring cash.
Can not believe the long haired guy and his girl friend were never in the back seat!!!!!!!!!!!!
You stole my comment – LOL!
The back seat is a little tight in a Duster. That is why I bought a 72′ Dodge Van back in the day. LOL
I believe in a Duster, the only real good option here is the front passanger seat. Might need a little contortion, but in the end, probably worth the effort. In my day, we had big bench seats, much better for such activities.
some 73 Dusters had fold down rear seats and opened up into the trunk ..this could be one of those
I definitely would be nice to see more current photos of this beauty, especially the interior and trunk.
To everyone on this thread. I contacted the seller and below is how this sale is happening. Sound interesting me. First is my questions to him the second paragraph is his response BTW He didn’t send the pics I asked for. Enjoy!
My Question
Hey Tony
Would love to see some pics of the engine and interior. Very nice car, my email is hopefully listed in the from line. What is your reason for selling it?
Mike
Tonys response
I just got a divorce after 20 years and Im a film director and my recent film blew up to where Im forced to shoot a sequel in June, point being—I need a newer minivan to travel to all these conventions that im invited as a gusset, I make thousands at those and my screenings. So Im divorced and have a new place and dont need to sell it, but I dont have a place to store it and 88* with the money Im making “I could by 10 of them pretty soon, but my other cars a 98 Ranger so I cant drive the duster, so i was getting rentals. So now im letting it go to embrace my awesome future 734-634-6534 text and ill textu the pics, COME TAKE A LOOK AT CAR N TEST DRIVE IT
The more skeptical a response is the more likely it may be true. Good luck on your new adventure Tony.
I’d feel silly paying 33K for a ’73 Duster, even if it is a 340. The rear end was an 8 3/4, not an 8 1/4. 3.73 was a pretty tall gearset with a 727.
Not sure of a 73′ gearing, but the early 340’s came standard with the 3.23. Being at the time of gas wars, I would not think you would want a higher gear, maybe a 3.55. Never heard of a 4.11 in a 340 stock.
No 8 3/4 in 73. It was 8 1/4 with large bolt pattern axles.