408 Stroker V8: 1971 Dodge Dart
As you start looking at the finer details of this 1971 Dodge Dart, you will begin to realize the profound change that it has undergone from its humble roots. It would have been an excellent car when it was new, but it is now a stunning car that demands respect. After transforming this classic into the beast that you see before you, the owner has decided that the time is right to part with the Dodge. It is located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and the owner has listed it for sale here on eBay. He has set a BIN of $32,900, but there is the option to make an offer.
When it rolled off the line finished in Bright Red, this Dart would have been an attractive looking car. A previous owner decided to ramp this up a notch by changing the color to the highly-desirable Plum Crazy. The work was performed over 15-years-ago, and soon afterward, the Dart was parked in a barn and forgotten about. The current owner pulled it out of hiding and recently treated it to a wet sand and a polish. The result of this hard labor has been worth the effort because it now presents with an impressive depth of shine. There are a few chips and minor scratches, but none of these are bad enough to warrant a repaint. The Black vinyl top appears to be in good order, while the stripes are crisp and clean. Classics of this era will always pose the eternal question about rust issues. That doesn’t appear to be a consideration here. The panels show no evidence of any problems, while the underside photos reveal a car that is as structurally sound as you could hope to find.
If the exterior transformation is impressive, then what has happened under the hood is even more so. The Dart rolled out of the showroom with the 198ci slant-six engine under the hood. This motor would have produced 125hp, which would have provided the original owner with acceptable performance. The previous owner who performed the color change pulled the six, and in its place, he slotted in a 318ci V8. The transformation would have been quite profound and would have knocked an easy 3-seconds off the Dart’s ¼ mile ET. When the current owner rescued the car, he decided that even the 318 wasn’t up to the job. He sourced a stroked 360 that now boasts a whopping 408ci. This monster had come out of a Duster that was turning 11-second passes, but even that wasn’t enough to satisfy the owner. The original cylinder heads were binned in favor of aluminum, while a .550″ lift camshaft was installed. There is no word on what sort of power the 408 delivers, but I suspect that the correct answer would be somewhere around “a lot!” The TorqueFlite transmission was updated with a manual valve body and a 3500 stall torque converter, and this feeds all of those horses to an 8¾” Posi rear end. Spent gases exit the V8 via a set of plated headers and a Magnaflow dual exhaust. As part of the revival process, the Dodge was fitted with new fuel and brake lines, along with a new tank and sender unit. The owner rebuilt the front end with Moog ball joints, suspension bushings, and any other required parts. The front brakes underwent a disc conversion, which means that the Dart should be a more reassuring beast if you have to hit the anchors in a hurry. It is no surprise to learn that the Dodge runs and drives well and that it is a tight car with no evidence of squeaks or rattles.
The Dart’s interior surprised me slightly when I looked at the photos. This was nothing to do with the condition because there isn’t a lot to fault. The thing that surprised me was that the owner has not fitted any aftermarket gauges to monitor the health of that monster under the hood. I expected to see at least an oil pressure gauge and a tach, but it is all as it left the factory. However, the buyer isn’t going to need to spend a lot of money inside this classic. The carpet set is new, while the rest of the upholstery and soft trim is close to perfect. The dash is spotless, and the pad shows no evidence of discoloring or cracks. There is a radio/cassette player fitted into the dash and a set of speakers mounted in the rear parcel tray, but that is about the only nod to luxury inside the Dodge. Still, who needs music when you can listen to the song being played by that fantastic V8?
This 1971 Dodge Dart is not a meticulously restored original classic, but it is a spotless build that should have more than enough power to satisfy most enthusiasts. The drivetrain wants for nothing, and the overall presentation would be nothing to be ashamed of. Assigning a value to it is not easy because its last two owners have dramatically transformed it. The reality is that it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Now that you know more about this 1971 Dart, what would you be willing to pay?
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Comments
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Nice looking car, but that could be improved if there was no rear wing and someone had installed a factory console and floor shifter.
Performance wise, any claim is just hot air until they produce a time slip to back up theirs claims. The tale this seller spins works best on a crowd at the local car show where everyone has a 10 second 600+ horsepower street car that’s only been to a racetrack if there was a show in a corner of the pits.
Steve R
You a glass half empty guy? More positive people live longer and live happier lives while doing so. Look at me, I am like Methuselah, old as dirt, but I am a happy guy.
I’ve read your post, stop lying.
Steve R
No Steve R, I prefer to take people at their word. Until proven otherwise, I would like to think most people are honest. Bitterness leads you down a dark lonely path son.
Good for you William, your a funny guy. Over the years we’ve never gotten along no matter which user name you’ve been using such as Ken Jennings, Billy007, Uncle Lou, Susan Oliver or one of the many others I can’t remember. I’m very happy, just blunt, and prefer not to be lectured at by someone playing games that is as troubled as you.
Steve R
Glass half empty is fine. It leaves room for vodka
SteveR, ?????. Ahh Ahab, still chasing that great white whale? You are a strange man Stevie, but I guess that is why we love you. Of course, we love all our “special” children.
Steve R I think you have a stalker! This old turd shows up time and time again, most recently as “William.” Despite the
name it’s still the same old negative drivel.
Chris M: Absolutely! The repetition is getting old, William et al., time to move on…..
Chris, I am not saying I am or am not all those people he says I am, but of one thing I am certain. Steve is a repeat drunk driver, was supposed to go to prison, did he buy his way out? Why should we believe anything he says? He needs to apologize to everyone here before respect is given.
William, I almost feel sorry for you. I’m not sure what drives you, but there is something seriously wrong with your mental health. You are a bitter man that tries to pass himself off to a bunch of strangers as a reasonable person, but you can’t pull it off for long. Is that why you change your name so often, that you can’t keep it together and your real personality starts coming through? It’s happening again, I guess you are almost through with this user name and will reappear as someone else in a week or so.
Steve R
Yeah, maybe I will try Steve Arrrrh! Noticed no mention of your drunk driving conviction. Are you not sorry for that indifferent lapse in judgment? A simple, “I was wrong, I have repented, I will never risk another’s life again because of my selfishness.” is all it would take to be rid of the thorn in your side forever. Willing to do the right thing? (or are you taking the example of certain people in Washington DC?)
Yep, it’s same guy/girl. Lol Wow what a freak show.
@ChrisM, so you approve of drunk driving? Have you ever been affected by it? Some of us have. Before you call someone a freak, maybe you should be a little more empathetic Perhaps if more of you demanded an explanation by SteveR, then I would go away forever, you have my word on that.. Drunks and cars do not mix, ever.
Willian, stop fabricating lies. It just reinforces how unstable you are. Just go away, your trolling is pathetic, take it somewhere else.
Steve R
Go an have a stiff one Stevie, obviously that is your life. The fact that you will not even try to explain yourself says volumes. I just hope you do not hurt anyone with your selfishness, but only time will tell. Acknowledge your sins, then we will part forever. Confession is good for the soul.
William, how exactly does someone explain a lie to the person that fabricated the lie? Stop creating stories in an attempt to make others look bad while trying to build a fantasy world where you attempt to come across like a reasonable person.
Steve R
Maybe the fantasy is yours. You write from your prison cell yet you tell the world and yourself that you are a complete human being, an expert on all without flaw. See you in the next life StevieBoy. Hang in there, careful reaching for that dropped soap.
Demon, not Dart , though the bloodline is easy to see
Dodge Dart Demon to be precise, Wish I had one but with the round factory gages
Actually a Dart Demon. I had a 1972.
That Demon is stunning. Period.
I would not touch a thing, and that includes the column shift 😎
Well maybe that air cleaner cover I hate those!
And the radiator and valve covers. I hope he gets 30k for it. Only brings up the value of my true H code.
A column shifter with a manual valve body??Hows that working out??
Great looking Demon.
Very curious, Adam. Was there some sort of traumatic experience somewhere in the course of your life that has rendered you unable to use the term “Demon”?
This is a cool looking Demon 😈! I understand why the owner didn’t put Tach,oil gauge etc. To make it look nice a clean. And not to give away what’s under the hood. I would imagine the gears are 3:91 posi. By the look of those headers the engine must be a beast! The only problem the the shifter on the column. After a while the bushings will wear our making the handle sloppy. Otherwise good luck and have fun to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
Unmistakably Undeniably a plum crazy demon forgive me Lord
Nice demon,But I never could like the spoiler-Its too much.Still nice.I am redoing a 71 twister just repainted to orignal in violet. I did not do the spoiler .looks killer.Its a v-8 3pd manual with 8 3/4,buckets,rally dash,skarktooth grill,disk brake,rally wheels(stock style,but 15″,they fill the wheel well very nice) I would love too share a pic.Its still being assembled. This demon has a very clean look,makes me proud of mine!! I,m a lucky guy to have mine.
Once again a real hot rod for the price of new family sedan. Go for it! Some timing slips from a nearby drag strip might be nice.
Manual valve body in the transmission with a column shift is going to tiring in a hurry.
It’s actually quite fun. I built a column-shift ’72 Demon a number of years ago with a warm 360 and a 727 that was full manual-reverse… you just get used to moving the shifter around.
Or maybe it’s just me since my first car was a Dodge Dart with a manual three-on-the-tree?
The seller is close by where I live and has had badass Mopars as long back I can remember…He knows his way around them
With all the engine modifications some other modifications are in order since this was originally a SIX Cylinder car” Upgrade brakes to Front Power Disc, add sway bar, increase torsion bar size,. I had special ordered a 192 Dodge Dart Swinger, 318 V 8 automatic with Electronic ignition, Heavy Duty Suspension, Power Front Disc brakes heavy duty battery, d70X14 Black side wall tires, all exterior mouldings, am radio, NO VINYL TOP. and Gunmetal Gray metallic paint, rear window defogger, she was a pretty car, ran well handled well. Not a fan of hacked up dash panels to install a cassette player which was NOT a factory option for A Bodies. Pictures not clear but I believe owner has BYPASSED the heater core so that might be leaking. If you want full instrumentation you could install the Rallye dash with oil pressure gauge, temp gauge tachometer or performance vacuum gauge that was standard with 340 vehicle 1970/71 model years.
I had a reverse pattern manual valve body in my big block/turbo400 ’68 Chevelle with an aftermarket floor shifter and that’s the only way I’d drive that set up. On the column?? Seems counter productive really.
Heck of a nice Dodge Demon though, got to like that 408 stroker motor and can only imagine the neck snapping acceleration, especially if it had a decent floor shifter. It’s hard to swallow but I skipped over a similar Demon years ago, in red, 340 Demon for a thousand bucks! Dag nammit! Peace.
Back in about 75 a cousin had a 72 Demon with a 340 console automatic. Gray with the black stripes. It was pretty quick with cam and rear end swap. Anyone in Memphis would know that car.
Beautiful car, but ended without a buyer.
I hope the original engine swap included K-member swap also. Six cyl and eight cylinder k-members are different.