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Dodge Dart Is Back After 36 Years
http://www.kansascity.com ^ | May 09, 2012 | ANN M. JOB

Posted on 05/10/2012 11:51:39 AM PDT by BO Stinkss

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To: TurboZamboni
I liked my old one in the 70's with the indestructable slant 6 motor. black vinyl top...sexy.

My Dad bought a '74 based on the experience my gf's dad had with his '73. The '73 was awsome and indestructible. Our '74 was so bad my Dad ditched it before 30k miles. I could post a book about the problems we had with that car.

Additionally, boy am I old!
21 posted on 05/10/2012 12:17:22 PM PDT by BikerJoe
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To: Beagle8U
Huh? I had to stop reading at that point.

Obviously, you can take a solid Dart and put in a bigger engine. But the VAST majority of those cars were the base package, not the dressed up versions. The Dart your brother had was great, but most at the time were getting Chargers, Challengers, Cudas and Road Runners.

I would think of your brother's car as a Dart, with a much more powerful engine. That's great, but it is not what made the Dart what it was. It moved whole families, little ol' ladies and later on high school students. I do hope your brother beefed up the front end. By the way, my other Chryslers were a '65 Chrylser 300 (383 with four barrel carb) and an '89 Chrysler Fifth Avenue (318 V-8, the LAST V-8 auto Chrysler would make for more than a decade). So, I have nothing against big engines.
22 posted on 05/10/2012 12:20:46 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: Abathar

What about its sister, the Plymouth Valiant?


23 posted on 05/10/2012 12:21:16 PM PDT by expat2
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To: Dr. Sivana

Back in 1968, the Iowa Highway Patrol bought a fleet of Chrysler Newport sedans set up for police duty. They were white four door sedans with the 440 motor. I was driving a ‘66 Chevy 396 rat motor and got to know the local patrolman (another story.)
I mentioned to the trooper than the 396 was fortunate to turn in 8 miles per gallon on leaded premium. He said the 440 was lucky to get 10...


24 posted on 05/10/2012 12:22:45 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: oyez

It’s a FIAT Linea with some new panels. The wheelbase is the same as, is the engine.


25 posted on 05/10/2012 12:22:59 PM PDT by Ouderkirk (Democrats...the party of Slavery, Segregation, Sodomy, and Sedition)
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To: Dr. Sivana

I had one of the stripped down Darts, a 67 ran good drove like a tank, wish I still had it


26 posted on 05/10/2012 12:23:07 PM PDT by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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To: freedomlover

How about the Hemi Dart.
Still terrorizing drag strips everywhere.
Wheels up.


27 posted on 05/10/2012 12:23:10 PM PDT by certrtwngnut (It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the votes. (Josef Stalin))
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To: BO Stinkss

28 posted on 05/10/2012 12:24:17 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: newfreep

My parents had a Dodge Dart.


29 posted on 05/10/2012 12:24:49 PM PDT by Lazamataz (To the wall, street occupiers!!!!!)
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To: TheRhinelander

It’s a FIAT...Fix It Again Tony

http://www.fiat.com/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/FIAT_COM/showroom/showroom.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1280301523.1336677695@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadfgihildfdcefecejgdfkhdfjh.0&contentOID=1074105099


30 posted on 05/10/2012 12:27:22 PM PDT by Ouderkirk (Democrats...the party of Slavery, Segregation, Sodomy, and Sedition)
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To: BO Stinkss

D.I.N.O.


31 posted on 05/10/2012 12:31:41 PM PDT by 762X51
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To: expat2

Same thing, the Valiant was a cheap and affordable car that never lasted long, at least in Michigan winters with the salt spray but the drive train was dependable as hell.

We had the Dart, and also 2 Coronets. I always preferred the Coronets, had both with a 318, one automatic and one “three on the tree”, so simple and basic that even a major overhaul if needed was still simple to do.

The only thing I didn’t like was the torsion bars for the front suspension, I had two of them break at different times while driving and that isn’t fun, once it was at highway speeds.


32 posted on 05/10/2012 12:34:38 PM PDT by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: newfreep

Looks like all the other cars out there. Are there no original car designers?

I so miss the older designs. Even the 70s were more creative. All the cars on the road today look like this thing.

ugh.


33 posted on 05/10/2012 12:34:38 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: certrtwngnut

Yep, I saw the first ones at the 1968 NRHA Nationals in Indy. BAAAAD MF’s

What do you get if you cross a Valient with a Comet? A Vomit.


34 posted on 05/10/2012 12:34:38 PM PDT by technically right
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To: BO Stinkss

“denim material seat inserts”

Welcome to the 1971! http://www.arcticboy.com/Pages/arcticboysgremlin.html


35 posted on 05/10/2012 12:34:52 PM PDT by tumblindice (Put some ice on it Dick. La Raza is looking for a good lobbyist.)
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To: Dr. Sivana
You are correct, most of the Darts were basic transportation.

But the super musslecar Darts were available and you could factory order one with all the goodies, right down to the roll bar.

BTW It ate Cudas and Chargers for breakfast.

36 posted on 05/10/2012 12:35:17 PM PDT by Beagle8U (Free Republic -- One stop shopping ....... It's the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
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To: technically right

What do you get if you cross a Valient with a Comet? A Vomit.

Well then what do you get if the Comet is green? The Exorcist model?


37 posted on 05/10/2012 12:37:24 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: Dr. Sivana

As perhaps you are, I am an older model Mopar fan. I replaced a 273 with a 318 in a 64 Dart. However the body was just too far gone to justify any real restoration.

I do have a bare stock 64 Valiant/225 in storage for eventual resto. If you know someone that would like to buy a 70 Swinger/225 stock, no major lower body rust, I have one in a North Ga barn.

But IMHO the reason people love A-bodies (or show fondness) is not the car as much as the engine. The Slant 6 was so reliable you had to really work hard to kill it. If anything was weak it was the carbs but the damn things would still run pretty much no matter what you fed them.

In the eighties and even nineties you really could get a reliable Dart/Valiant for $500 esp if you knew anything about them. However my 64s will be fifty in a few years - thats gettin’ old! Also in Atlanta a car without A/C can only be used about half the year.


38 posted on 05/10/2012 12:38:23 PM PDT by freedomlover (Make sure you're in love - before you move in the heavy stuff)
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To: Dr. Sivana

Yeah, they didn’t even make it look much like the old Dart. They have done a nice job with the challenger though.


39 posted on 05/10/2012 12:38:49 PM PDT by fabian (" And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter")
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To: BO Stinkss

They forgot one statistic in the comparison:

Resale of a Civic after 10 years and 200,000 miles = 30%± of MSRP

Resale of a Chrysler after 200,000 miles = $.25 / lb.


40 posted on 05/10/2012 12:40:06 PM PDT by NY.SS-Bar9
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