Dodge Dart Is Back After 36 Years

http://www.kansascity.com ^ | May 09, 2012 | ANN M. JOB

[Dr. Sivana]

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. [ ... ]In the eighties and even nineties you really could get a reliable Dart/Valiant for $500 esp if you knew anything about them.

I think it is more than just the engine. It is the whole car. The Lancers and Belvideres just didn't stick around. The Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valiants and Dusters certainly did. They got everything right except for the ball joints and brakes (pre '68).

Besides the engine, let's not forget the Torqueflite transmission.

I have paid the following for Darts:

▀$200 (1974 Dodge Dart Custom, 144,000 miles) bought in 1988. Brake issues. Sold car for $300 one year later.

▀$5 (1966 Dodge Dart tourquoise, pristine interior, wheel well rot and bad drums, 29,000 miles in 1990, little ol' lady car) I put 100,000 miles on it before parting it out.

▀$55 (1973 Dodge Dart bought in 194 with transmission problems), lasted 10 days before it gave out..

▀$600 identical car in mauve and 59,000 miles in 1994. (little ol' lady car) power steering included in this model. I went 80,000 miles on it, and in '97 slid on some ice into an unmarked Crown Victoria. The Crown Vic won that match up. I still managed to drive the car for another year with one headlight pointing straight up.

▀$250 1976 Dodge Dart Brougham bought in 1997 with the two barrel holley. Mileage unknown. Numerous electrical problems. Rear end collapsed in 2000 after moving to the rust belt (Illinois). Comfy seats.

▀$1500 (1973 Dodge Dart, 39,000 miles). Baby Blue with a white vinyl roof for my wife (my '76 was burgundy. His and her Darts) Car was named Desireé. Great 50 foot car. In reality, skillful use of bondo disguised the cancer. That car had lived in the rust belt all its life, and the body suffered. Bad oil pump eventually led to an engine fire (one way to kill a slant six) at 89,000. Donor engine from a '71 turned out to be a bad match. Eventually the torsion bars tore through the rust and the front end collapsed. Died prematurely at 106,000 miles due to being in Illinois.

The '65 Chrysler 300 2 door hard top coupe (gold) was bought in 2002 for $1050 in Texas, and driven back up. One dented fender. Problematic brakes. Strong engine rebuilt once. Smooth rider with power, room and authority. Parts hard to find.
It was more than I could maintain as an everyday driver, and even as a three season car, the midwest salt was starting to do its thing. I sold the car for $800 in 2006 to someone who had room and expertise to treat it right. When I picked up the '89 Fifth Avenue for $500 as a replacement, I did it knowing that the local cancer would finish it off, and it did.

[Jack Burton007]

The best looking car Dodge has produced recently is the Dodge Challenger in my opinion. I would almost swap my Mustang rag top for one.

[expat2]

I bought a Valiant (slant 6) for my wife when I lived in Michigan, and it worked fine until one day the cam-shaft broke. Fortunately, the car was still, tho’ barely, under warranty. The dealer squirmed like mad, but fixed it under warranty in the end.

[count-your-change]

So true! The old slant 6 just ran and ran. The so-called New Dart is just a ho-hum no head room tin box.

[ebshumidors]

I had two. Loved them.

[Yorlik803]

Its a Dodge. Buy it and you will learn the first name of the dealerships mechanics by heart. Would be easier to buy the car and just park it in a repair bay because thats where the damn thing is going to end up anyways.

[Chuzzlewit]

I”ve also had 2.. a green slant six ... and a gold 318 carb full 8 cylnder..

loved both, especially those side air vents, and the fact that I could sleep in the back seat.

agreed on the huge trunk.

saw drive-in movies with my kids in those cars.’

miss both of my Dodge Darts, to this day.

I know Dodge Dart.. that is no Dodge Dart... they should have given it a diff name...

[cherry]

even if I wanted another Dart, I will never buy from the bamey companies....I’ll buy used from some private party, but never new....

[ebshumidors]

I had a 67 and 69. I drove the 69 from NJ to WA in Jan of 84. I90. I had to put cardboard in front of the radiator just to get the temp in operating range.

[oyez]

I thought they should haved named it “FIART”.

[BfloGuy]

if the bodies hadn’t rusted out there would still be millions of them on the road

Yeah, well, dissolving bodies do tend to make a car less roadworthy.

That was then -- this is now. The new Dart looks pretty sharp. I won't buy one; I like Fords. But it'll be a good thing if they do well with it.

[central_va]

Gee another FRONT WHEEL Drive egg shaped vehicle. How exciting. /sarc

[ebshumidors]

I remember going through a carwash in my ‘67 and bubbles coming out of the air vent doors. (seals were shot)

[ebshumidors]

Feeble Itailian Attempt at Technology

[freedomlover]

LOL I see a lot of little old lady cars in there - my favorite kind.
Usually they were pretty straight, except for the occasional sideswipe (usually getting in and out of the garage).
Like you I have had 20 or so. Still have several in different stages of repair.
take care

[Dr. Sivana]

There is a scene in Groundhog Day where Bill Murray decides to do a good deed for a car full of ol’ ladies in an old Dodge Dart. Also the old Spencer Tracy drove Darts in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” and “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”. And who can forget the Dart that took out the Peterbilt in Duel?

[Dr. Sivana]

“It’s a Dodge. Buy it and you will learn the first name of the dealerships mechanics by heart. “

I always bought my Dodges at plus 10 years or 100,000 miles. The ones that make it that far are fine in the powertrain. The one time I tried that with a Honda, I spent more money on repairs than all of ky Darts put together almost, in under ONE YEAR!

[Dr. Sivana]

“What about its sister, the Plymouth Valiant?”

Also great, and avqilable even MORE stripped down (less chrome). Reminds me of the time I had borrowed a 67 Plymouth Valiant. My cat know the familiar ticking sound of a slant six from a half mile a way, and knew it was me, as the 170 slant six in the Plymouth waw close enough to my Dart that he respondee and waited for me at tge door. Extraordinary cat, extraordinary cars.

[freedomlover]

IIRC the car that Dennis Hopper drove in Duel was a 67? 4-door Valiant. Note that that’s important or anything ;)

About as “traveling salesman” as you can get!