The Most Misunderstood "Muscle Cars" Of All Time - The Plymouth Duster Twister And Demon Sizzler
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- The beginning of the 1970's was the high water mark for American muscle car performance and styling, but at that time not everyone who wanted a cool ride was willing to pay the extra costs in terms of fuel, insurance and maintenance the factory hot rods required. For these people a new breed of imposter cars evolved that had all the bling but none of the blast.
Here's how Chrysler copied Fords super popular Grabber package on their Maverick and released the Plymouth Duster Twister and Dodge Demon Sizzler.
#cars #classiccar #vintagecars #mopar
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It’s such a shame how they killed all the fun. A Maverick with even just a high compression 289 would have been a fun car!
Years ago a buddy and I built a Maverick with a fuel injected 5.0, trick flow heads, and a T5 trans. That was probably the most fun car I have ever driven!
@@michaellehmann2803sounds like a good time.
Mavericks did come with a 302 if you ordered it and I believe the 1974 was the last year for the v8 option
Got in a Graber with a High comp 302 transplant 4 speed.
Owner was a nut. Only rode with him once down the gravel road he lived on. Yep,,, never again.
Driving would have been fun no doubt but looking out the passenger window 90 degrees and that being to direction of travel the car is going as you go around a tight curve while slinging rocks a hundred yards into the field on the outside of the curve is a tad unnerving if you weren't expecting it.🤣Bastar*!
Running mudgrips too!
Luke AKA Thunderhead289 has a strong Maverick. He's the CARB CHEATER inventor/seller guy. I wishTony would review it but he's way too anti-tech. th-cam.com/video/JGy_f8qMjy8/w-d-xo.html
What a FANTASTIC history lesson! I was there during this time period. The 340 Duster was a formidable car. In my area (Northeast U.S.) was a girl called "Duster Debbie" who had a t-shirt stating "Duster, the quick claims adjuster". She had a 340 Duster. She was very attractive, wore "hot pants", knew how to drive and talk cars. Naturally every guy (including me) wanted to be her man. Every guy I knew (including me) struck out.
What happened to her? (I mean the Duster)
She left you guys in the dust and dated the GTO chad lol
You guys were simps 🤡
@@setha360 funny 😆
@@kurtvanluven9351 I lost track of her. Why pursue a quarry that you can't catch? (Automotively & physically.) She had 38 more cubes under the hood than I did, and (apparently) more money.
In 71 my dad bought a Plymouth Duster with the 340, sunshine yellow with black interior it was a true hotrod for sure. Mom made him sell it and he never wished he did. I love your videos about the history of MOPAR's they bring me back to my youth plua memories of my dad. Thanks U.T!
Thanks for clearing up the mystery that has hounded me since 1977. Back then, I was working at JC Penney's in their auto shop as an apprentice mechanic. I was given a Duster with hood scoops on it to change the battery. As I was changing it, I kept thinking that something was off and didn't seem right. It wasn't until I was done with the battery and closed the hood that it occurred to me. The car had a slant six engine, but it had the 340 hood scoops on it. I asked the lady who owned the car if it had been in an accident and they changed the hood, of if she had the engine replaced. She said neither, it was just like she bought it off the dealer lot. I told her they must have made a mistake because it should have had a V8 instead of the six that was in it. She didn't really care as she liked the car just as it was. Ever since that day it has bothered me as to why it had a six cylinder instead of the 340. Now I know, so thank you for this video. Now I can die in peace.
1980, I found a 1971 340 Duster in Yellow. I think the dealer wanted ~$2,000. I wanted my dad to lend me the money and pay him back. It had a manual 3 speed on the floor. We took a test drive. Dad said, NO WAY. He knew I wanted to race it on Cajon Blvd. (Route 66/San Bernardino) How did he know????
In the mid 80's out of high school I found a woman selling her 340 Duster because she had just purchased an IROC Z28. I would get a lot of compliments on my orange interior from my buddies and street racing was a blast, I loved to eat up 396s. To know what I know now as a retired mechanic, I would love to have that car again.
Those were the days! Beating a 396,....wow,...
How many 396s did you eat up?
@@gteefxr3094 Me,...none. I was referring to the @mansonmydog posting.
I really enjoy these automotive history lessons! Great content, keep it up!
I can't wait to get off work, grab a beer, and watch this in an hour! This is my favorite type of Uncle Tony content!
I'm at work with a beer and watching this
@@CreationsVibrationLUCKY! Lol
I just can’t get enough of UTG talks on what it was and why it was what it was. Super interesting!
My veteran/cop Dad secretly owned the street racing scene in Nome Alaska with a bone stock 69-70 Plymouth Dusty Twizzler... the White Ghost!
Supremacy?
Did he use the front ski package for the winter racing scene?
Start a bull field cookie that no one can confirm story other than one extra weight in the car telling him when to shift racing friend and in the somewhat kind of dark about it family members and wait a few years till everything black is good and everything white is bad pass's and sell it for a million or two at least at the turn on the T.V. cameras and watch fools with more money than brains auction shows. You got the bone stock engine and daddy was a secret racing cop part already set up for you.
Prolly like 6 cars in Nome in 69’ and zero street racer scene on the dirt road in town. Ever been to Nome?
@@donabresch8719 Flip the air filter lid and axe the muffler and even a pinto doubles in pony car power!!! Because he said so!
My first car in 78 was a 71 Duster 340 4 speed, wish I still had it.
I had a 1970 Duster 340 while I was in high school in the late 70s. Stock with a 10.5:1 compression ratio, factory 4 barrel carb, and 3:23s in the limited slip rear end it was already fast. I installed a hemi-grind camshaft, a six pack, and headers, and it became one of the quickest and fastest cars that I ever owned.
The Duster body style has always been a favorite of mine. My only gripe is the mismatched rearend width to the body. It always looked like someone snagged a narrow rear from the boneyard and slapped it in. My uncle had one and put wide Cragar ss mags on the rear and it made the car look so much better.
I agree. Just filling that wheelwell in makes the car look meaner 👍🇺🇸👍
Narrowed rear ends are for stuffing big meats, I've owned a couple Dusters and Darts. Why would you complain about not having to narrow your rear end to stuff in big tires.
I worked at the Chrysler engineering center in Highland Park Mich in the steering & suspension product development group back in the early 70s & some bean counter decided to use B-body midsize spindles from the Dodge Coronet line to cut cost. Lynn Townsend who rose through the ranks as an accountant was CEO at the time. De-contenting was king also. Simple items like rear armrests in base model Dusters & Swingers were removed and became an option. Quality took a huge hit. It was a tough time for engineering.
A cool thing you could do with those was to take your stock rear rallye wheels and have 8" (or wider) outer rims welded onto your original centers. They looked cool that way.
M-50's?😃
As soon as you started talking about the "image cars" from that period the first thing that came to mind was the the Rallye 350 Cutlass
Same here. In high school (1971), a guy bought a lemon yellow Rallye 350, and he nearly got laughed out of the school. In retrospect, it probably was pretty quick, but back then, if you didn't have a big block, you didn't have anything. I will add that Mopar 340s were NOT laughed at!
At least those still had a 350 4bbl and were genuinely nice cars. The fun was already over at GM as far as horsepower though.
That car also lacked trim rings.
The t37 pontiac
A friend had a 1971 Twister with a 318 and a floor shifted 3-speed standard transmission. The aluminum bell housing had the bolt patterns for both the 3-speed and the 4-speed transmissions. His exhaust pipe was really small in diameter, but it did have an 8.25" rear. I had a 1971 340 Demon with a 4-speed and 8.75 rear.
And I'm sure you wish that you had kept it. I feel that way about 3 or 4 different cars I owned. I never thought the hot rodding hobby would become so expensive!!
Are you sure it had eight and a quarter rear end and not an eight and three-quarter rear end. My dad bought a brand new 72 Duster strip down model with a slant 6 and 3 on the tree it did have disc brakes however in the front and it had an eight and three-quarter rear end in it for some reason. I thought they were just dumping the eight and three-quarter rear ends to get rid of whatever they had leftover
@@thomasward4505 He might have had a 7.25". We did swap it to an 8.75".
I had a 73 Duster 340 when I was in high school, 1985 or so. Even with it being neutered by emissions it was still a fun car to drive. 4 speed, bench seat, Rallye Red with the side stripes. I wish I still had it...I wish I could afford to buy another one, but it's a rich man's hobby now.
I had the same car in 1980. It had what I think was called the surf package. Bucket seats, 4 speed with Hurst shifter and a fold down back seat to put your surfboard in. Red with a white interior.
One of my buddies bought a 1973 340 Duster our junior year of high school (1986). He gave $1500 for it off a used car lot. It was brown with black stripes and black interior, column shift 727. It was a real clean, all original car when he got it.
Fastest street car I saw back in the late 70s was a hemi orange 340 duster.
Man that thing could hook up and launch.
It beat everything that came at it.
One night a nove with an L88 motor showed up and you know the outcome
Old 340 beat that thing but it was close at the end
The duster disappeared into local folklore like the black ghost but for a time it was king of street racing in Cecil county MD.
So basically a Black Ghost but actually real?
@@Vin80_ HEMI ORANGE GHOST....lol
The 340 reved faster than the big blocks, had the x heads with big valves till 1972 then it was less hp
@@setha360 ...Those 340 heads were awesome.....no doubt
L88 would have trouble getting off the line, but I imagine "at the end" that 560 HP L88 would really be pulling away... unless he was sandbagging... to line up more victims...
I like to pretend to know my Mopar trivia better than most people, but I don't recall ever hearing about a Demon Sizzler and I KNOW I've never seen one. Now that I know about them, I'm going to have to learn everything I can about them so I can claim to have known about them all along
I'd never heard of them either until I saw one in a junk yard years ago.
Yes I had a 1971 dodge demon 318 3 speed on the floor! I loved it
Yeah, I only remember the Sizzler Steakhouse in Savannah Georgia in 1970...
The 1971 Dodge Demon taillights were originally intended for the 1971 Plymouth Duster 340 that share the vertical theme from the Sharktooth grille.😮
I definitely got something out of that Tony. I'm quite fascinated when you do these kind of videos, explaining the nitty gritty of models. At that time, down under, we only had a population around 12 million, so a very small market for new cars. Being a small market, we had a choice of basically Holden, Falcon & Valiant, and their smaller siblings, which were, or heavily based on British cars. I really enjoy seeing the range of different vehicles and packages available over in the US, compared to our basic 3, which had packaging variations, but essentially the same 3 cars. Love your work Tony.
I was 24 years old in 1973, in March,I bought a 73 Dart Sport with a 340/4speed trans from Grand Spalding Dodge in Chicago. Black on Black. $ 3200.00 with tax. I wish I still had it now
You had the MadMax car and tina turner was in her late Prime.
Thanks for another good flaskback. I'm flat on my back again. Tried to detail my car for a show the week after the fourth. Went to show had fun. 2 days later, got up to go to bed, my legs collapsed. Doc thinks I did to much. Couldn't walk for 5 days. Takes a long tile to get up and even longer to get around house. Still can't do stairs. Just lay in bed and listen to car programs.
I'd love to see a show about whacky names for cars in the 60s and 70s. My fave is the "Super Hugger."
Uncle Tony...I thought I knew a lot about MoPars, but I never cease to learn something new from you. Thank you! And...MoPar or no car!!!
Great content learn something every time I watch uncle Tony's videos 👍👍👍👍
Tony has skipped the point that the reason the duster exists was to fill the niche in the lineup that the baccaruda abandoned to become the 'cuda, when it was meant to be the "sporty" version of the grocery getter '64 valiant.
I love being in Uncle Toms Classroom. Thank you Uncle !!!
I think back in the day you could get a Twister with a 318 and 4 on the floor which is a spry combination. Later on that combo would lend itself to some nice mods like a 4 barrel, headers, dual exhaust, and you'd have a really quick car w/o insurance hassles or premium gas. I think there were some folks who bought these cars with the intention of souping them up later on.
I slapped 360 heads on my 318 and woke that 74 Twister right up.
I think a lot of people saved money on the sticker price with look alikes , planning to do performance upgrades later as they could afford them in the future.
A friend bought a new 1972 Duster 340 in red with white interior, black carpet and trim.
He could completely bury the speedometer needle and still accelerate.
We went from Travis AFB in California to Carswell AFB in Texas and back to Travis AFB traveling at a very high rate of speed. After returning, we discovered the tires were losing chunks of the tread, presumably due to the high speeds that we traveled at long distance.
What a car!
"And of course, THE CHALLENGER...DUH -Kathy" I have often wonderwed why Tony shys away from the E-bodies, LOL!
I'm impressed Tony explains the entire history of these cars to elucidate why you can't have a tribute of a tribute of a Duster Twister…
Sure you can have a tribute to a tribute. Nothing wrong with it. Like a band that emulates Beatlemania, no problem at all. Plus it's ideal when only the Twister had the scoops to bolt in a modified engine, cut out the blocking panels and connect up those scoops and add headers and dual exhaust.
Great video Uncle Tony! Very informative!
My first car back in 1981 was a dark green 1970 Duster 340 with the factory 3 speed manual floor shifter tranny. I wrapped that one around a tree one night.
A couple of years later I owned another 1970 Duster 340, this one was hemi orange with an auto tranny. I traded it off and the new owner totalled it after a couple of weeks. He rounded a corner in a residential neighbourhood and the power got the best of him and he piled it into a parked van hard.
When i was 17 Had a 70 Duster, Blue on Blue, had a 225 slant 6 Auto, Had nice wheels and tires, looked like a Muscle Car, had to go with the six, in order to get insurance that i could afford. looking back, it was a fun car, never had any break downs and was great on gas. Actually Miss that car.
I had a 1974, baby blue. Miss mine too.
That was the beginning of government and industry telling us what we can’t have.
Thanks for the super informative video, Uncle Tony. Like several here, I never heard of a Demon Sizzler. I always love learning new things about the cars I grew up loving.
Your Mopar knowledge is incredible, tony. Awsome video.
I miss my 1974 Gold Duster 😒 318, Bronze Metallic w/ white half vinyl top and white hockey stripe!
A friend of mine had one. Gold with the 318. He was constantly chasing the power of the 340 model.
Yes! Loved those, wanted one. When my '72 Mustang got wrecked I looked for one. Got a '75 Vintage Red Duster with a silver side stripe. Ironically had a head on collision with a 72 Charger.. Yes UTG. A lot of these Mopars got wrecked.
Very good informative video. The dual exhaust on the '73-'74 Road Runner added 20 HP to the 150 NET HP of the 318. Added dual exhaust to my Barracuda a couple years after I bought it and it made a big difference. The "Y" pipe was very restrictive (built in rev. limiter 🙂). Thanks for posting. Best Regards - Mike
'Cloud of doom'. Some things never change, kiddos. I had two friends in HS, one had 340 Duster, the other 340 Demon. Fun cars, no one was killed.
You're the master Tony!! Thanks for the video!!
Very interesting and very educational. I have owned a 1968 Charger RT 440, a 1969 GTX 440 (that i bought from the first owner when it was one and a half years old) , a 1970 Challenger RT/SE 440 and a 1972 Challenger 340. All with AC, PS, PB and TorqueFlite transmissions, and NO "Column shifters". Oh. And a 1970 Dodge Coronet Station Wagon with a 383. I now drive a 2004 Corvette Z06 Commemorative Edition that I bought New. Thank You
1972 Gold Duster I paid 250 for in 1988, 318 2bl automatic. Nice car - Very quick out of Austin TX no rust but the vinyl top was so bad I just removed it. Tool gray primer to the roof and rough spots on the paint and drove it. 4 wheel drum brakes were OK. Still had the correct wheels and original interior. Loved it. Got 20 mpg or so on the road trips and just hummed down the road. Cheap parts easy to work on. Brakes, Shocks, Timing chain when the nylon cam gear wore out. Water pump. Drove it for a year and sold it for 450 to a guy who just wanted the block and the cross member for a 340 drag car he was building. Wish I could do that every day.
I knew if I scrolled down someone would mention what flavor Duster I had. Gold Duster 318, 3 on the floor, snakeskin roof. It got the job done. Just sporty enough, not high insurance. Yeah I'd like to do that everyday especially after developing crazy weakness' for Barracuda/Valiant etc body styles. They really knew what they were doing. (But it wasn't a Chevelle, which was the car to have back then). I lost all my money in Atlantic City one time and had to take Rt 9 since I didn't have toll money and get back to north Jersey on probably 2.5 gallons. It was 3am so I could time every light, did exactly 45-50 mph and made it.
Back in high school Class of '81, my buddy had a '72 340 duster in lime green, white vinyl top and a 340. He had it balanced and blueprinted with a fresh build, 39 over and it was one of the quickest cars in town. He still has it, loving driving it to this day!
That's awesome. I've got a 71 340 in sublime, my dad bought it in 89, I'm about to start restoring it, if these grocery prices ever go down.
Has long as we don’t have to sale our vintage rides to buy grocery, we are good….😅
At Carlisle this year they had a high school rides line up. in one of the buildings it looked really cool I didn’t make it to the show this year seen it online
Surprisingly, I'm familiar with everything Tony says in this video and he is correct!
@@michaeladamo1188o39 over?
This was a great video and reinforces many things that I've learned about A-body Mopars over the years, but I never knew about the correlation between the '69 Barracuda hood and the later Dart hoods. That's good to know for those that need a '69 cuda hood!
My mother really liked the Maverick. I got her 73 when she got a new 75. See special ordered the 73, burnt orange with a black vinyl top and black and white hounds tooth interior. My cousin got T boned in his cj mustang with the drag pack. We front halved the Maverick t o get the shock towers out of the way and dropped that 428 in there. Some frame connectors and a few rear suspension mods. Never lost a street race. Great info as always Tony. Cheers
I would love to see you do more videos about "oddball" Mopars. Stuff like the 1967 Plymouth Valiant 273 Commando or the 1970 Challenger 340 or the 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sedan with the 383 4bbl and 4 speed manual and track pack, or even the 1976 Duster, which was the only year you could order a standalone 360 in the base car. Chrysler offered a lot of weird cars, and if anyone can do a deep dive on them it's you
Hear hear
Do not forget the mid seventies Feather Duster or Road Runner based on the large Gran Fury in 1975 & 76. In 1977 the Road Runner was based on compact Volare. Go figure.
Jeffbodine, not sure what year, but also the "Gold Duster."
@@dalehood1846 I also have a 1975 ad for a Duster Hang 10 model.
I had a 71 plymouth duster twister with 2 bbl 318, rallye wheels, G70s on back, and F70s on front. Added air shocks on rear for traction control. It was fire engine red was black hood treatment, black side trim and white interior. It would spin those G's in first gear. Took it up to 130 on the interstate. I really loved that car. Got married and traded it around 1986 for a Dodge wagon. One of my regrets.
I had a '74 Duster 360 Sport in 1980. Somebody ordered it right...360 Thermoquad 4 bbl, torqueflite, lsd, dual exhaust, sport wheels, bucket seats and console shift. Mine was red with the white stripe down the side, and white bucket seats. Can't remember the car mag that had a '75 for a project, but recall they tried a Holley and headers, and it didn't make it faster. They said save your money and get some gears. Quick car, I still miss it.
As you mentioned, mine became a pole dancer too.
Always like the info UTG gives on Mopars
An interesting note on the sharktooth grille - the ‘71 Duster 340 was supposed to have matching taillights to go with the grille and set the whole package apart from ordinary Dusters.
But when the Demon was rushed into production, the special Duster 340 taillights were yanked and given to the Demon to make it seem new and different.
Consequently, the Duster 340 only got half its intended sharktooth theme - the other half ended up on its Dodge sibling.
How did you learn this about the taillights? I LOVE both the Demon and Duster, but I prefer the Demon by a tiny bit and now I learn that the cool Demon taillights are actually from the Duster 😅 It would be interesting to see what kind of taillights would be on the Demon if the Duster have kept it. Regular Duster taillights or maybe new original ones? It's difficult for me to imagine a Demon with different taillights.
@@cheekydemon6131 It was from an interview with one of the Chrysler designers who worked during that period. I can’t remember exactly where I saw it unfortunately.
Thanx did not know that
That CK thing blows my mind. I like the story how the Duster came together. I drove them essentially from 83 to 2000. Then came the 67 notchback Barracuda a car I had always wanted but quickly discovered that I preferred the Duster. The humble Duster.
As a kid in 1980my neighbor had a duster with a 340 swap original slant 4 speed car and I went for a ride and it hit like your video of the bottle rocket put me in the seat and made me a hot rodder for life always looking for that put you in your seat feel!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane......In the early 70's best friend (foolishly) bought a used, bright yellow, 340 duster that had been been set up for drag use. The rear end was so low it sounded like it would blow at 60mph, but that thing would pull the front wheels off the pavement when it launched........beautiful car, but it didn't last long..........
I graduated from high school in 1972. I had a buddy with a 1971 Duster 340...it was gold and black with 2 scoops on the hood. His mother bought it for him brand new. Locally we had a place called "The Bridge" where everyone drag raced on the weekends. That car was fun, fast and tough as liquid nails
Interesting that the Twister name was used on a Plymouth Duster and a Ford Mustang. Although, the 1970 Mustang Twister was a dealer package. And too bad they never made a Duster 340 6-pack like the Challenger 340 6-pack T/A and Cuda AAR.
Great video. I enjoy watching videos were I learn more and more about cars. Your knowledge has won me a few bets with so called experts I know.
Listening to this history lesson reminded me of Mona Lisa Vito lecturing the court about positraction on the 1963 Pontiac Tempest in 'My Cousin Vinnie.' Love the channel!
Thank you for letting people know this. I have seen so many like that. Great video Sir.
Good video. Dispels a lot of the rumors and chaff that continues to pervade the car community with those A-bodies.
To add insult to injury, television shows add to the confusion and the shenanigans with hyperbolic lore that is wholly inaccurate and even nonsensical in cases.
Case in point- I had the fortune (or “misfortune”, but that’s another story) of working on the pilot episode of a show on HBO MAX called “Duster”, where I did mechanical and pyrotechnic special effects. The show was set in the 70’s and was about drug-running and street racing. It was supposed to harken back to the car chase shows and films of the day, like Vanishing Point.
As the title suggests, the main car (as driven by the star) was a ‘71 Duster in red. The picture car was an actual Duster with 318 and 4-speed. It was supposed to get into full-on chases with the likes of ‘70 Ford Torino Cobras (and win).
Never mind that the stunt Dusters had swapped-in LS engines with custom-made K-members and modern automatic transmissions (as well as the fact Torino Cobras came with nothing but 427/428/429 cu.in. big blocks and would easily romp on a stock Duster), but that’s a different story.
The picture Duster was slower than shit when compared to the other cars in the show in reality and wasn’t particularly reliable, to boot.
The funniest part was in hearing some of the Boomer-aged crew members proclaim such nonsense like’ “Yep… that’s EXACTLY how them Dusters went… they were FAST!!” and then go into how they came stock with 426 hemis and other REAL engines not understanding they didn’t come with such things stock (aftermarket or home brew? Sure. But stock? Highly unlikely). It was at that point where the REAL fish stories would come out.
What a great video! Excellent historical perspective and great job unveiling the mystery of these cars.
Back in the day I owned a few different 340 A body cars, all 4 speeds. Even with just minor mods like cam, headers and carb jetting, I routinely smoked most Camaros and Mustangs, and even big block Chevelles!
My '69 340 Dart was probably my favorite, but I loved my '71 TorRed 340 Duster too. I bought it in 79 from the original owner. That car had the blackout hood with the same dual hood scoops as my '70 340 Dart had. So to my knowledge, the option of dual scoops was not exclusive to Twisters only in '71.
I'm going to say the same thing everyone does... I still wish I had that car now!
Love this topic. I had a 71 slant 6, 3 on the tree duster that was repainted from hemi orange to a generic maroon. The paint shop put a 340 duster decal on the back, and every muscle car would burn rubber when they were next to me when the light turned green. Funny shit.
@13:45 Thanks Kathy, I was about to slap my monitor in hopes Uncle Tony would feel it.
I remember that somewhere around the mid 70s, there was one last push using the duster name. The "feather duster" with aluminum panels instead of steel in an effort to make the vehicle lighter and improve gas mileage.
Ak Miller was turbocharging Fords out in California. I had a 70 Maverick that had a kit very similar to his stuff on it. Can’t say he built it but the car came from SoCal and was built out there. Car had a built 250, Garrett turbo and a 500cfm Holley 2bbl dumping fuel into it. Fun car.
My first car was a 1972 Vitamin C Duster. Strange thing about the car is it had all the graffics of a 340 Duster or even a Twister. Blacked out hood with strobe stripes More so Twister. I had the 318 engine. 3 speed on the floor. 8 3/4 3:23 gears. But it had a Valiant grill. No shark tooth 340 grill. I bought the car in 1976 when I was 17. I went down to the Hot Rod Barn every week and would buy headers and aluminum 4 bbl. intake. Holley carb. Bought a 72 340 heads and had them built with mild porting. Bought a Cam Dynamics cam and springs. I talked my dad into helping me install the intake and carb. Later my best friend and I installed the cam and headers. This car was a beast on the street. Stop light to stop light it was the perfect car. In school It had quite the reputation. I would destroy other 340 Dusters that were stock. That car was a blast to drive and quite the looker.
Ford started that tribute thing back in 68 after seeing how popular the base Mustang GT and California Special (also Colorados High Country ) were for sales . I had a used 68 Mustang Sprint which came with the 3M reflectorized C stripes that those cars did but was only available as a coupe with the 200 six , 6 and a half rear and the 4 lug drum brake wheels . I bought it because it was clean and cheap , the junk yards of the late 70s were full of thrashed mustangs and i was able to make a real GT clone out of it and add NOS Boss 302 handling parts as well as the big/wide 11 inch drums off a wrecked 72 . You mentioned the Maverick , at that time I found 1 of those early 69 production stripper models with the 170 and all the early 60s 4 lug wheels and 3 speed converted to Warshawsky floor shifter since the long rods from the column were too weak to stay aligned . Army green inside and out like the nazi wagon in the Blues Brothers . Cleaned it up and sold it cause it was no fun . 8 years later i bought a 77 Maverick for 50 bucks cause the owner thought it had a cracked block . I wanted the front discs since the big drums were no longer replaced in the parts books . This time 250 six with the C4 and 5 lug 8 inch with 3.25 traction lok . It made the 6 cylinder Moo sound but it would break the tires loose when you stomped on it - I think it was the equal of the 302 2V and was probably lighter on the front end. After selling off some parts I found out too late the source of the leaking coolant was the heater hose between the block and the dealer installed A/C.
Thanks for that information Uncle Tony!
Great history lesson , *Tony* . I'd forgotten about the proposed Duster *"CK"* until you'd mentioned it ! Popped a memory capsule with that one !
I thought that the *Twister* lasted through - or at least into - the 1974 model year (?) Even then, the package was a moot point after the 1972 model year, as the '73 - '76 Dusters all had the same grille irrespective of model (other an' blackout being applied to the grille and headlamp buckets, IIRC).
The Demon Sizzler - I don't believe that I've ever seen on in person in all my 54 years. I recently found out that it was a midyear 1971 only offering (i.e., c.02/1971 through the end of the model year). One feature which boggled me mind is the *standard* Tuff - Grip steering wheel *without* mandatory power steering ! Any other model had to have power steering in order to get the Tuff - Grip. Perhaps more mysterious than the unembellished Rallye Wheels , eh ?
Great rundown Uncle Tony!
You are a very good storyteller Tony, big kudos 🙏
Thanks for doing this video! My uncle bought a new 70 Duster 340(not a twister!) and later a Dart 340 when I was a kid. Both in yellow. He made me a life long Mopar fan and especially an A body fan with these cars, having owned some slant 6 and 318 versions myself. I did learn a lot about these cars in your video, particularly explaining why his 73 340 Dart had more attractive options than his 70. Love what you do, keep going.
Plymouth got the Scamp in 1971. A Dart 111” wheelbase with a Duster front end. Like the Demon, in ‘71 it had Dodge and Plymouth side marker lights.
When I turned 16 and got my license in 85 I bought a duster from my friends uncle and it said space duster on the sides , i didn't know what it meant but finally asked a salesman at the local Mopar dealership and he explained it was because the back seat folded down and gave more space to haul stuff, the original engine was long gone and someone put a 360 in it with a big cam and a 4 speed with pistol grip shifter, i gave 200 for it and it looked good, no dents paint was good and it was posi
Refreshing to listen to someone who actually knows what was going on back then.
I love this Uncle Tony content. I put on a loop to grab as much as I can! So darn enjoyable!
Love your history sessions!
Thanks wish i had a Uncle Tony when i was growing up.
great video. regarding no trim rings on the Twister's wheels, I guess it was to reduce the sticker price and have the muscle car look but without the expense of the "real musclecar" packages with the stout drivetrains (more expensive meant more power which meant higher insurance premiums). Other automakers did similar like for example Chevrolet with their Rally Nova package and the Heavy Chevy Chevelle package both starting in 1971- both cars targeted the musclecar look without the high power drivetrain and expense-and both got the rally wheels without trim rings
!970 Maverick six banger three on the tree. My first car, purchased in 1976. Looked beautiful on the lot. Top speed 88mph. After a month I realized the entire bottom half of the car was bondo. It was only six years old!! Tried to hide the deterioration with a two tone dark green out of a rattle can to no avail. Tried to trade it in at the same dealership six months later and they laughed me off the lot. I've hated the Maverick ever since.
The 70 340 duster and the 70 340 dart both came standard with front discs and a floor shifted 3 speed.
The duster, however, also came standard with rallye wheels. It always amazed me that the low budget duster got the rallyes and everything else, A, B, or E body, came with "poverty" caps as standard equipment.
That changed in 1971 when front drums became standard on 340 cars as well as poverty caps with rallyes becoming optional.
Yes, that's true, that's why it says "the 70 340 dart" and "the 70 340 duster."
Tony you are the ultimate MOPAR MAN! I used to have a 71 duster and a 75 dodge dart sport. Wish I still had them.
The irony is that selling young people fast cars was bad, but starting a stupid war that made people money was OK, because no one died in Viet Nam. And now we have 700+HP cars, and no one gets killed in them. You have to admire the thought process of the movers and shakers.
"Containment "
In the summer of 1987 I bought a 1974 Dodge Dart Sport. Red with a white stripe, white bucket seats, 318 with an automatic. Shifter in the console. Crager SS rims and dual exhaust with Cherry Bombs. Wasn’t nothing fast, but sounded great and was fun to drive. Beautiful car.
Excellent video, I learned more about my 73 Dart swinger and all the history behind the A body cars.
Great video sir. I’m almost finished with the assembly on my 71 Duster 340 in Sno White and stumbled on your video.
My first car at 16 (a little earlier than that but don't tell), a 72 Duster. For two years drove a rural 65 mile paper route 6 days a week. The car never died with its slant 6, torgueflite transmission. Leaf rear & front torsion bar springs, back country dirt roads no problem. Biggest complaint was the brakes, a squeal that never stopped. Customers loved that, they knew when the paper was delivered.
Down in Brazil, however, you could get a Maverick with a 4BBL 302 (and no emission controls!) and a 4 speed trans. They are highly collectable down there now as they were one of few cars you could get with a V8.
My brother in law bought one back in the early 70's. It was a Green Duster 340 with I think black 340 stripes on the side. In the late 70's when selling it, It was in excellent shape and had a hard time selling it for I think about $1800.
As an 11 year old in 1969, one of my friends father came home one day with a Javelin SST in Gold metallic. We all thought, what a cool dad, a JAVELIN! It looked cool, had some Magnums as an option with red line tires, and RACING STRIPES! It looked spectacular, but we didn't care, it looked like it went fast. It had a 232 inline 6 and three speed on the floor. As a bunch of 11 year olds, we had no idea how it actually performed, but in our pre-pubescent minds, it was a rip roaring Hot Wheels car come to life. Lucky to hit 17 in the quarter, and he drove it to the commuter parking lot to catch the train to work downtown.
My brother was 15 years older than me. Back in the day, he bought a 71 Demon, but it had a six pack 340 in it. It came with paperwork, and the dealer invoice came from Mr.Norms. Maybe a rare car, but NOTHING could touch that thing at all. Then my Dad had the great idea the remove the Six pack, and go with a single Holley 750. Still nothing could touch that thing. Weird, but black with white stripes and Cragar slots, skinnies in the front and wides out back with McCreary tires. Bad ass Demon!
Mr.Norm was the man,his dealership put smiles on alot of young men and girls !
I had a set of McCreery's and not many people know what those are
Thank you so much for explaining the packages. Cant tell you how long I’ve tried searching for the info.
let's give some love for the 'hang 10'. there used to be a couple in my home town.
My father had a 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger with a 318 and i loved driving that car! It had nice looks and was snappy on the road. Ah...the memories.
If you were living in western Canada in 1971 and 1972, you could still buy a Swinger 340.
Even though I am mostly a Chevy guy (even though I now own three Fords) the Duster has always been one of my favorite cars. They just got the styling right. The Duster basically competed with the Chevy Nova and Ford Maverick. I have owned two Novas. I still prefer the Duster. I would love to get my hands on a nice mostly rust free, and accident free Duster, even a base slant six model. You can turn a Duster into anything you want. Any way you build one it looks great. I love the idea of an orange Duster 340/4 speed with a black Six Pack hood and 14" 5 slotted aluminum wheels with BF Goodrich Radial T/As.
Awesome Video. It's amazing how much Chrysler did with this platform. I had a 72 Gold Duster (Tor-Red 225 car), a 73 340 Space Duster (folding back seat) and many pieces of a 76 " Silver Duster", which was a package in itself - Duster with some Volare Flare and a Volare Type steering wheel. I always wanted a Dart Light, but never found one. Feather Duster more common.
Can't beat these history/informational videos!
👍👍💯🇺🇸
Dead on with the misconceptions about the Twister, but I think you missed a bit about the Duster 340. I bought one new in 1970, and concentrated on low options because of weight. The only options on the sticker were 4 spd and am radio. It had a bench seat and rubber floor covering. I liked that car (and won more races with it) more than any other I've ever owned so I remember it well. I can guarantee you that this "stripper" came with rally wheels, trim rings, and a black grille. But yes, near the Duster 340 decal on the fender was a metal Valiant emblem. I know mine was not one of one - but also remember seeing a black one at a stoplight - and since in 70 black was the only color for 340 stripes, it had black stripes on that black paint.
Back in the day... 1982 or so... We called Dusters, Dumpsters.. Here in Omaha Nebraska you could get a rusty Duster with a 318, 3 speed for $500 or less.. The funny part was how well they would perform on street racing. Not fast so much, but would inflict much shame for such a low priced beater... Wish i had a good one now, always liked the looks of them... Uncle Tony is the shit here !