Note: Today’s post is by frequent commenter and regular RG reader, Patrick King. Enjoy. -TK
My parents didn’t drive so when I got my license and convinced them we needed a “family car” I suggested a 1969 Dodge Dart GTS 340, yellow with black interior, black vinyl roof and black bumblebee stripe. It was hardly a random choice: I’d been devouring the buff books since I was eight and loved what few imports existed but, being sixteen, I wanted a muscle car and my friend’s ‘65 GTO convertible seemed too large and unwieldy. Also, the Dodge was unibody, unlike the large, body-on-frame GM and Ford hot rods. Everything I read pointed to the Dart. But what really enticed me about the Mopar was the brand-new thin-wall, high-performance small block 340 introduced the year before to combat the small block Chevy. At the time I could quote all the specs of this engine, from its compression ratio to the windage tray in its oil pan (to the great amusement of my chortling uncles who would ask me to perform my routine as if I were reciting the latest Dylan lyrics).
1969 Dart GTS
The 340, descendants of which exist to this day, didn’t come in two-barrel, low compression form – it was strictly a high-performance offering. The optional 383 “upgrade” might well have been faster on the drag strip (as were the fifty or so 440 and
half dozen Hemi Darts built) but that was hardly the point. The decidedly low-tech big block was a station-wagon-and-pickup-truck boat anchor whose weight obliterated the balanced handling of the A-Body Dart and Barracuda and, given my fanaticism
about the original Trans Am series, this mattered.. A lot!
Memories…
Which brings me to an article published the other day on a venerable collector car news and auction, magazine-related website, offering a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 383 four-speed for the eye watering price of $59,995! The author correctly noted the Dart’s Trans Am success with Bob Tullius and Tony A-to-Z before it handed Chrysler’s racing duties over to the new Challenger and ‘Cuda for the 1970 season but that raises the question: what does the 383 have to do with road racing?
1968 Dart GTS
The answer: nothing. Granted, the beautiful blue/white/white car on the site has a numbers-matching engine and a stick, so its rarity explains the asking price but it irks me that I never see a 340 ANYTHING at Mecum Kissimmee that I attend regularly or evenon Graveyard Carz (c’mon Mark!). And I wonder how many Darts and Barracudas have been big block-swapped and painted resale red over the years for a quick buck.
Needless to say, that GTS taught me all about power oversteer (drifting, before it was a thing) on my favorite twisty road along the banks of the Charles River in Newton, Massachusetts, and prepared me for my next automotive adventure, a new 1971 BMW 2002. Nevertheless, after a ‘76 Scirocco, a ‘70 Trans Am and another 2002, I flew from Boston to Atlanta to buy a then-twelve year-old, 70,000 mile ‘69 Swinger 340 (above), “rust-free” having already achieved mantra status in my lexicon, so apparently I hadn’t gotten that little Mopar out of my system yet. Still haven’t, really.
1969 Darts – including the Dart Swinger and GTS
Somewhat regrettably, it’s been VWs and BMWs since then. Now here we are in 2022 and a 1968 GTS – with the WRONG motor – sells for the price of a new, base-model M3! Ah, well…
Here’s an audio clip of my yellow 340’s exhaust note recorded in 1971, just before I traded the car for my rst 2002. I placed the Akai reel-to-reel portable tape recorder you see above in the trunk and taped a stereo microphone above each exhaust tip. Then I bungee-corded the trunk shut and went for a blast up Route 128 in Newton and Weston. Good speakers cranked to eleven recommended. Enjoy!
i had a ’68 383 gts convertible; silver, stripe delete, dogdish hubcaps, green interior and top. it was a ‘not recommended’ combo on their interior/exterior chart but everybody loved it…i could’ve gotten an orange car with a green interior—gm limited choices way too much. anyway 3.25 rear, limited slip. it was a good tow car for my morgan but with windows up and all vents open it sucked exhaust into the car if i cracked a wind wing to let out cigar smoke. someone pointed out the driver’s sunvisor was black, not green. thinking quickly i said it was a safety antiglare item
Great memory. You could certainly mix and match colors back then!
I don’t know what you are talking about – just about any model of car today offers you any combination from their wide palette of white, black, grey, or beige interior colors together with any combination of white (plain or metallic), black (plain or metallic), grey, or silver exterior, plus a choice of grey or black alloy wheels in 20, 22, or 24 inch sizes. The only option missing is a factory vinyl roof, but fortunately many dealers will happily oblige with a dealer installed vinyl coach roof and continental kit for discerning customers with exquisite good taste.
There’s a white Toyota Avalon in my neighborhood with a black vinyl top and gold badging, trim and “Presidential Edition” badges so it CAN be had!
Thanks for contributing this Patrick. This may be a case where going newer might get you a similar experience without having to part with 60k. The Volare’ Road Runner offered the related 360 and four speed as late as 1979. Since it was already a muscle car by the standards of the day, uncorking the engine of it’s stock smog stuff would not seem much of a crime against originality. I don’t think such a Volare’ would ever be worth 60k, but the value would take longer to start to fall back to earth as the lusters are younger.
Thanks John.
Yes, the Volare/Aspen successors to the Dart/Valiant were worthy replacements, strangled by emissions controls. The 360 was the same high-performance engine as the 340 with larger displacement to make up for the power loss, which eventually became a losing battle.
I don’t see any high dollar collector cars in my future but it was fun to reminisce!
Nice Dart ! .
1969 was close to the time I left Newton, Mass. for good .
-Nate
I stuck it out in Massachusetts for another forty-six years! What was I thinking?
Must have been the low taxes, regulatory freedoms, pleasant winter weather, and open minded people willing to overlook the few flaws of Ted Kennedy and eager to support native American Liz Warren.
Ha! Something like that. Anyway, I can still get the Howie Carr Show via Internet!
Plus, the fact that the first three major car races of the year, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and Sebring are all +/- ninety minutes from my house didn’t hurt. And yes, I WILL get to the Daytona 500 one of these years too.
I love the brochures Tom, thanks for adding them!
A couple of notes.
The green car in the ’69 brochure is wearing handsome alloy wheels evocative of the Halibrands used on Briggs Cunningham’s C-4R of the early 1950s. They never made production because of cracking issues so my car came through with body-color steelies and dog dish hubcaps, which are all the rage among collectors today for that “period correct” look. Of course, back then the only reason you’d order a muscle car that way was because you intended to replace the factory wheels with mags after the car was delivered, which I immediately did with a set of Keystone Kustomags.
Also, yellow was not my first color choice. I’d have preferred that metallic green, or the bright blue, or the copper that I eventually ended up with on my second 340 Dart. But since my parents were paying and my mother wanted yellow I acquiesced. Big of me, don’t you think?
Snot nosed brat!
So many Mopar promotional photos from 1969 were taken with those defective Halibrand/Magnesium-look wheels, that it seems a shame that nobody reproduced them with proper materials twenty years ago. I suspect the moment has passed, but I bet there would have been a decent market for an aftermarket wheel that looked just like the ones in all the advertising materials when there were people collecting muscle cars who worked for a living and remembered 1969.
I can tell you I was mighty bummed when Jim from Commonwealth Dodge called and said I wouldn’t be getting my Halibrand-look wheels. They were so different from other optional wheels coming out of Detroit at the time.
Say, that’s an idea for another story, the four-mile stretch from Boston College to Boston University along Commonwealth Avenue that served as “automobile row” until the suburbs displaced it and one by one the dealerships folded. Most of the palatial, purpose-built edifices of urban automotive worship remain, dating back to the earliest days of the automobile.
I’d love to see that show up as a photo-essay.
Nice article!
My parents had a yellow dart sometime in the 70’s. No idea which model, but it’s good to read about them & see those brochures too. Cool to hear the recording, and that you still have the reel to reel!
Great article and pictures – thanks Patrick and Tom. It is interesting that you went from the domestic to foreign equivalents of small/light body with most powerful/largest motor that would comfortably fit as you moved from the Dart 340 to BMW 2002. I imagine you lost significant acceleration but about doubled your fuel economy, with some better build quality, handling and ride thrown in, but I would enjoy more stories on your very interesting car ownership experience.
Thanks Stingray.
Plenty more where that came from although I shot my wad with the sound effects.
Lots of pictures though!
I can tell you I was mighty bummed when Jim from Commonwealth Dodge called and said I wouldn’t be getting my Halibrand-look wheels. They were so different from other optional wheels coming out of Detroit at the time.
Say, that’s an idea for another story, the four-mile stretch from Boston College to Boston University along Commonwealth Avenue that served as “automobile row” until the suburbs displaced it and one by one the dealerships folded. Most of the palatial, purpose-built edifices of urban automotive worship remain, dating back to the earliest days of the automobile.
Check out the wheels on this BASF Great 8 winner at the 2022 Detroit Autorama. Compare them to the alloys on the green GTS in the brochure above. Even the color of the Challenger is similar!
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/03/07/detroit-autorama-ridler-winner-great-8-2022?slide=10