![]() If its rust problems are as limited as the owner claims, it should represent a relatively straightforward project. If an interior is treated with anything close to care and respect, then there is no reason why it shouldn’t look good in 50-years time.Īt face value, this 1968 Dodge Dart GTS shows an enormous amount of promise. I’ve said in the past that restoring an interior can seem to be expensive, but it needs to be considered as a one-off expense. There will be no change from $2,600 for a kit, and that’s without considering replacing hard items like the wheel and door handles. This is a blow because trim kits for Mopar cars aren’t a cheap as they are for others. It is a safe thing to say that the buyer will be starting from scratch when they try to whip the interior back into shape. The interior trim, or what remains of it, is believed to have come from another car. Judging by the general appearance, I would say that it hasn’t roared into life for a while now. We don’t get any information on the engine’s state, so we need to hope that it does at least turn freely. It should be possible to source a date-correct unit if a faithful restoration is the goal. The missing transmission is a disappointment, but it isn’t the end of the world. ![]() With 300hp on tap, it would have pounded its way through the ¼ mile in 14.7 seconds. In its original guise, this would have been a fast car. The Dodge rolled off the production line equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission, but this has been swapped for a TorqueFlite. The 383ci V8 that resides in the engine bay is numbers-matching, as is the 8¾” Sure Grip rear end. When we delve below the surface with this Dart, we strike one of those “good news, bad news” scenarios. ![]() All of the trim and chrome pieces are present, and these could be polished or restored. If that is the only rust present, then fixing it might not be difficult. There is rust in the driver’s side front shock tower, but it isn’t clear how bad it is. However, don’t think that you are getting off scot-free here. The owner has crawled around under the vehicle, and the floors and frame rails wear little more than a coating of surface corrosion. The lower body extremities and the area around the back window all look to be clean. On this point, things appear to be quite promising. That means that either completing the color change properly or returning the car to its original Red will be possible at that point. I believe that the Dodge will need to be dismantled a fair way if any restoration work is to be performed to a high standard. The evidence of this change is readily visible in the engine bay, but this might not be a huge issue. It seems that when it rolled off the production line, it wore Charger Red as its paint color. The Dart is finished in a color that appears to be close to Plum Crazy, but this isn’t the car’s original paint. The reserve has been met, so a new home is just around the corner for this classic. The Dart is located in Norfolk, Virginia, and spirited bidding has pushed the price to $7,900. ![]() It seems that I’m not the only person who feels this way because it has generated plenty of interest since it was listed for sale here on eBay. It will require a lot of work to return it to its former glory, but it appears that it could be well worth the effort. The only difference was that the Hemi Dart did it 50 years prior.Sitting in this warehouse is a dusty and dirty Dodge Dart GTS with plenty of potential for its next owner to exploit. The modern Dodge Demon followed in the Hemi Dart's footsteps as a factory-built drag car that could theoretically run in the 9s at the drag strip. ![]() In the end, despite all the Boss 429s, Z/28s, and Charger R/Ts, the Super Stock-competitive Hurst Hemi Dart was unquestionably the quickest classic muscle car of all time. And truth be told, there are rumors of lightly-tuned Hemi Darts getting into the 9s in the quarter-mile. They were rumored to put out nearly 540 hp from the factory, and while that claim isn't proven to be true, the Hemi Dart's sub-10 second quarter-mile times on prepped surfaces seem to be proof enough. Speaking of numbers, the 426 Hemi was factory rated at 425 hp, and let's be honest, that is a wildly false advertisement. There aren't any period reviews we could find, but back then, the manual transmission was usually slightly quicker to 60 mph. The officially-named Dodge Hurst Hemi Dart L023 came from the factory with two transmission options: a 727 Torqueflite automatic or an A-833 4-speed manual transmission. ![]()
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