Junkyard Find: 1975 Dodge Dart

AppId is over the quota
By Murilee Martin on August 15, 2013

Will there ever be a time in which no Chrysler A-bodies show up in North America’s cheap self-serve wrecking yards? Sure, Darts and Valiants were as common 20 years ago as are dead Tauruses now, so the former torrent of old Chrysler compacts has become a trickle, but I still find at least a couple of them every time I visit The Crusher’s waiting room. In the last couple of years, this series has included this ’75 Duster, this ’64 Valiant wagon, this ’68 Valiant Signet, this ’66 Dart, this ’73 Valiant, and this ’61 Valiant, and today we’ll be admiring the car that was to 1983 what the ’94 Corolla is to 2013: a cheap, dependable sedan that nobody noticed.
This one does have an unusual option that you almost never see on Slant Six Chrysler A-bodies: air conditioning!
Most Dodge shoppers who could afford air conditioning in 1975 went ahead and got a Coronet, or at least sprang for the 318 V8 in a Dart. Perhaps this was an ex-rental car, or a New Mexico purchase.
Even in the dry Southwest, however, Detroit cars of this era managed to rust around the rear window and beneath the vinyl top.
These were just good simple cars, full of corner-cutting build-quality glitches and crappy components but easy to keep running. If I found myself transported back to 1975 and I needed to buy a cheap new car for daily-driving use, I’d probably get a Dart (though mine would be a coupe, and it would have a V8, manual transmission, and no fancy vinyl-top option). A close second choice would be the Civic.
Even with a missing hood and headlight, plus 5 MPH crash bumpers, this car has a good face.

Brendan McAleer, Canada Marcelo De Vasconcellos, Brazil Matthias Gasnier, Australia J & J Sutherland, Canada Tycho de Feyter, China W. Christian 'Mental' Ward, Abu Dhabi Mark Stevenson, Canada Clemens Gleich, Germany Doug DeMuro, Atlanta Phil Coconis, Los Angeles Faisal Ali Khan, India

View the original article here