My New 1974 RARE Duster Twister 318 Factory 4 Speed

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Navy_Chief

Navy_Chief

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Guys,
I have been around the mopar cars for awhile and just bought this gem off CL.

I have never seen or heard about a factory D21 4speed 318/2 barrel ever before and a Twister to boot.

I have seen factory 3 speed cars or autos but never a 4 speed anyone else ever seen or heard about one?

It has manual brakes/steering factory Am radio/White interior and Buckets non console white vinyl top and is a one owner car.

View attachment duster 1.jpg
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Over drive 4spd, looks like a good car to start with. Does it run, and drive?
 
I worked at a Dodge dealership in 74 and we got a few Dart Sports with that 318/4 speed package. My favorite was a grey with a black vinyl top, black buckets and ralley wheels with E 70 14 Gooyear polyglass tires. I thought it was cool because it had large black "DODGE" decals on the rear quarters. I wanted it bad but it was soon sold to a guy from high school. I remember his name was "Sam". I can still see it the day he drove it off the lot to this day.... Thanks for taking me back !!
 
There was a TB3 one near where I lived about 1992.

Always thought that one was neat.

Had hood blackout, but no 'cuda scoops like I've seen on some of them.
 
let some guys on here decode the fender tag and then you know what it was originally.
restores my faith in finding something on CL! nice find!!!!
keep us informed...
 
barbee6043 said:
let some guys on here decode the fender tag and then you know what it was originally.
restores my faith in finding something on CL! nice find!!!!
keep us informed...
Click to expand...



Here is the Fender Tag sorry for the spit all I had to clean it with at the time:
 

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Darter6 said:
I worked at a Dodge dealership in 74 and we got a few Dart Sports with that 318/4 speed package. My favorite was a grey with a black vinyl top, black buckets and ralley wheels with E 70 14 Gooyear polyglass tires. I thought it was cool because it had large black "DODGE" decals on the rear quarters. I wanted it bad but it was soon sold to a guy from high school. I remember his name was "Sam". I can still see it the day he drove it off the lot to this day.... Thanks for taking me back !!
Click to expand...

That would be a ''Dart Sport Rallye''.
They are very similarly equipped as the ''Duster Twister'', designed to be an affordable insurance beating sporty looking car.
If you google it, you'll see an ad for it and description of what they came with.
They both are pretty rare.
 
Navy_Chief said:
Guys,
I have been around the mopar cars for awhile and just bought this gem off CL.

I have never seen or heard about a factory D21 4speed 318/2 barrel ever before and a Twister to boot.

I have seen factory 3 speed cars or autos but never a 4 speed anyone else ever seen or heard about one?

It has manual brakes/steering factory Am radio/White interior and Buckets non console white vinyl top and is a one owner car.

View attachment 1714728573
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Click to expand...

As a matter of fact i have one, but sadly it is a parts car only. (Very rusty.)
It was a 318 2 barrel, D21 4 speed, 2:94 non sure grip 8 1/4 rear.
I used several parts from it on my Dart Sport project.
I'll see if i can find the fender tag and post a picture of it, i don't think it's a Twister though, there is no evidence of the stripes being on it.
Cool car you have there, it would have a regular A 833 4 speed in it, overdrive ones first came out in '75.
 
Here's your decode. Pretty cool options, but I wouldn't necessarily call the car "rare". Keep in mind 1974 was the highest production year for Dusters, and 281,378 were build that year. 3,969 were 360 cars, so that leaves 277,409 Dusters with a /6 or 318. The 4 speed should be a regular 833, the 833OD's came out in 1975 according to everything I can find. I would call the Duster 360's rare. Although there really isn't any data on the # of Twisters made, keep in mind it was a package designed for beating insurance rates, so they probably made quite a few more than the Duster 360's.

A great find nonetheless, definitely an awesome project! :thumbup:

VL29:
Plymouth Valiant,Duster
Low
2 Door Sports Hardtop

G4G: 318 150HP(net) or 170HP(net) 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1974
St. Louis, MO, USA

177910: Sequence number

E44: 318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D21: 4 Speed Manual Transmission
FE5: Bright Red Exterior Color
C6XW: Trim - Charger, Vinyl Bucket Seats, Black/White
000: Full Door Panels
C20: Build Date: December 20
167554: Order number

V4W: Unknown Top Color
U: USA Specifications
A51: 70 only Sport Fury S-23
A88: Interior Decor Group
B43: Manual Brakes
C56: Bucket Seats

G55: Outside LH Remote Painted Racing Mirror
G65: Outside RH Manual Painted Racing Mirror
G75: Dual Painted Racing Mirrors
M21: Roof drip rail moldings
M26: Wheel Lip Moldings
R11: Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)

V6W: Longitudinal Stripes, White
V8W: Tranverse Stripes, White
END: End of Sales Codes
 
72bluNblu said:
Here's your decode. Pretty cool options, but I wouldn't necessarily call the car "rare". Keep in mind 1974 was the highest production year for Dusters, and 281,378 were build that year. 3,969 were 360 cars, so that leaves 277,409 Dusters with a /6 or 318. The 4 speed should be a regular 833, the 833OD's came out in 1975 according to everything I can find. I would call the Duster 360's rare. Although there really isn't any data on the # of Twisters made, keep in mind it was a package designed for beating insurance rates, so they probably made quite a few more than the Duster 360's.

A great find nonetheless, definitely an awesome project! :thumbup:

VL29:
Plymouth Valiant,Duster
Low
2 Door Sports Hardtop

G4G: 318 150HP(net) or 170HP(net) 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1974
St. Louis, MO, USA

177910: Sequence number

E44: 318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D21: 4 Speed Manual Transmission
FE5: Bright Red Exterior Color
C6XW: Trim - Charger, Vinyl Bucket Seats, Black/White Charger? Bucket seats White
000: Full Door Panels
C20: Build Date: December 20
167554: Order number

V4W: Unknown Top Color Canopy Vinyl roof - White
U: USA Specifications
A51: 70 only Sport Fury S-23 Twister Package
A88: Interior Decor Group
B43: Manual Brakes
C56: Bucket Seats

G55: Outside LH Remote Painted Racing Mirror
G65: Outside RH Manual Painted Racing Mirror
G75: Dual Painted Racing Mirrors
M21: Roof drip rail moldings
M26: Wheel Lip Moldings
R11: Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)

V6W: Longitudinal Stripes, White
V8W: Tranverse Stripes, White
END: End of Sales Codes
Click to expand...


That's a weird looking 70 Sport fury with a charger interior... :)

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/dealerships/colorAndTrim/1974/74_Valiant-Duster0006.jpg

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/dealerships/colorAndTrim/1974/74_Valiant-Duster0007.jpg

Be a cool looking car when done if you keep it factory. Was a nice one when it left the lot!
 
crackedback said:
That's a weird looking 70 Sport fury with a charger interior... :)

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/dealerships/colorAndTrim/1974/74_Valiant-Duster0006.jpg

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/dealerships/colorAndTrim/1974/74_Valiant-Duster0007.jpg

Be a cool looking car when done if you keep it factory. Was a nice one when it left the lot!
Click to expand...

:eek:ops::D

Yeah the online decoders have some issues since Ma Mopar re-used codes for different packages depending on the year/model.
 
I forgot to type that yes they were regular A 833 4 speeds.We that worked at the dealer were comming down from the real muscle car high that Chrysler was building and when these came in, we thought "Who in their right mind would want a 318 4 speed POS.'' And the mighty 340 was gone... We thought (Back then) 360's suck....Horse power down, smog crap, etc.But that was the mind set. Remember in 74 Chrysler was ready to file for bankruptsy. Alot of junk came off the assembly line as workers thought today may be my last. It was a ruff time for Chrysler. No doubt the fender tag may not be correct with a misprint. I would love to have that car today..
 
Fender tag pic as promised.
 

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It decodes as:
E44 318 1 2bbl
D21 4 speed manual trans floor shift 833
VL29 Valiant fastback (Low line Duster)
G4B G=318 2 bbl, 4=1974 model year,B= Build plant Hamtramck MI
261348 vehicle sequence number (serial number)
KJ6 Avacado Gold Metallic (main body color)
C6X9 C=custom V=vinyl X9=black in color
000 full door panel
108 scheduled production date (Tuesday, January 8th, 1974)
C44663 shipping order number
KJ6 Avacado Gold (roof color)
C Built for Canadian specs.
B43 Front disc brakes (manual front, drum rear)
C56 Bucket seats
G51 LH O/S Mirror adjustable chrome (remote standard chrome mirror)
N76 Coolant recovery system (overflow bottle)
R11 Radio A.M. Music Master 2 watt (base am radio)
L2 built on line 2
460 unknown
 
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