Post pics of your dart!
Its amazing how much the DART has changed from early to late... Wow...
Shocking, but not untraceable, and in fact gradual in some ways. We'll leave the Dart Lancer out of this, and start in 63, the first year it was just the 'Dart.' The 63 grill is actually smoother, and in some ways closer to the spirit of the 65 model, 64 features a design update including vertical elements in the grill, a chinstrap, and a 63 carryover, a false bump in the hood designed to resemble an air intake, all features hinting to the coming muscle car era. 63 and 64 certainly straddle the gap between the mile-high fins and abundant chrome of the late 50s and the boxier muscle car era better than the 60-62 Mopar lineup. The 65 features the same body for the most part but with a flatter grid style grill, a toned-down trim treatment around the headlights, a non-protruding taillight, as well as new trim lines to accentuate more angular areas of the car. 66 Featured the same rear body, but a new front end notably featuring squared off edges around the headlights and a boxier bumper, and finally in 67 the next generation body arrives featuring few nods to the 63-65 models, but not being a shocking transition from the 66.
That was quite a rant and I'm sure someone has made a similar analysis of the progression before. I find the grace with which the mid 60s models straddle the changing car culture interesting as they carry design elements of both the late 50s and early 70s. Most cars are in fact a blend of their preceding and succeeding models, but the change from 59-69 is in my eyes one of the more dramatic in automotive history.
