Help Me Understand Why

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MMRJR

MMRJR

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there is such a shortage and scarcity of good, driver quality (or better) Plymouth Dusters, 1970 - 1974. I am fairly new to the A body forum, but I have been looking hard for a Duster or Demon that has not been all boogered up or molested or a former drag strip car, etc. Were these cars produced in such small numbers and used up so quickly that there really is a shortage of these cars out there for sale? Or, are they that popular that the good ones have been taken off the market?

What are your thoughts on this?
 
These cars are finally catching on and the good ones command decent money.. remember they are now over 40 years old. They were produced in big numbers so that is not the issue.. but time and yes, customization have taken their toll on "survivor cars". Demons are rarer than Dusters by a wide margin and are much more highly prized. ANY Abody that was more than a /6 or a 318 (read factory hotrod) is now collectable and a lot of the slant cars and 318 cars have been either used as parts cars for saving a collector piece are have been used to make a drag car. The good ones aren't "off the market" - they are out there, but so are the prices most of the time these days.
 
MMRJR said:
there is such a shortage and scarcity of good, driver quality (or better) Plymouth Dusters, 1970 - 1974. I am fairly new to the A body forum, but I have been looking hard for a Duster or Demon that has not been all boogered up or molested or a former drag strip car, etc. Were these cars produced in such small numbers and used up so quickly that there really is a shortage of these cars out there for sale? Or, are they that popular that the good ones have been taken off the market?

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Just yesterday I stopped at a small local used car dealer and looked at a 1973 Dart Sport 340.
They said it was a 340 in the car and that they just drove it 100 miles to Phoenix and it ran and drove real nice.
They said the 727 trans was just rebuilt.
8.25 rear with no outside indication of Sure Grip. (they didn't know)
It definitely needed some attention about everywhere you could think of and I could tell it needed bushings and such, but it was nice and straight.
It has Hang 10 front seats and a fold down rear seat, with an interior that needs some TLC.
Custom gauges, with the factory cluster in the trunk.
It has the AC stuff for under the hood in the trunk (looked like a classic air unit)
Literally NO rust on the car anywhere.
They were asking 6,300.00 OBO

Of course this is near Prescott Arizona.
 
MMRJR said:
there is such a shortage and scarcity of good, driver quality (or better) Plymouth Dusters, 1970 - 1974. I am fairly new to the A body forum, but I have been looking hard for a Duster or Demon that has not been all boogered up or molested or a former drag strip car, etc. Were these cars produced in such small numbers and used up so quickly that there really is a shortage of these cars out there for sale? Or, are they that popular that the good ones have been taken off the market?

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
I looked 3 years for a Duster. I wanted a pretty solid, decent old car that I could play with. They were either parts cars or somebody had already done their version of resto and wanted big $$$. I finally bought not 1, but 2 in the same year. "74 and '76. Both solid cars, mostly original and complete, 318 and a slant, one a driver and the other needed some small attention. I've done many upgrades to both. This is why when most on this site say blah blah blah when somebody want decent money for a nice Duster, I say "sell me one as nice cheaper"..... and I never get a PM :D Now, I'm close to you and I "might" consider selling one...……
 
There were a LOT sold when new, most were ordinary /6 or 318 powered everyday drivers. Having lived through their life time in the rust belt, it only took 10 years or less for rust to decimate them. One particular weak point was the torsion bar anchor. The crossmember would rust through from the inside out and the metal would thin out until....BANG, one side would fall diwn in the front. End of your 2-$500 car and off it went to the boneyard. You gotta remember that most were used as daily transportation, not future Barrett-Jackson stars.

My brother bought a used purple 70 or 71 /6 Duster when it was just a few years old. The paint flaked and he repainted it in my parents garage. There was overspray everywhere for years. My best friend ordered a new 1972 340 4 speed 3.23 SG car that went 14.51 pure stock the ONLY time he ran it. Traded it in on a new 1974 318 Duster because of the gas crunch.
 
The VAST majority of A bodies were not cool muscle cars. They were many kid's first car, and many free...and embarrassing to be seen in. I never thought I would see the day that anyone would actually choose to buy an A body, and certainly never thought I would see them sell for thousands of dollars. In the 80's they went for free to $300.
 
Everybody had one in their family, and they sold like hotcakes in the 70's. In 74 alone more than 279,000 were sold. The 340, 360 cars were very fast and light, and are now collectable. The good thing is that many parts for A- bodies are interchangeable. They are still out there. Keep looking. That Dart Sport sounds real good up there
 
You answered your own question when you asked it. A ton of them have succumbed to drag racers who only know how to convert a car so that it cannot be converted back. I've always felt there was a market for a vintage "body in white" program, however small that market might be.
 
Truthfully, 40-50yr old cars aren't exactly falling out of trees around here (regardless of what they are). I don't remember packs of model A's marauding the streets in the 70's or 80's either. ****, the other day I saw a Pontiac Ventura. The fact that I actually noticed is amazing. I've probably seen 10,000 in my life and never gave a second look till yesterday.
 
Sales numbers didn't equal their competitors. No mfgrs production numbers back then compare to todays either. There are simply a LOT more butts looking to get in the same few seats. That drives up the price of all, in any condition. Good hunting
 
I've noticed the great decline hit worse after the great scrap drive of 2006 when China and India were trying to outbuy each other in the recyclable material business. Then that was immediately followed by that wonderful "cash for clunkers" program. It's hard to say how much we actually lost during that time frame until scrap price bottomed back out. I witnessed several vehicles that weren't that bad (eighties japanese mostly) driven in and and the owners (usually estate heirs looking for their next fix or trip to the suboxone/methadone clinic) selling them by the hundred weight.
 
Yep cash for clunkers think of all the 80s and 90s cars that todays kids will never get to see. Some of them maybe rarer than 60s and 70s cars.

Brian
 
Wait! My car is gold.*paint* Paid $6k as you see it.

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they are still out there. gotta pay for them though. not getting them for 4k anymore unless you get real lucky..
 
Bought it in early 2016. Have put 600 mile on it since I've own it. I'm the 2nd owner. 318 bench seat. No air. Just a basic 1972 Dart.
 
FWIW, Hot Rod had a short sideline article on the cash for clunkers debacle after the smoke had cleared. Apparently they got some lists of cars from some "Concerened Subscribers", I remember GNX Regal T types, Monte Carlo SS, a lot of Fox body mustangs, and several mid seventies Mopars including A's, Magnums, and last gen Road Runners.
 
I had always wanted a 71 demon, kept looking and decided to build one out of a duster. I traded my 73 AMX for a 74 Dart 360, then traded it to a 72 demon and finally traded it in on a 71 Demon. Finally got what I wanted after a lot of dealing and now I'm ready to build.:)
I'm glad I waited instead of chopping up a duster, and got what i really wanted.
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Yes the picture is very close. I took there it to show my Dad that passed away the yr before. :(
 
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