Kevin, the picture of car lot and Dad’s check for the car brought back some great memories. I’m sure folks have lots of similar stories but the Duster’s tales are certainly ingrained in our family lore. We almost didn’t have the Duster. Dad and I went out to a used car dealer in Leola, PA to look at a 1970 Dodge Challenger (318 automatic). He wasn’t too impressed with that car. The valve covers leaked, the rear seal leaked, and the car needed a ring job. He also thought the car was overpriced ($1200) and the dealer wasn’t budging off the price. Dad said, “I saw a Duster for sale in New Holland. We should check it out.” I agreed but really wasn’t in to it. After all, in my mind, Dusters were just grocery-getters. We got to Wenger’s car lot and there sat this bright red Duster. We checked the car over, popped the hood, and saw it had a 340 (it had been re-painted so there was no 340 badging on it). Dad got the keys and we went for a drive in the country. The car had a stiff ride and it wasn't like any grocery-getter I (at 17) had ridden before. When we got to an open road, Dad uncorked the 340. The Duster took off like a rabbit shot in the rear! We were both all smiles. Dad laughed and yelled, “This baby will talk to you!” I agreed and better yet, there was no blue smoke. The car may have needed some tlc but it didn’t need new rings. I was swayed on this “grocery-getter.” Kevin, all these years later, Red’s still talkin’ to us. Miss you Dad.
