Arthur’s Duster
I had a friend that I met selling parts to. I was selling odds and end Mopar stuff on Craigslist and he had responded to a couple of sales and I sold him a couple things. Throughout meeting up with him and selling parts we always talked at length about all sorts of things.
He was in his early 70’s and I’m in my early 40’s but we hit it off like old friends. We were both in the military. He was Vietnam era Marines and I was in Iraq when I served in the Navy. He was a marathon runner that did Boston and the Marine Corps Marathon in DC multiple times. To run Boston you have to qualify so it’s not like he just could barely do the 26.2. He was a good runner. I don’t have that distance but I log about 25 miles a week on average.
I had a 1973 Duster when I joined the military in 2001 and he had a Duster when he joined the Corpse.
We lived in the same small Oklahoma town growing up. I lived there throughout my youth and he lived there just a few years because his Mom had married an Okie that was stationed in Philadelphia, Arthur’s hometown, in the early 60’s. The guy moved them back to Oklahoma but there was a divorce so they went back to PA.
I loved to pick his brain and I sought his knowledge on many different things in life.
Arthur had this Duster that he had the numbers matching 340 and 4 speed rebuilt in. He had had it freshly painted and had an almost complete Legendary interior. Factory correct Accurate exhaust, brake lines, gas tank, …… the list goes on.
One night he called and told me he wanted to sell me his car. I was befuddled because I knew how much he was looking forward to completing the car and how close he was to finishing it. I told him no thanks and asked why the heck he was selling. Well, he broke the news that he had cancer and he wasn’t going to last too long. I still declined because I have a Valiant, Cuda, and a D100 to do and didn’t need another project.
That night I told my wife about it and she asked if it was the same year we had when we got married. Upon learning it was she told me to buy it. Now, she is the one who always keeps me from spending money on stuff I don’t need but she absolutely loved the Duster I had. My old Duster was a 40k mile survivor when I got it in 1999. A granny had bought the car new when she was in her 70’s and it is one car that I still dream about so Arthur’s Duster was something I wanted , however, I was just trying to think of my other projects.
Arthur died very shortly after I bought the car. So this build is for Arthur. I’m going to try to get a license plate that says “Arthur” so he will always be a part of it.
I had a friend that I met selling parts to. I was selling odds and end Mopar stuff on Craigslist and he had responded to a couple of sales and I sold him a couple things. Throughout meeting up with him and selling parts we always talked at length about all sorts of things.
He was in his early 70’s and I’m in my early 40’s but we hit it off like old friends. We were both in the military. He was Vietnam era Marines and I was in Iraq when I served in the Navy. He was a marathon runner that did Boston and the Marine Corps Marathon in DC multiple times. To run Boston you have to qualify so it’s not like he just could barely do the 26.2. He was a good runner. I don’t have that distance but I log about 25 miles a week on average.
I had a 1973 Duster when I joined the military in 2001 and he had a Duster when he joined the Corpse.
We lived in the same small Oklahoma town growing up. I lived there throughout my youth and he lived there just a few years because his Mom had married an Okie that was stationed in Philadelphia, Arthur’s hometown, in the early 60’s. The guy moved them back to Oklahoma but there was a divorce so they went back to PA.
I loved to pick his brain and I sought his knowledge on many different things in life.
Arthur had this Duster that he had the numbers matching 340 and 4 speed rebuilt in. He had had it freshly painted and had an almost complete Legendary interior. Factory correct Accurate exhaust, brake lines, gas tank, …… the list goes on.
One night he called and told me he wanted to sell me his car. I was befuddled because I knew how much he was looking forward to completing the car and how close he was to finishing it. I told him no thanks and asked why the heck he was selling. Well, he broke the news that he had cancer and he wasn’t going to last too long. I still declined because I have a Valiant, Cuda, and a D100 to do and didn’t need another project.
That night I told my wife about it and she asked if it was the same year we had when we got married. Upon learning it was she told me to buy it. Now, she is the one who always keeps me from spending money on stuff I don’t need but she absolutely loved the Duster I had. My old Duster was a 40k mile survivor when I got it in 1999. A granny had bought the car new when she was in her 70’s and it is one car that I still dream about so Arthur’s Duster was something I wanted , however, I was just trying to think of my other projects.
Arthur died very shortly after I bought the car. So this build is for Arthur. I’m going to try to get a license plate that says “Arthur” so he will always be a part of it.
