All the tacked on adornments like fake dual hood scoops on the Twister or spoilers on the trunk really do nothing for me but that's me. Stripe packages are OK but they don't enhance performance.
That's why I liked the 1970 Plymouth (Valiant) Duster 340 - a no nonsense, understated bare bones, cheap and affordable compact muscle car. For $2,549 MSRP in 1970 you could buy it new off the lot or factory order to your own personal taste and I did exactly that - my specs were Jamaica Blue (B7) exterior, B5 interior, 3.55 Sure Grip, 727 (4 speeds were too expensive and too hard to insure for 18-19 year olds in 1970), Deluxe Interior Decor Group interior with Bench with center arm rest, AM thunbwheel radio, manual front disc brakes were standard equipment, rallye road wheels were standard, GoodYear Polyglas E70 - 14 raised white letter tires, Heavier duty cooling and electrical options with heavy duty battery, Light Group, Stripes Delete, protective vinyl body side molding -- all that added up to $2,840 delivered. That car was a straight forward higher 10.5 / 1 compression 340 that could crank out low 14 second quarter miles near 100 MPH - consistently and return about 15- 17 MPG driving to and from the drag strip. It could be modded for small $$$ with greater results - headers - ACCEL dual point distributor + wires - street slicks - 780 Holley dual feed carb and you were knocking on low 13s - high 12 second quarters...those were the days !
Best part was the Chrysler powertrain warranty - 5 years or 50,000 miles whichever came first - just do the basic maintenance and you were covered. Chrysler had the best and longest powertrain warranty of the Big Three in 1970.
All that for $44 / month for 3 years in 1970 !
Those days are LONG GONE ...sigh....
