1970 Plymouth Duster 340

[mitch340Duster]

Awesome stuff guys. I'm glad I was able to elicit some interesting banter. Based on LH's post, I think I'm gonna go-ahead and just do the "turned-down" thing. I think it might actually be cooler. Very interesting too about different stuff for different counties. BTW say hello to LA for me, I lived there for 8 years and loved it.
VS your post was very interesting. I look forward to looking at all that Hamtramck stuff. Also just last night I stumbled upon a very interesting site that most of you prolly already know about but check it out if you don't. http://www.iccahome.org/
Thanks again for all the great info.

 

[mitch340Duster]

One more thing...The Duster in the picture that Vs linked to does not appear to have the "V-eight" nameplates on it. Weird. Also that car has whitewalls which sadly my car is coded for as well. I got it with original-ish RWL Goodyear Polyglas which I intend to keep. Any thoughts ?

 

[Vs29H1B]

The V-8 namepates did not appear on all 1970 Duster 340s. The early cars had the V-8 nameplates ...IF ...you stuck with the factory 340 longitudinal stripes. 1970 factory Duster 340s could be factory ordered with the optional vinyl protective body side moldings which then OMITTED the V-8 nameplates on the front fenders. My 1970 B7 Blue factory 340 Duster DID NOT have the V-8 nameplates when delivered new, because I had ordered the optional vinyl protective body side moldings and also stipulated STRIPE DELETE on the factory order.

Also, late in the 1970 Duster 340 model year, cars delivered to dealers from the factory in the May-June-July-August 1970 timeframe, DID NOT HAVE THE V-8 nameplates installed, even including cars with the full factory stripe package.

This was in anticipation of the forthcoming 1971 Plymouth Duster 340 build which DID NOT include the V-8 nameplates....

The factory 1970 Duster 340 with the rear exhaust turndowns look awesome, and are a nice change from the 1971-72 340 Dusters with bright exhaust tips.

I must say, however, that I really like the appearance of the 1971-72 340 Dusters with the bright exhaust stripes, coupled with the factory stripe packages from those two years.

The 1970 Duster 340s are more plain, and are very in tune with the Mopar theme of bare bones - plain - stripped models with nice drivetrains.

To each their own...Carry on!

 

[DusterKrazy]

They had both.

Valiant emblem with the Duster 340 sticker below.

Good eye!

Chrysler kept the Valiant badge on Duster's in '70 because they did not know how well the new Duster would do as far as selling(next to the Valiant which did well) so it was more or less experimentation to see the buyer's reaction. The Duster did well and the Valiant emblem was dropped for '71.

This is still a nice car and I'd love to own it. I'd never advertise it as 100% correct when it is indeed not.