How the Duster was almost born a hatchback/wagon:

[grassy]

http://www.allpar.com/cars/plymouth/sportwagon.html

 

[1972DusterPaul]

I don't care for the wagon idea...but on the other hand a hatchback using the fold down seat with the production body style would have been cool.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

 

[Frankie]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

Oh... Stop.

 

[grassy]

..did it say that it would blow up if rear ended...? I must have missed that

 

[inkjunkie]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

Gremlin & Pacer here...

 

[70Duster440]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

Yeah, or the offspring of a Pinto and early AMC Javelin.

 

[coffeedart67]

Bet that 70 Duster towing the boat handled good(sarcasm).

 

[goldfish65]

Cool to read about that! When you see the early drawings, it makes you appreciate the changes they made before arriving at the final product.

 

[rbdart]

Thank God that idea was swallowed or aborted...made sickness upon my soul...

 

[norton]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

Totally Agree

 

[Dustdevl340]

Yikes. A hatchback would have been ok, though.

 

[moparmat2000]

Oh... Stop.

It does look like a pinto in the *** end lol

 

[chryslerfat]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

That was my 1st thought.I see I wasnot alone.

 

[Valleyant]

Bet that 70 Duster towing the boat handled good(sarcasm).

I know allpar said it's a 1970 but I'd bet its a 1972 based on the wheel covers, integrated headrests and the visible sidemarker light....just saying.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Reminds me of a Pinto.

Then I have a Link for you!

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

Bet that 70 Duster towing the boat handled good(sarcasm).

Probably better than you think.

Way back when, my buddy pulled a MacGregor 21 with a '70 Mustang with a 302. It did fine. The 24 footer weighs about 2500 lbs empty (plus the trailer weight).

My wife used to pull a horse trailer up in the mountains in SoCal with her Dad's '68 4dr Malibu with a tired 307 (and drum brakes). It's sure better towing nowadays with big trucks, long wheel bases, fuel injection, etc., but back then, the cars had a hard time going up the mountains at speed, and nobody expected a car pulling a trailer to keep up with traffic going uphill...unless they were behind a VW van club, in which case, they'd be passing them.

 

[Revhendo]

It's a cool story, but it doesn't quite match up with what I've always heard the story of the Duster and it's design to be.

http://www.valiant.org/duster.html