Question for members that were of age in '70

-
moparker

moparker

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 25, 2008
Messages
2,489
Reaction score
657
A guy down the street said back in 70 when the new Plymouth Duster was about to come out. Said there was talk of a Hemi being available in it. I know that never happened. However, I always wondered why big blocks were never an option on the Dusters and Demons. They put them in 67 to 69 A bodies? Why not these. I just wondered if any of you heard any talk back then on this topic. Can you imagine if they had? Those would've been a handful!
 
moparker said:
A guy down the street said back in 70 when the new Plymouth Duster was about to come out. Said there was talk of a Hemi being available in it. I know that never happened. However, I always wondered why big blocks were never an option on the Dusters and Demons. They put them in 67 to 69 A bodies? Why not these. I just wondered if any of you heard any talk back then on this topic. Can you imagine if they had? Those would've been a handful!
Click to expand...
Not that I ever heard. Mr Norm didn't put a big block in any that ! know of either.
 
Just curious if there were rumors back then.
 
The factory big block A-bodies....kinda sucked. Unpleasant to drive (nose heavy), hard to work on, and not particularly fast due to the compromises to fit it in there in a production-line setting.

A 340 version of the same car was, in some instances, even quicker. And cheaper. And easier on insurance. And more fun to drive.
 
The reason they didn't put a big block in an A body in the 70's, is because the big blocks of the 70's were pigs just like the small blocks.
Can't compare any Mopar from the 60's to the 70's .
 
The big blocks didn't really become that way for another couple of years after 70 that I remember.
I was a whole 3 years old in 70, but my dad's and my older brothers buddies had cars of about that vintage around then and shortly after. I can say I remember working on later 70s big blocks and didn't think they were all that great, this being in the late 80s.
 
The muscle HP deal was already about over by '70. 340s, at least some, were still high compression in 71, but it was all but over. That may have had something to do with it--Ma may have not wanted to spend development money on something that was ending "very soon."

Having said that, Ma really REALLY screwed up not designing the A bodies FOR at least B/RB and maybe even hemis.
 
I was 10 most of 1970, but in all my years around A-bodies it is not something I have ever heard. Lots of options were falling by the wayside each year starting in 1970. There was big marketing for the all-new E-bodies and that, more than anything else, may have been the reason for the lack of 383 or 440 powered 1970 A-bodies. Consider, even the 340 two-door hardtop was gone after 1970, except in Canada.
 
The biggest compromise area was the exhaust/torsion bar area.

gm produced more big block novas in one year than the total production of all big block A bodies from 67 to 69.

...and the nova platform was no where near as sturdy as a Duster.

(Duster had much more accommodating rear wheel wells, too.)
 
Wel, since the OP said Hemi, there was never any talk of putting a Hemi in any A body, except the 68 Darts and Barracudas, and even those were special one offs done off site. And not a very good job at that! There was no warranty on those cars, and only sold through special means, they would not pursue that Avenue to the common buyer, too risky!
 
I have been driving a big block Dart since 1967 and I disagree on the handling and the power compared to the SS396, GTO's 442's and the Ford's from that era. Mine came with a very strong 383 compared to the 440 that I replaced it with at 78,000 miles. I always said I could have put half the money in the 383 and ran circles the 440. The 499" in it now is a whole different story. Joe
 
Because E-Bodies.
A new, smaller than B-Body car made to handle big blocks that is much more profitable than A-Bodies. If you want to step up to a big block, you're going to have to wrap a more expensive car around it. Chrysler knew offering big blocks in A-Bodies would just be cutting their own throat.
 
67Dart273 said:
Having said that, Ma really REALLY screwed up not designing the A bodies FOR at least B/RB and maybe even hemis.
Click to expand...

Had to disagree. Recall that in the mid-1960's, when the cars debuting in 1970 were first being considered, the A-body was an economy car, not explicitly a sports car and especially not a muscle car. Midsize cars were where the performance game was and the A-bodies were kind of....not considered a big seller.

That's why the '70 Duster was so revolutionary. It sold in HUGE numbers, and very few people saw that coming.
 
I can honestly say that my 340 never got beat by a 383 or 440 A body car. I had headers and 4:10 gears, that was it. Raced a Hemi RR, it took 3 passes before he beat me. That I know of, and I was in the parts department at a Dodge dealership, there was never any talk of the Hemi in an A Body. Only the 50 factory Super Stocks, Darts and Fastback Baracudas The big blocks, especially the Hemi, were like trying to push a fully loaded grocery cart. I was just at the Drag week event at Cordova. One Dart with big block and one Gen 3 Hemi. The rest were small block.
 
For those of you disagreeing with my previous post, please note that I mentioned production-line compromises.

In other words, try to go fast on the factory A-body big-block manifolds.

Now, put some real exhaust on those cars.....
 
I thought you all might be interested in seeing this...

badassssdart.jpg
 
70 was about the time I walked past a Superbird and a Daytona on my way to HS every morning :D both in the same driveway. One Hemi one 440 6 Pack. :steering:
 
The 340 only came in a performance configuration. Was never a standard engine like the 318 which was offered on just about anything that Chrysler offered from economy cars to trucks.
The 426 Hemi was the same, always a performance engine, never offered as a standard economy car to trucks as a standard option.
Always had to buy a package to get these engines. I remember that because of that , some called the 340 a "semi-Hemi". Though that was earlier the slang for the Poly-head motors.
Never was a 2bbl 340 or 426...both performance only.
I would also say that the B/RB and Hemi would require a lot of engine compartment, suspension ,brake and chassis modifications and unique parts to have a car that would go, turn and stop in a safe enough fashion and also be durable enough to give the 5 and 50 warranty common in those days.
Because of the specialized mods required as did the few Dart and Barracuda Hemi cars, the cars would also be non production line able, meaning they would still be built in very limited quantities off site and therefore not be profitable. The Earlier factory Hemi A-body cars were only designed to go fast in a straight line.
 
Last edited:
All the money and marketing went in to the E bodies and in '70 the Plymouth division was given a tiny budget to make a few cosmetic changes for the Valiant. The division cooked up the fast back and 340 economically so management let it hit production. By '71 it was over. Big block in a Duster was never even a rumour and generally just a bad idea after sales of the big block darts tanked
 
Duster set an engineering record in 1970 for "most curvature of side glass".

...and was a "postless" coupe without door glass posts.

Kind of like the (1973) gm "colonnade" concept, but better executed- IE the doors didn't sag and the door handles didn't break.
 
Just think if they had made some Hemi Dusters. Heck yeah!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top