So just how good was the A-Body back in its day?

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red67gts said:
I went with my Dad to Carl Price Lincoln, Mercury, Dodge in Jasper, Al in May 1967 looking for a car........ In 68 they had I59/20 built thru Tuscaloosa but was not open for traffic so we had a perfect drag strip that you come run as far as you wanted to. Word was put out that anyone wanting to run to meet on the interstate at 2 pm on Sunday......Joe
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Remember both. Went to school in Tuscaloosa. They didn't open that stretch of road to the public until 1971 or 72 IIRC.

A family in the next block had a couple of boys that bracketed me age-wise. They managed to kill a V-8 Simca http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simca_Beaulieu and a Volkswagen. The folks bought them a new /6 '68 Valiant. I remember them hauling around the corner of the block the left front tire being pounded into the pavement. Once the forces were so great the wheel cover popped off. They put several sets of tires on that car, but never killed it. It was still parked in the driveway waiting for the next flogging when I left in the spring of 1974.

My folks bought a '72 Demon that I shared with my siblings when they came to college. On a wet street, sis T-boned a guy in a Pontiac Catalina. It moved the B-pillar in about 4 inches on the Pontiac. The Demon had minor damage to the front end. It was a basic car with a 225/904 stripes and rally wheels. It didn't have a radio but did have carpeting. My current '72 Demon is sort of a clone of that car except I have equipped it more to my liking.
 

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I was lucky enough to live thru the muscle car era. like Mr. Bill Dedman Iam 0ld at 73 but had one of the baddest street car around Little Rock. I had and still have the 66 Dart GT ( bought it new in june of 66) but its been running a 68 340 for years. Street racing was real big in the late sixties and early seventies and I was lucky to be a part of it. Even more lucky to be driving my little 66 Dart and beating probably 99% of my races. I ran it at the strip till they started running ET bracket. Then I went to street racing. I won a lot of money back then in my little sleeper Dart. Still have it and always will. It was my first MOPAR and that's all ive had since then.
 
I had a friend that's Dad owned a 40 Ford with 327 fuel injected 375 hp. One night Bill's Dad let him drive the 40 and he looked me up to run him. We went to a familiar place and lined up and I beat him. He got mad and said he spun out and wanted to run again and roll out so I said fine whenever you get ready you hit it. That was right down my alley since I have always had traction problems. When we got to about 30 mph he took off so I let him get the jump so there would be no excuses. When we got to the end he wouldn't let off and I knew if I did he would say he beat me so I stayed in mine and could see him in my rear view so coming up on slight curve I moved over in front of him. He was really mad that time and said I cut him off so I said to him there was plenty of room for him to come around. Anyway he parked the 40 and got in the car with me. We ran across a guy that had a 56 Ford with a 427" Ford in it. Bill hollered and told him we wanted to run (he was trying to get me beat) we went back up there and I outran the 427" . I pissed a lot of people off! Man was it fun though!!Can't do that now with all the traffic. Back then most of the cops knew all of us and unless you got smart with them they were pretty easy on us. One time they were raiding the interstate where we were racing and I was coming back to the line when I saw a whole line of cops coming up the on ramp. I saw them in time so I shot off the off ramp and got away.
 
the car I am talking about is the one on the right in my avatar
 
My first new car was a 70 Duster 340 right off the showroom floor at the Plymouth dealership in Warner Robins Ga. It was two tone with tor red body and painted black roof. It had the go wing that was installed by the dealer. Back then a lot of people asked what was the spoiler for. It came standard with KH discs on the front and had whitewall tires. It had a bench seat with 3 speed stick shift on the floor and it was fun having my girlfriend sit right beside me with no seat belts on. That shifter's knob threads were the same as a Hurst shifter so I put a Hurst T-handle on it. It had a 3:91 sure grip and was ordered with the deluxe steering wheel which included factory tach. I was challenged twice to a drag race out of town on a popular road for drag racing. The first was a 1970 SS Chevelle that was not a contest as he almost looked like he was sitting still as we took off. He was a friend of mine and shortly after that he traded for a Mustang. The other race was with a 1969 Z28 and it was close but i beat him also. That Duster cost $2600 in 1970 and what a bargain it was. I kick myself in the *** everyday for not keeping that car.
 
The 'Salesman Special'

Every 'Territorial Salesman' drove an A-Body 6-Cylinder

Durable, trouble-free and excellent gas mileage. Am Radio and 'no' A/C.

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I think the A body is better today then it ever was. If not for the a body most Mopar heads could not be in the hobby . Cudas, Roadrunners , GTX are all iconic Mopars and definately the flag ships of the mark. I have owned a good 20 A bodys and have enjoyed everyone of them .
 
yes AWESONE thread i agree. this should be required reading for all Moparites young and old. it would remind us how lucky we are to have the A body these days! lets face it, in general the biger money croud gravitates toward E and the "popu;ar" B bodies! ( O K if your a money A body guy, get the 69 440 cars!???) or better yet get ya a cheap /6 body and make your own, thats what the factory did! LOL
i have a Mopar ( and sometimes brand X) friend that has now decided the A body is the way to go after his time with the barge bodies! yes all the preceding pieces prove why we love them, but these days, lets face it, 1. supply? more A's than any mopar model ( well undervalues as of this time).. 2. choices? so many a body models to choose from 3. so many have grown to love the slant.. 4. light.... racers choice 5. cool looks or goofy, which ever model or year,,,,,or which you want to call them! LOL 5. fastest sucker there is with 340,,, 6. for the motor head, build the 360 to run just as fast and cheap (relatively)! hey, someone keep adding to the positive list for the mighty A !!!???
 
As I was getting closer to driving age, what definately did not want was a Valiant, Dart or Nova. By the mid 70s they were strongly associated (at least in my mind) as economy grade cars. Even compared to our '69 Belvidere - which I really liked even as a 4 door. The Belv had fabric seat inserts (much more comfy in the summer), a v-8 (just a 318 but that was still sumptin after the gas crunches), 4 headlights, adjustable headrests, lots of room and interesting styling.

On the other hand, I really liked the second gen Barracudas, and I thought the early Lancer looked cool. Probably if I had seen more early Darts I would have liked them too. Funny what chance exposes a person to. Probably also why I liked Covairs look, and didn't like the Firebirds for practical reasons compared even to Camaros. Of course I ended up with mid 70s smogged 4 door Valiants, Darts and a Nova before getting my Barracuda.

In my opinion a problem with the perception of the A-bodies is that the base models were very much economy models and by the 70s Detroit's reputation was already sloppy. For example the lack of front sway bar as standard offset the better geometry and lighter sprung weight compared with the Nova.

PS. I've overcome my youthful biases! :)
 
The Competition
Ford Falcon, and then Mustang, and then Maverick, Pinto, etc
Mercury Comet and Couger
Chevy Corvair, and later Camaro
Pontiac Tempest (maybe until it grew bigger) and later Firebird
AMC Rambler American, and Javelin, and later Pacer, Gremlin, Hornet.
Others ?

As already pointed out Chrylser managed to create a relatively stiff, lightweight car compared to the competition. Front suspension geometry was superior to the Falcon/Mustang. Enough so that Shelby's team had to fix it to compete in road racing ( and rally). Rear leafs with a shorter front half and flat loaded arch were also an advantage.

Result for the public was a slightly better fuel milage, better reliability in some areas, and in many cases more usable interior space. Also in Chrysler's favor was some good publicity from rallying (capped in 1968) and road racing (mostly the '66 Trans-am series), and of course Stock/Super Stock in 1968. They also didn't have the disasterous publicity of the early Corvair for some its initial shortcomings.

On the hand Mercury and Ford's styling, and perhaps their greater willingness to stick with racing really made their compacts a hit. Uh, well until the Pinto publicity disaster.

AMC most certainly provided continous support for rally and road racing. This racked up wins and probably contributed more to improvements to production line cars. AMC's styling was not everyone's cup of tea. Being the smallest and weakest company had to hurt sales for Joe public who wants to know its reliable and if there's a problem, someone to take it to.

I don't know much about the Pontiac developments other than they tried some innovative stuff but didn't stick with it.

From my own experience, I will say that my Nova ('74 2 door post) felt very solid and was one of the easiest cars to work on in terms of room and access. Credit the oldfashioned body/chassis and straight up six for a lot of that.
 
Mattax said:
The Competition
Ford Falcon, and then Mustang, and then Maverick, Pinto, etc
Mercury Comet and Couger, Chevy Corvair, and later Camaro
Pontiac Tempest (maybe until it grew bigger) and later Firebird
AMC Rambler American, and Javelin, and later Pacer, Gremlin, Hornet.
Others ?
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You forgot the best non-Mopar compact of all; the 1966 L-79 350 horsepower 327 Chevy II.

If it had decent bite (slicks and slapper bars) A-body 340's couldn't touch it.

It was a one-year only option though, so they weren't around as new cars in 1967. And, that engine wasn't available in a Chevy II in 1965.

The Chevelles with that motor ran ok, but were a little heavier.

It had a tiny, 565cfm Holley on it, or it could have been a giant killer.

In almost every other way, though, a Valiant or a Dart was a MUCH better car!!! From brakes to suspension, the Mopars made the competition look very inferior. And it stayed that way thru the '70s.
 
Love reading these stories! I was born in the wrong decade!
 
Mom had a white 67 Barracuda fastback Formula S 273 car with blue interior when we were kids. I remember going up north to visit our great grandma once or twice a week and we would stay late. Mom would fold down the back seat and put a pillow and sleeping bag in the back for me and my brother, and we would fall asleep under the back window watching the street lights go by and looking at the stars. If we couldn't wake up when we got home, mom and dad would carry us to bed. O:)


We traded it in for a 71 Satellite 318 car, and my brother was 5 years old then. As the salesman was looking over the Barracuda for trade-in value, my brother walked around the car and pointed to all of the rust spots and said, "see broken".... :banghead:

Dad wanted to kill him.... :violent1:
 
My first exposure to A-bodies was as a young man in the Air Force when the ’60 Valiant was introduced. It was generally viewed as weird looking and stodgy, but with a very modern six that gave above average performance with good gas mileage. Guys my age ignored them. I had a ’55 Plymouth with a 331 Hemi, and all I was interested in at the time was drag racing, and the Valiant wasn’t a race car.
By 1964, I was working in sales at a Chrysler Plymouth dealer in a medium sized town. Valiants and Darts were still looked upon as stodgy by the younger folks, but their admirable reliability, economy and sensibility was gaining a reputation. It was the year of the Mustang and the new Barracuda, along with modern, small V8s to power them. That attracted a few of a new breed of buyer, wannabe hotrodders with not much money, but the B-bodies and their Ford and GM competitors still ruled the roost for both the family and the racers.
Despite the factory’s successful attempts to turn their stodgy compacts into performance cars, the next generations of A-bodies never caught on with the new group of buyers that was quickly becoming a factor, younger people with money and/or good credit. Slant six powered 4-doors still overwhelmingly outsold sporty models, and that’s what the buying public saw on the street. Spring design, gear ratios, big blocks, hood scoops, wild paint, etc. were of interest to perhaps 1% of the buyers at the time, and only became important years and even decades after the cars were built.
When I was selling Mopars, my demos were all A-bodies by choice, and I loved everything about them. I don’t race anymore, so I look at cars with a different eye, and A-bodies still rank number one with me.
 
1968dartman said:
The only bad about them was that they suffered from traction problems. The only other bad thing was if you were lined up against one and did not have an A body youself!
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A-bodies actually hooked far better than GM and Ford pony cars. Chrysler engineers knew their stuff...
 
Bill Dedman said:
You forgot the best non-Mopar compact of all; the 1966 L-79 350 horsepower 327 Chevy II.

If it had decent bite (slicks and slapper bars) A-body 340's couldn't touch it.

It was a one-year only option though, so they weren't around as new cars in 1967. And, that engine wasn't available in a Chevy II in 1965.

The Chevelles with that motor ran ok, but were a little heavier.

It had a tiny, 565cfm Holley on it, or it could have been a giant killer.

In almost every other way, though, a Valiant or a Dart was a MUCH better car!!! From brakes to suspension, the Mopars made the competition look very inferior. And it stayed that way thru the '70s.
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Where Ma Mopar made the fatal mistake was in her conservative thinking in the packages offered.

No Road Runner should have ever left the showroom without at least a 440 Magnum under tthe hood, with the six-pak option for even more grunt.

No 340 engine should have ever been built with hydraulic lifters or without W-2 heads.

Those two items would have made also-rans out of anything GM had to offer at that time.

They had the wrong mindset for street domination... more's the pity; they were so close...:sad7:
 
My 1st experience with the A body was a 1960 4 door Valiant with the 170 six and a 3 speed. It was a daily driver for college.

The next one was a 1969 A56 340 4 speed ' Cuda notchback bought new which I was very lucky to find and acquire back a year ago. It now sets in my garage.

In the mid 70's I drove a 2 door 64 Dart 170 six 3 speed back and forth to work. The trans went out and I gave it to the junk yard. Duh!

They are not A bodies, but 6 Dodge Ram pickups have been in my possession since 2001, 4 diesels, 2 Hemis, driving a 2014 Hemi now. That one is going on the track this week end, can you say 14's?

Pa karp:burnout:
 
maybe Ma Mopar pushed their B bodies back then because there was more profit in selling a runner, x, or bee!???? just a thought??
 
This was our first A body I picked up in california while in the navy 1973. It eventually became my little sleeper.

Shortly after we got it I blew the engine because the prior owner had used the wrong nut on a rod bolt. Rod and piston stopped, crank didn't at about 80mph.

The car in the picture looks stock but if you'll notice the rear tires they're cheater slicks. I moved the leaf springs in for wider street tires but used these when racing which is why they're mounted on Cragars.

The engine had a set of heads I took off the AAR Cuda I owned and sold. I used the heads for this engine because I could port them out more. Yes, I kick myself quite often for not keeping the that car but oh well.

With the ported heads, a better cam and solid lifters, a bigger carburetor, electronic ignition, and tricked out 727 this little engine screamed.

For traction I tied down the leaf springs and made an adjustable pinion snubber. No traction bars to give anything away.

With those tires warmed up and the 4.30 rear gears this car would spin a little then stand up and go down the road, quick.

I never got beat in all the street racing I did when I lived in New York or here in Houston. Of course when they brought their car on a trailer I wasn't always as anxious to run. I made lots of money with this car.

I got a call about 6 years after I sold it and the guy asked me if I wanted to buy it back. I went to look at it and found out the guy that bought it put it into a ditch two weeks after he bought it.

It had a different front clip, no GTS hood, and the engine was on the ground, without the heads, so I didn't want it back. Even my wife was sad about it since it was our first car.
 

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Wanna know how the A-body was perceived by the general public? Take no further look than all the jokes about Al and "Dodge Dart" on Married... with Children. Sure, it's played for laughs, but there's some truth in all those jokes.

I will say from a personal stand point that it was an A-body that converted my dad from being an AMC/Ford guy into being a Mopar guy - but there's still a sweet spot for the Fords in the family (five of 'em) and we've all appreciated the AMC though none of us own one currently (but that might change).

Pop gave up on the hot rodding stuff when he started the family, having cut his teeth on flathead Fords, but when the Duster came along and he tour into it, then he caught the hot rod bug again.

For me, personally, I like my B-bodies. But there's a lot of stories to share about the Duster. Blowing off a couple of big block powered Chevies. I was behind Pop as he was getting onto 15 in PA, just below Salinsgrove. Guy in the Chevy wouldn't move over to let him on tried to race him as Pop was still on the entrance ramp. Pop put his foot into the Duster and got on the highway at triple digits, left the Chevy sitting (Chevelle with 454 badges).

Had another guy in a '55 Chevy with a 454 try him at a light where the road merges from four lanes to two lanes. I was riding shotgun. Light went down, the Duster hooked and launched. By the time Pop merge he had the Chevy by four car lengths.

Now mind you, this was a car Pop built more for top end than for drags. Motor set up loose, 3.23's.
 
ramenth said:
Wanna know how the A-body was perceived by the general public? Take no further look than all the jokes about Al and "Dodge Dart" on Married... with Children. Sure, it's played for laughs, but there's some truth in all those jokes.
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A bevy of W-2 headed 340 a bodies, and 440 Roadrunners would have changed that perception because the all-conquering Chevy's of the day would not have stood a chance...

I can't imagine why Ma didn't take advantage of that opportunity; it would have changed everything!

Shaking head...:banghead:
 
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