Howdy from Maine - HELP ME DECIDE!

Hello from Maine!

Let me be honest- I don't have an A-body... yet.

I know this might sound strange, but the reason I am even looking at another vehicle right now is because of gas prices. My 03 ram is a gas HOG and is eating me out of house and home. I've been half heartedly looking for a more fuel efficient vehicle for a couple months now. The thought of parking my truck and driving a rice burner to work and back is depressing to say the least... I want style. I want good looks. I want American Steel. Is it too much to ask that it gets good gas mileage too?

On Sunday my wife and I were on our way home (in her soulless Subaru where I barely have enough room to pick my nose or use the clutch) when Lo and behold I see a flash of metallic emerald green out of the corner of my eye. My car guy head whips around, as it is automatically tuned to scan through garage doors and behind barns for classic American tin, and spies a very cute little 75 Dart Swinger 2-door hardtop... in a small used car lot of all places.

I turned around on a dime and left my wife in the warm confines of her AWD ultra-modern piece of plastic and stood in the rain and walked around this small 70's beast... no rust... just under $3000... inspected... Hmmm... I managed to get the vin number and verified that it was a 225 slant 6.

Despite my wife's bitching that there was no point in getting another vehicle that got horrible gas mileage, I had my suspicions verified that the little Dart typically gets 20-25mpg... which is double what my ram gets and almost as good as my wife's Subaru. That shut her up.

Before I pursue this further, I'm hoping you guys can make or break my decision with some experienced opinions.

I suspect you will all say that I should jump on this cool-*** little compact Dart. No, the paint is not original, it used to be cream colored. The engine is original with 120k on it. I'e heard it run but have yet to take it for a test drive. I could care less about things of that nature. I just love the fact that I can work on it, I can help preserve a cool piece of Americana (who would have ever guessed we would feel that way about mid-70's cars), it will get way better mileage than my truck and will look absolutely tits doing it.

What do you guys think? Should I come up with that 3 grand if I can? Should I pass and resign myself to shoehorning my large self into a sardine can from Japan? Are there things I should know about this car? Good or bad, I would genuinely appreciate your honest opinions.

Thanks guys.