Duster Title

Honestly, I didn't really answer the question. Yes, the car was derived from the Valiant, technically a sub-model. Noone really refers to them that way, though. I know that when I go to Napa for a part, I have to tell them Valiant, not Duster. They simply don't have a listing for it. I'm supposing the same thing was the case at one time with the state in which your '74 was originally titled. Heck, my state, CT, doesn't (or at least didn't last time I tried) recognize Silver as a color (they put grey) or SUV as a bodystyle (they put station wagon). That's DMV for you. I'm not really sure of the specific reason your car was titled that way, but it's understandable. The Duster and Scamp are variations on the Valiant, just like the GTX is a variation of Belvedere. Or a GTI a variation of Golf.