Some of yall are forgetting something. Marketing. The 340 was always a performance engine. It never came with a two barrel. It was never a low performance engine.
The 383 was. It served in everything from grandma's Sunday go to church car to taxi cabs, dump trucks, and everything in between.
Advertising dollars, achieved by advertising hype. Young kids wanted fast cars, advertising inflated numbers helped profit margins...
Had Chrysler advertised the 383 strongly, it might have over shadowed the 340.
Sorta like Chevy. The Corvette LT1 in 1970 was 370HP. The same EXACT engine in the Camaro was 360HP. The Corvette had to be king of the hill....just like the 340.
Yall keep beatin the dead horse, but the 340 will lose every time in an equal playing field.