How should my duster handle

DionR said
Add better steering, tires, suspension and a modern motor and trans and you are closer to the below than a new Dart:

View attachment 1716033936

Maybe you don't like those either, and that ok. But it's still a better representation of what an updated A-Body is.

True but A-bodies are also about 1000 lbs lighter so there's that. I see modern Challengers like shortened C-bodies as that's about the comparable size and weight lol. I tend to view cars more from the aspect of how they're built and technical specs as opposed to what time period they came from and what they were like when new. I was born in 1991 so by the time I was driving age nobody was driving 60s-70s muscle cars regularly anymore and they were considered classics. I wasn't around when muscle cars were new or <10 years old so for me personally there's no point in leaving something stock that was marketed as a performance car. If/when I get a big cruiser like a Chrysler or Buick sedan which were intended to be soft cushy luxury cars then yeah I'll likely leave it stock. Well at least mostly lol. But that's just me and I totally understand everyone has different tastes and past experiences that influence their car building goals.

The biggest draw to me for A-bodies is that they weigh as little as most smaller modern import performance cars with turbo 4-banger engines but came from the factory with 5+ liter V8s and are RWD. They also have well-engineered suspensions and chassis where you don't need to convert everything to modern tech just to make it drive decent, like how most old GM and Ford stuff is.