1971 dart/swinger...340 4-speed

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Moopa, that white '71 340 special is now in Verdin, Manitoba and is still pretty much original – it was the 1st Crestview 340 Special, of the 25, to come off the assembly line for '71. We're debuting the first restored '72 Swinger 340 Special on August 8th at the Red Deer Mopar show. I noticed you were in Cedar, BC, where is that close to? There's a white '72 340 Special in a shop under a bunch of Mopar parts just outside of Mission, BC, if Cedar as anywhere near there. If you ever come across some old records on your old EV2, let me know. Do you remember if it had a white or black interior? It's hard to tell from the pic you posted. Hey, thanks for the info. Cliff
 
There's a guy whom I havent seen in 10 yrs+ that had a 72 H code Swinger. IIRC he moved south of Winnipeg. Not sure if he still has it or what ever became of it. He had a few Abodies, and if I can remember, I think it was yellow.

Grant
 
Moopa, that white '71 340 special is now in Verdin, Manitoba and is still pretty much original – it was the 1st Crestview 340 Special, of the 25, to come off the assembly line for '71. We're debuting the first restored '72 Swinger 340 Special on August 8th at the Red Deer Mopar show. I noticed you were in Cedar, BC, where is that close to? There's a white '72 340 Special in a shop under a bunch of Mopar parts just outside of Mission, BC, if Cedar as anywhere near there. If you ever come across some old records on your old EV2, let me know. Do you remember if it had a white or black interior? It's hard to tell from the pic you posted. Hey, thanks for the info. Cliff


Just FYI and to keep this thread alive,Cedar is just south of Naniamo on Vancouver Island which is a ferry ride and a couple hours drive to Mission.Basically a day trip to go there and back.

Do you know the status of the 72? is it complete? restorable condition? for sale?
 
Moopa, that white '71 340 special is now in Verdin, Manitoba and is still pretty much original – it was the 1st Crestview 340 Special, of the 25, to come off the assembly line for '71. We're debuting the first restored '72 Swinger 340 Special on August 8th at the Red Deer Mopar show. I noticed you were in Cedar, BC, where is that close to? There's a white '72 340 Special in a shop under a bunch of Mopar parts just outside of Mission, BC, if Cedar as anywhere near there. If you ever come across some old records on your old EV2, let me know. Do you remember if it had a white or black interior? It's hard to tell from the pic you posted. Hey, thanks for the info. Cliff
Sorry for the long response time, I just got the email tonite of action on this thread. As mentioned, I'm just south of Nanaimo on the Island. I don't think I have any records of the Swinger anymore, it was before I knew what all the codes meant, and they weren't worth alot( sold mine for $1600 with the new 340!), so not much thought given to that sort of thing. My car had white vinyl bench seat interior, column shift, manual steering,hood scoops, tail stripe, chrome exhaust tips,ralley wheels,radio,carpet,, thats about all I remember...cannot recall color of headliner( black or white).I might be able to dig up one more pic from the early 80's of the car, but I think there's maybe 3 photos of it, max.
What is the name of the place in Mission that has the 72, and is it for sale?
Also, it would be interesting to track my old car down in Sask...wonder if it's still alive??
Any way , if I think of anything else, I'll post.

Mark
 

Hi Adam, no, this is another one, '72 Edmonton car – found in central BC but now down around the lower mainland – BC (British Columbia) is mountainous and all moisture pretty much drains down into the Fraiser River and comes out around Vancouver and that whole, large population, pre-delta area is what we refer to as the lower mainland, just a quick geography note... Cliff
 
There's a guy whom I havent seen in 10 yrs+ that had a 72 H code Swinger. IIRC he moved south of Winnipeg. Not sure if he still has it or what ever became of it. He had a few Abodies, and if I can remember, I think it was yellow.

Grant

Hey Grant, thanks so much for your comments and just so you know, you may be on the trail of the elusive 'Pembina Dodge' order/gift for '72 only. I have only been able to find one of these cars, state side. I have talked to the owner of Pembina Dodge, an Ike Vickers, who does in fact remember 'those little hotrods', as he put it. We know Crosstown in Edmonton got 50 of these cars for '72 and we don't know how many were given to Pembina but it would be no more than 25 so they're rare as hens teeth. If you can give me any insight, info, names or whatever on this guy who moved south of Winnipeg, I'll do the hunting. Keep me informed. Need more info, let me know or check out 340swinger.org. Cliff
 
Just FYI and to keep this thread alive,Cedar is just south of Naniamo on Vancouver Island which is a ferry ride and a couple hours drive to Mission.Basically a day trip to go there and back.

Do you know the status of the 72? is it complete? restorable condition? for sale?

The status of this 4sp W1 '72 Swinger 340 Special is that it is very restorable and is complete except for running gear - engine and 4 speed tranny are gone. It is an original Edmonton Crosstown car and was found in the Quesnel area of central BC and is now down around Mission in the hands of a Mopar collector. When I saw - a bit of it - covered and in the middle of a bunch of mopar stuff, this spring, it was very intact but it did sit out behind a shed for years so not totally sure of the under carriage but the interior is all there (houndstooth bench etc.). I do have some pics (as I reached in blindly) if you're interested. As for it being for sale, I do believe it is - us Mopar guys can be such hoarders - and he knows what it is. So, again, if interested I can get you more info on the car and the seller(?). Oh, and thanks for the geo lesson, you know us prairie people... Thanks man, Cliff.
 
Sorry for the long response time, I just got the email tonite of action on this thread. As mentioned, I'm just south of Nanaimo on the Island. I don't think I have any records of the Swinger anymore, it was before I knew what all the codes meant, and they weren't worth alot( sold mine for $1600 with the new 340!), so not much thought given to that sort of thing. My car had white vinyl bench seat interior, column shift, manual steering,hood scoops, tail stripe, chrome exhaust tips,ralley wheels,radio,carpet,, thats about all I remember...cannot recall color of headliner( black or white).I might be able to dig up one more pic from the early 80's of the car, but I think there's maybe 3 photos of it, max.
What is the name of the place in Mission that has the 72, and is it for sale?
Also, it would be interesting to track my old car down in Sask...wonder if it's still alive??
Any way , if I think of anything else, I'll post.

Mark

Mark, it definitely is/was a Crestview, Regina car and is now the second EV2 version we know of (or it maybe the first, might be the same car - this one/ other one is now in Vernon, BC - you said you sold it back in Saskatchewan, maybe it's following you:)). Crestview cars all got the molding, hood scoops, white seats and carpet interior upgrades, Edmontons' Crosstown cars were stripped down with no 'bling', not even carpet and the few that got hood scoops - that was indicated on the fender tag. Yeah, back then they were cheap, fun and we didn't know what we had at the time, so, hopefully you had a blast with it while you had it. Please, if you have more pics (and VIN!!!), get a hold of me and I can see if it is the same car that's in Vernon or if it was another one of the 25 Crestview cars. Oh, and like I said in the last posting in this string, that I do believe it is for sale, so again, contact me if you want more info. Cliff
 
Now you got me thinkin too hard Cliff. I picked up an extra 70 dual scoop hood off of him, and I know my bro bought an old 74 Orange Dodge truck off of him after he moved. He also was in the process of making a 70 Swinger convertible. Gotta love old(er) age.

Grant
 
there is a red one in vernon, its been there for quite a while as well as a b5 blue one in kamloops.(going to try and buy that one eventually) there used to be a yellow one in armstrong that went to red deer a few years back.
 
what would you guys pay for a clean FACTORY 340 4spd 71 needing a resto but complete and solid? 10g out of line?

Chrisf, sorry, I didn't remark on this question earlier but a '71 that was relatively clean and somewhat original went for $18K just recently and a '72 in your back yard (BC?) with out running gear went for under $6K so I would say that's a pretty good buy? Is that the Kamloops car (this one is new to me, and B5! That's the first one I heard about)? The documented one in Vernon is EV2. What more can you tell me about the one that went to Red Deer from Armstrong? There are a couple in Red Deer but didn't hear of any of them coming from BC. New one? Any info would totally be appreciated! Thx Cliff
 
Here's another shot of my 71 with a young me on the hood. I blew up the other photo on a better scan, and I'mm 99% sure it has a black headliner, with the white seats. Also the 2 pics I took of Ritter's 71, back at a car show at Southey in the late 80's

71swsp.jpg


Mervs71SwSp.jpg


Mervs71SwSp2.jpg
 
Here's another shot of my 71 with a young me on the hood. I blew up the other photo on a better scan, and I'mm 99% sure it has a black headliner, with the white seats. Also the 2 pics I took of Ritter's 71, back at a car show at Southey in the late 80's

Hey Moopa, awesome. Yeah, that one of the 25 Crestview Regina 340 Specials, wish we knew where it was today, hopefully still alive! The Ritter car is in Southern Manitoba now, still pretty much original and still the first one off the line of the 25.
 
The original author never did come back to answer any questions....whether it was his or his friend's...........????
 
Now you got me thinkin too hard Cliff. I picked up an extra 70 dual scoop hood off of him, and I know my bro bought an old 74 Orange Dodge truck off of him after he moved. He also was in the process of making a 70 Swinger convertible. Gotta love old(er) age.

Grant

Grant, was going thru some older emails and came across a message from the guy who owned the only know Pembina car (so far) who turns out to be the guy you talk about here. The reason I know this is that he sent me a pic of his 70 Swinger convertible - dang. Thought there might be the second '72 Pembina 340 Special found, but hey, keep looking, there's gotta be a few kicking in and around Manitoba or beyond. Oh, and yes, it was Y1 and now is down around Bakersfield, California... Cliff
 
My 1971 Dart GT came with a 318 but now has a 1972 340 in the engine bay; do I call it a "clone?" No, I call it an improvement.
Just kidding; I get a chuckle out of these different names for cars which are made to resemble something they weren't when they were built, and the people who try to sell them because now they look like something else which is worth a whole lot more than the one they atually have.
 
I have one. It has been sitting for about 18 years. vin LL23HR2676XX (last 2 left off).

Now the bad news. I bought it when I was 16 after an incedent with my 383 Duster. The previous owner raced it (so he told me) and had a cage and ladder bars put in. It had been panted red and was in pieces. I bought it and went on stuffing everything from the Duster in it. I kept the 4 speed in it and the 8 3/4. I ran it like that and even put it on the bottle. Soon a kink in the roof developed above the drivers side rear window so I thought I had better strengthen it up. So off it went to a Speed shop and had the frames tied and a new cage and ladder bars, proper floating rear end, mini tub, spring relocation ect. I ran out of funds, of course, and put it away in storage....

I am a mechanic and have owned my shop for 10 years know, I have a family and thought I have the $$ now lets blow the dust of that car and start on it.

I have been popking around on forums for ideas. I was going to go new gen hemi, pro tour type car but then I found out how rare the car is. I always knew that the 340 Darts were Canada only but didn't know they were a special build in such low #'s. In the early 90's i did contact , I hope I get this right, Gailen Govier? he used to write in the Mopar mags and he said it was rare but nothing too special.

So now the original interior is long gone and so is the motor and I have buchered the car a fair bit and it's still in rough shape but very solid. I don't know what i'll do with the car yet. I don't have the build sheet or the fender tag either.

Garth
 
i bought the 72 yellow swinger 340 3spd car from ian and also a orange 71 swinger 340 4spd out of red deer and sold them to a fellow out here in california about 3 or 4 years ago,i talked to him a few months ago he still had both cars and hadnt done a thing with them too bad
 
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