What is your A Body history, which ones, and how many have you had? Why?

In 1988 at 17yrs old i was to get a new CRX but a 70 Dodge Dart witha 318 caught my eye and 300$ later and 5mph back firing and missing i get it home and tuned it up and my Mopar days began.
Late in 88 i get a call from a friend in Houston who was evacuating from a hurrican said come and get it for 2500$ a beautiful 67 Dart GTw/340 loved that car.
1989 a 72 Duster Drag car
1990 another 72 Duster for 250$ i gutted it and made it an ugly fast street car.
1991 bought a 74 Dart sport but couldnt get a title so i sold it
1994 sold my last Duster drag car and went dirt track racing with a Larry Shaw late model with a 340 and suprisingly it was quick as any other chevy out there, sold it in 2000.
2006 bought my current 73 Dart and letting this one get away.

I've always been an e-body challenger fan, hense my member name. But now i sport 2 a bodies. the first was a 65 barracuda, 273 auto. Both motor and tranny had to go. The previous owner spent ALOT of money on the car but it still ran like crap with the 360 heads.Now it has a crate 360 which runs great and I am in the process of finishing my 4spd conversion. My other passion is my 63 valiant that had a 6cyl. with 3 on the tree. Now it has a twin turbo 400 with a 5spd behind it and caged in the middle and tubs out back. One day I'll get my son to help post some pics of my wallet drainers. If my wife only knew!!!

I have a long-term project '74 Scamp ( /6 )that will some day be done and will be my daily driver when I become a productive member of society!

But as for now I am trying to get the electrical working smooth on another 74 Scamp w/ a slant six. I am just gonna keep it running and try and limp it along until I do something permanent with it.

Hopefully I can keep both because in 20 years it will be like trying to find a car from the 50s, but now.

All my A bodies have been '68 Cuda notches. First one was bought in '78. Still miss that car. Traded a done up 400 Pontiac ram air motor for it. 318 was toast on the Cuda, so I swapped it for a '71 360. Incredible car. Had over 100K on it, so the rebuilding began. Learned an awful lot from that car. Bought a rusted out 73 340 4 spd Dart for parts and began to rebuild the Cuda using the Dart underpinnings. Beginning of the end for that car. Sat disassembled in various garages till about '95 when I finally realized I was not going to get it done. Sold it in Winnipeg and lost track of it. Suspect the car was scrapped, but if any of our Winnipeg members know anything about it, I'd love to hear about it. Rear quarters were cut out, car was blasted and primered. Had a garage full of parts that are hard to find today including the 4 spd and 8 1/4 from the 73 Dart parts car and a 150 mph Ralleye dash. Lived on Grassie Blvd at the time.

2nd car was bought about 4 yrs ago. eBay purchase from Texas. Thought I'd buy a shell from outside the rust belt, but when it arrived, it had far more dents than I bargained for. Still have the car. /6 standard, bench seat car with a "police 360" and AT according to the vendor. It will be a parts source for my current car and I'm considering making a drag racer out of it. It was basically rust free and plan B might be to sell it as a project after I swap what I want over to my current car.

This last summer, I saw my current car for sale on eBay, again in Texas. Market had bottomed out, so prices were once again affordable. Actually let the car go by once as the reserve was not met, but contacted the seller and bought the car in the relisted auction. Car was /6, but was a buckets/console car just like my first car and it had A/C, non functional of course. Drove the car all last summer with the /6, had a blast. Bought a '74 Dart V8 4 dr car for parts. Also acquired a 360/727 from a '75 Dodge 1 ton. I'll swap the K member over along with the V8 once I have the parts rebuilt. Gonna drive the /6 till then.

My dad found a '73 Duster that needed some work sitting in a driveway. The guy wanted $1,300 for it. I checked it out a few weeks later. I liked what I saw and saw the potential so we picked it up for $650. I was never a huge fan of the 73+ years and never payed much attention to Dusters but my Duster has changed my whole outlook on Dusters and '73s are my favorite year now!

My 1st car in 1974 and I was still 15, $400, 67 Barracuda coupe 273 2 barrel, auto on column. Ended up with the 273 Hipo out of sisters Formula S 67

traded for a 69 Roadrunner, kept my cragers

Bought 70 Duster deluxe wheel covers, white sidewalls, AM radio, 3 speed manual on floor, rubber mat, $650 in 1976, had the Roadrunner and Duster and was still in highschool. Put the cragers off my Barracuda on it drove the wheels off it for the summer then sold it to my dad and he drove it for about 5 years, cragers and all

I got into B bodies and my new in May of 77 Aspen

67 Barracuda coupe Formula S factory 4 speed. Put 340 and interior out of a 72 Duster in it, High back buckets and rear seat, sold to buddy in 79, I should have kept it. had been hit in the front and engine was apart with spun bearing. I think I paid $125 in 77

67 Dart Convertible bought it in 93 Built it with 340, 4 speed, AC, Pearl white paint, Blue Ultraleather interior Bought for $1,700 .........................I don't want to know what I have in it now

68 Barracuda fastback (bought for parts to build 67 Convertible) $100

71 340 Demon (bought for parts, got the 8 3/4, 340 short block, front suspension) sent it to junk yard and they stacked and sent to crusher, should have kept and parted the good stuff out. It was butterscotch with bench seat with houndstooth interior, UGLY but $300 I GOT A DEAL!

67 Dart GT hardtop, bought for parts I think $300 and sold a lot of parts that I didn't need and then sold what was left of the body

68 Dart GT convertible. Bought for $810 needed the trim to hold the boot to the back seat. had been trying to buy one for years and this car came up for sale in Franklin KY. Bid was $800, and I bid the 810 not expecting to win the bid. Was a 318, factory air, auto on floor. I ended up using a lot more than the boot trim. Sold it and the guy, he put it on ebay saying he had owned it for 15 years

67 Barracuda convertible Bought for $2,000. Looked good from 20 feet, it had come out of a junk yard, someone welded angle iron to the torsion bar mount, welded the frame around the upper control arm and put 1/4s on top of the rotten one. The interior looked brand new. I bought it so my dad could have a cool car to drive in his final years. When I seen it go down the road sideways I sold it after a few weeks of owning

67 dart GT hardtop $750 bought in 2008, pulled out of farm barn lot

some other Mopars

69 Charger SE, BB
72 340 Challenger
73 Challenger
74 Challenger
70 Grand Coupe Barracuda 383, auto, PW, AC
71 Cuda Convertible 383 Curious Yellow
76 Monaco Wagon
86 Ram Charger 4x4
95 Dodge 2500 Ram
93 Grand Caravan

I'm sure there are many more. I have tried in the past to write down all the cars I have owned and I always forget and have to keep adding them in.

The oldest that I currently own...my first '66 Barracuda at about 30 years. Many more since then. I did own a '61 Valiant from '74-7 until some knucklehead ran into the back of it and bent it too bad to fix.
Thanks, Mark

I bought my 66 dart GT new and drove the crap out of it.My first MOPAR. I bought it on friday and raced it on that sunday and won. I put a 340 in it in 68 told everbody it was still a 273. won all kinds of money street racing in early 70s My son drove it to high school.I then made it a pro street car He drove it back to his 25 reunion, Ive drove it to the MOPAR nats twice (800 miles one way)been on three power tours. and just enjoy it. Its the only one around here that ive seen. cant figure out how to put a picture on here . mine are two big.Need help there.

My first A body was my first new car, 74 Scamp, 318, 3 speed on the floor. Had to put a deposit down because they dealer wouldn't order it with a stick. It was a dark metallic red with a parchment vinyl roof and interior. Had that for 3 years traded it in a new Volare roadrunner. Nice looking car but had the carb problems which was recalled I think.

2nd A is my 66 Barracuda Formula S, 273,4 speed, (aka red skunk) red with white stripes, red interior. Original paint, interior, 76K miles. Had this one for 23 years, bought hoping to get a 69 roadrunner some day but as they say "life comes at you fast" and things don't always work out so I still have the red skunk. Like it, but don't love it, although being unmolested and 99% rust free, it does get some attention at the cruises. It has become a member of the family.

My first was in 1972, it was a 1970 340 3 speed Duster orange in color. In high school this was one hot car. every one from out of town came to run for pink slips. did not have a strip to run on so it was done on the street. After a while the cops figured it out and set up a sting. The race was run, I won and then came all the red and blue lights.Being young and not very smart, we ran for it, the other guy ended up stoping and i did not, I stuck my foot in it and ran for it. Two lane old county road the county cops clocked me on the run at 156mph i slowed down to make a turn and lost it. All i did was slid off the road, stuck so i just waited for them to come.When the county got there and rolled up there car dumped all the antifreeze on the ground. So i sat in that car until they got another car from town. Still on record at county court house. Lost my license ended up selling the duster and my insurance cost went SKY HIGH. Bad year. Could not stay away from a bodys bought a 1971 demon 340 4 speed. Trouble started all over again,Long story so i will quit. I now have 1 1970 duster body, And a 1973 duster that i am building out in my shop now. Just cant stand to be with out the sound of a camed up 340. My son and i also have 2 dodge diesels and 1 hemi service truck.

Some really great stories, all different.

My first A-body was a brand new 1974 Duster 360/automatic with white stripes and parchment interior back when I was 18 yrs old. I called around at the end of the 74 model year and found my Lemon Twist Duster at Paddock Chyrsler in North County. My Dad traded my beat up 72 Nova 6cyl for it at night since it looked better in the dark.:-D My funniest episode was when I left a party one night alittle drunk and did a reverse brake torque accidently. Boy that was a weird feeling!

My second A-body was about 5 yrs later and it was a nice low mile, heavily optioned Rallye Red 73 Dart Sport 340/automatic with white interior & stripes. I purchased it from Scott Seiveking who runs the Monster Mopar show in St. Louis

Around age 30 I bought a nice #'s matching B5 blue Demon 340/automatic with black stripes and black interior. Bone stock except for a Holley 750 carb and Edelbrock manifold.

Then after a long dryspell I purchased my #'s matching Basin Street Blue 73 Duster 340-4spd SpaceDuster at age 44. Built 340 motor, 4spd & 4.10 gears makes for fun stoplight action! Kept it for 8 yrs before letting the next owner enjoy it's rarity.

Last year at age 53 I purchased a Rallye Red 70 Duster 360/automatic that's a fun driver but just needs TLC. I enjoy driving it and working on it as time permits.

I picked my Duster for no other reason then it was free. I had a 66 Sport Fury 440 auto that I got from my Dad when I was 17 fastforward 10 years and I had done nothing to the car, I had waited almost 5 years since I got married and it was time. My Dad trailered it to North Carolina from Tennessee and thats when I found out it was to late for her to be saved. I tried to sell it whole and nobody wanted it so I parted it. But I had to have another project, so on Craigslist I went and found the Duster for $500 well long story short I traded some left over Fury parts and she was mine. Didn't cost me one red cent.

I've had 7 Demons (5 were 340's 2 were 318's) I've had 6 Dusters (1 was 340)
I've had several others(all Mopar) and plan to own many more.
My race car is a true junk yard rescue that I bought for $500..Her name is Angie. (after Angie Everheart)The trunk,frames and floors were decent but it needed 1 quarter(drivers side) rockers,fenders,hood and trunk and doors. It was TB3. It came from the factory with the sizzler package and the scoops were in the trunk.
I put it together with all the fiberglass and one of my BEST friends painted it EV2 with some chrome to make it pop. I put the 340/727 from my Demon340
I lost in a divorce in and made a race car out of it.


The other girlfriend is a '71 318/2 904/ 8 3/4 EV2/EV2/EV2. 1 of approx 62000
non 340 cars. Nothing special except it has orange and black interior.
I'm putting a "cammed" 360/4 727 with 4:30's and gonna drive the paint off her. Her name is LUCY.......I LOVE LUCY!!!! I got some of the cheap Jegs star wheels for her and a new gas tank. I've replaced all the firewall out wiring with a repro from Year One, all new brakes, '73abody up front and 11" drums from a '66 Fury III on a '65 Belvidere 8 3/4 rear. I've had to find all the interior
except for the console and shifter. New carpet. Lucy is coming along quite well and I hope to have her running in March.
The reason why is because another BEST friend had a FJ6 340 '71 Demon in 1985 and the Dart front end on that Duster
kicked a@#. That was the first time I had seen a Demon. Let alone a 340-4 speed BRIGHT green one Plus the tail lights were some of the coolest I'd ever seen and I still like them the best.

This will be somewhat long...

My first Duster was a seaspray green 76 Feather Duster with a /6. After a little body work and tuning it was a great daily driver that got 25-26 mpg all day long on the highway.Perfect for a student with no money,lol. I loaned it to my younger brother one day so he could get to his job. Him being young and not used to drum brakes was a bad combo. He drove it over a meridian at about 40 mph when he failed to negotiate his highway exit.Going too fast I guess. Anyway,the torsion bar mounts got snapped and the frame was bent. He ponied up $500 for it which was what I had into it and then I sold the hood and trunk lid for another $150.So I actually made money on it! It was too bad about that car,but hey it was a /6 and a 76,so not really desireable.

I bought my second Duster when I was about 24.Was a 1974 Bahama yellow 318 car. Nice mint black interior and a somewhat rough body. I slapped a 4 barrel and a torker intake on it,duals and slid a cheap rv cam in it. Me and that duster drove forever. I must have put 30 or 40 thousand miles on this mild combo and had a ton of fun with it. I fell in love with the way it rode and drove. I think this car was the one that made me a mopar fan as it never broke down and never had an issue until I ran dry of coolant trying to get home late one night (3 or 4 a.m) coming home from work. No-one to call and nothing to do but hope I could make it to a gas station that was open. No way could I walk.Was miles from anywhere... turned out it had a rusted freeze plug.

ThenI bought my 70 Dart. At the time I had no car.My buddy came by my house looking for me. He knew I wanted another mopar and just happened to come across this 70 Dart at a dealership. The right side had been put in a ditch and was wiped out from the door back,but it was otherwise pretty good. 318,904 and an 8 3/4! Again with a mint black interior..Im a sucker for black interiors.lol...Dealership was asking $650,but I got it for $350. Ran and drove great until the 904 packed it in 2 weeks later. So my buddy again helped me out. He had a 76 Aspen Wagon with the hd 904 which he donated. I put that tranny in laying on my back in the driveway by myself.Basically bench pressed it in,lol. So I must have run up about 15 000 miles on it in stock form. Was another great,reliable mopar.

I asked my wife to be out on our first date in that car.She liked me and the Dart,rough as it was so I knew she was a keeper. One night after a couple months of dating,we had a massive fight. We were probably going to break up. Se wanted to walk back to her place at 2 a.m in Surrey,a suburb of Vancouver. I knew I would never forgive myself if something happened to her,so I offered her a ride. We went to start the Dart and it just dead refused! After an hour I gave up,we cooled off and she stayed the night. We made up (mmm) and the next morning the Dart fired right up! never did figure out why,but Im glad it did that. Still have the Dart and the wife lol!

There were other mopars in between the A bodies. A Warlock stepside with 360,a massive C body with 440,several rusty A bodies that I parted out.Etc etc..I cant really remember clearly,lol...too much fun I guess..

Needsaresto now that is a story to tell the kids about. Never let that car go. It may be what is holding your marriage together lol

dusted72 said:

Needsaresto now that is a story to tell the kids about. Never let that car go. It may be what is holding your marriage together lol

Click to expand...

No kidding! It doesn't get much better than that.