Duster 340 not a muscle car...

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I have this same kinda of bs in s.w.Iowa stupid Chevy owners this state is full of them ! I had one guy ask why I had a 383 Chevy in a Plymouth yrs. back ,so I decided it was my duty to School him. I said first off it's a Big Block 383 Mopar,oh and by the way Mopar also had the first 350 V-8 look it up! He called me a dumbass and got back in his Camaro. So I yelled back and said hey by the way do you know what the letters for Camaro stand for? His response was badass car! He got really mad when I said C..nts and Morons Always Race One...LOL :)...Oh yeah I don't care if people call a Cuda a ponycar, I still believe my V-code 70 Cuda is a Muscle Car!!! I wouldn't let your buddy get to you, hell tell him to take his Chevy outside of town and put his money where his mouth is!!! I guarantee that 340 Duster is more Muscle Car than he wants to deal with!!! When people ask me why I drive a Mopar ? I just tell them the world is full of dumbass people!!! I guess I'm just smarter than most!!!! :) Mopar or no Car!!!!!!!!!
 
It can be argued that it's really not a muscle car. It's built off the Valiant which was a grandma car. I don't necessarily agree with that, BUT it's a valid point. It was not originally created as a muscle car line. That cannot be argued. Now, what it evolved into is another thing altogether. I actually think it's cool as all hell that it came from utilitarian roots.
 
I read an article a few years back somewhere that the whole reason the Plymouth guys took the risk of taking their 1970 "freshen the Valiant" budget and building a new body from the cowl back was to have an A-body that they could put the 340 in that young buyers would find appealing.
Those guys had balls building their car with balls...
 
DusterDaddy said:
I read an article a few years back somewhere that the whole reason the Plymouth guys took the risk of taking their 1970 "freshen the Valiant" budget and building a new body from the cowl back was to have an A-body that they could put the 340 in that young buyers would find appealing.
Those guys had balls building their car with balls...
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Ewwww. I never found any balls in any of my cars.
 
RustyRatRod...I don't agree with that!! The 340 Duster is parts of Plymouth's Rapid Transit System!!! I have the 70 R.T.S dealer brochure hanging on the wall of my shop. The Duster 340 is pictured right in line with the Cuda, GTX, Road Runner, And Sport Fury and that is a Fact!!! Now with that said it would be different if his car was a 318 or a /6 Duster, then Yes it wouldn't be considered a factory built Muscle Car. This would also be true of my two 67 Belevedere models one is a Gtx that is a factory promoted Muscle Car and is considered Plymouth's first attempt to build one. Now as for my Satellite it's just a fancy package with a 383, not a factory promoted Muscle Car. Both are fast as hell but only one is a True Mopar Muscle Car!
 
Back in the day the insurance companies concidered a Muscle Car any car with an advertised hp of one hp for every ten pounds and charged a extra premium for it. That's what I've always have gone by that's another reason why the a-body 340 cars sold so well and why the 340 was offered in the 71 Roadrunner and 71 Charger/Superbee.
 
Hell here in Pottawattamie county Iowa they still do this most of my cars have a 52 code for hp car on the registration, including my 340 Darts 69 and 68. I guess they still like the money here :(
 
68hemidart2000 said:
RustyRatRod...I don't agree with that!! The 340 Duster is parts of Plymouth's Rapid Transit System!!! I have the 70 R.T.S dealer brochure hanging on the wall of my shop. The Duster 340 is pictured right in line with the Cuda, GTX, Road Runner, And Sport Fury and that is a Fact!!! Now with that said it would be different if his car was a 318 or a /6 Duster, then Yes it wouldn't be considered a factory built Muscle Car. This would also be true of my two 67 Belevedere models one is a Gtx that is a factory promoted Muscle Car and is considered Plymouth's first attempt to build one. Now as for my Satellite it's just a fancy package with a 383, not a factory promoted Muscle Car. Both are fast as hell but only one is a True Mopar Muscle Car!
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Go back and actually READ what I said. I SAID It did not START OUT as a muscle car. It started life as a Valiant and EVOLVED into a muscle car. You musta flunked comprehension 101.
 
Austinsguns said:
A friend of mine ticked me off when he said "your Duster 340 is not actually a muscle car"

I think it more than qualifies...

Anyone else have any opinions on this?
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In the 60's...they classified the duster/dart/camaro/mustang as "pony cars"...why...don't know,maybe because "muscle" meant "cubes" but IF you go to the track....I've seen ALOT of "pony cars" kicking @$$ on the "muscle cars".
 
Right, no small block muscle cars exist. Just like the '69 Z with 4.11s I learned to drive in. Wonder where a Grand National fits in his scheme of things. Heck, I've driven stations wagons that could almost qualify as muscle cars.
 
I'm Sorry that you feel that I'm Stupid. I guess I don't understand how a 70 340 Duster can Evolve into a Muscle Car??? I guess all my original 70 Plymouth brochures must be wrong??? The 340 Duster has always been considered a code 52 in my area in Iowa meaning hp car. Maybe where you live it's not??? Besides the only reason I posted on this is because this happened to a member in Iowa and I can relate to his issues with Chevy guys. This is the end of my posting on this thread and once again I'm sorry if I have affended anyone here!!!!! I guess I thought we were all here to have fun and share facts we know about the Mopars that we all love!!!! Even if sometimes we didn't quite understand one another's post!!!! :(
 
Bill Dedman is the only one that is correct.
..by definition,a musclecar was an intermediate with a large engine
Pony cars were small sports coupes like camaro and mustang and challenger
the nova maverick duster size models were actually economy cars that
the manufacturers' eventually stuffed more powerful engines in during those sales competitive years
 
Bill Dedman said:
...The writers described a muscle car as an intermediate body (there were no pony cars, yet... the Mustangs came a bit later in the year...) into which the factory had fitted a supposedly powerful, big block engine, ostensibly, giving the car "muscular" performance capabilities...

...I guess the only "musclecars" back then, to come from Mopar were the big block (and Hemi) Barracudas and Darts of 1967, 1968 and '69...

...So, the term "musclecar" in not about speed... it's just a way to classify a big block engine in an intermediate chassis. Has nothing at all to do with how fast (or, slow) it may be...
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That's the classic definition of a "muscle car". But as with anything, after 40-50 years go by, the lines have been blurred.
However, I can't agree with the statement about the only Mopar muscle cars were big block Darts & Cudas in '67 to '69. How could you forget about the most important muscle car ever (IMHO), the Plymouth Road Runner? Big block in an intermediate car, light, no frills... I think it meets the criteria! And of course don't leave out it's Dodge cousins like the Super Bees.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Go back and actually READ what I said. I SAID It did not START OUT as a muscle car. It started life as a Valiant and EVOLVED into a muscle car. You musta flunked comprehension 101.
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And the classic example of the "first muscle car" the GTO, started out as a Tempest.
 
many of us were there in he 60's. I really don't remember when I foirst heard that phrase "muscle car:?! over the decades I've read this same argument of what qualifies for a musclecar. musclecar, ponycar, high performance car????? this debate generally arose because Plymouth decided they were the first with the gto. they claim the max wedge wasn't a " musclecar" becausde it didn't have the neat little "GTO " emblems, or the like stating its place in cardoom.
the fify's hemi's????? musclecar or what really??? outran everybody..

as stated by the rest, your friend is pulling your chain. I would find something better to whip his *** over if needed!
 
68hemidart2000 said:
I'm Sorry that you feel that I'm Stupid. I guess I don't understand how a 70 340 Duster can Evolve into a Muscle Car??? I guess all my original 70 Plymouth brochures must be wrong??? The 340 Duster has always been considered a code 52 in my area in Iowa meaning hp car. Maybe where you live it's not??? Besides the only reason I posted on this is because this happened to a member in Iowa and I can relate to his issues with Chevy guys. This is the end of my posting on this thread and once again I'm sorry if I have affended anyone here!!!!! I guess I thought we were all here to have fun and share facts we know about the Mopars that we all love!!!! Even if sometimes we didn't quite understand one another's post!!!! :(
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The VALIANT evolved into the DUSTER. The DUSTER was BASED ON the VALIANT. Get it?
 
After years of hearing this debate, I came up with my own Muscle Car Qualifiers that I told my teen aged boys.

#1- Fast.

#2- 5 passenger minimum.

#3- Trunk, minimum 1 case of beer per occupant.
 
Some old school fellas would refer to it as a pony car , as it is a small block. What would be considered muscle car back in the day had big block in a mid sized car. By definition, I would think the 340 Duster would qualify as it was a small block in a small car, or what was at the time considered a compact car. The 340 dart is definitely a small car for the late sixties/early seventies time frame. The Duster is slightly larger with the fastback rear. I know this may sound weird, but the OP and his buddy are both correct, they just have a difference in definition, if that makes sense.
 
..a duster is about 10 in. shorter than a dart and the wheelbase is 108" 3" shorter than a dart.
The first '70 duster was not even its' own model but a Valiant duster.
..in 1971 it became a stand alone model "Duster"
 
ir3333 said:
..a duster is about 10 in. shorter than a dart and the wheelbase is 108" 3" shorter than a dart.
The first '70 duster was not even its' own model but a Valiant duster.
..in 1971 it became a stand alone model "Duster"
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Finally. Someone sees where I was goin.
 
Gee, according to just about every ad I read on Craigslist, every car ever produced in the 60's and 70's is a "true" muscle car, at least when you're sellin em that is!!!
 
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