History on this Canadian Dart Swinger 340 Special

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Posted an ad on Kijiji with some of this info and Shazam!! got and email and a phone call from what turns out to be the owner that had the old picture and was owner number two, Morris a really nice fellow. Had a good talk with him and invited him to check the old girl out before I start tearing her apart. Was hoping there was only one owner before me but now I know there were three, number three has most of the info that I need since he changed the car the most so the hunt continues, thanks FABO and for others their shot in the dark can work also you just got to take it!



hi there, thanks for the pictures of the car. ( looks good in black ) as mentioned earlier, was bought from kingsway toyota used car lot when
they were on 101 str. by the hospital in spring of 1973. i had it for a couple of years and traded it of in early 1975 at \jarvo motors an AMC
dealer on 97 str. and 125 ave. insurance rates were killing me and i was a highschool student as well so you know the story. only modifications
was the holley carb with vacuum secondaries.
i'm glad to hear the car is in good hands, and although it sounds like it was abused by the owner prior to you, it was my pride and joy and a cool
cruiser. i'll look through our old photo albums and hopefully find some more pictures for you.

have fun bringing it back to original.

i'll keep in touch, morris.
 

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hello fellow members just joined your wonderful site so I'm new to you I was shipped to this site by a bunch of caring members and I thank them. So here goes the storey I purchased years ago a bagged out 1971 dart swinger less engine and whats left of an interior and some alien inspired autobody work to say the least ,typical rusty quarters ,lets make a 2piece fender into a 1piece fender type of crap so now I'm considering getting this unit back on the road Now here's the question what do I have galen govier years ago through a friend decoded the fender tag , said was a 340 4 spd swinger now what I need to know if its a true 340 4spd swinger or was he making me feel good ? so here is the fender tag tx9 c end tx9 L2x9 tx9 513 b31111 e55 d21 LL23 h1r 267669 that's it . the car has the 4 spd and the 8 3/4 diff ,hood scoops have black fronts not chrome grille I think was shark tooth someone had told me. so now I want to put it back together to what it was , I did rob a 340 out of a 1971 340 demon/duster years ago figured get one while the gittin was good so hopefully its a 340 car and I can keep it as such missed a 1970 340 back in highschool kicked myself for years , now its time to get it going before to old to work a clutch, thanks for all your help
 
so what are these cars worth restored and unrestored, it's not for sale just curious as I've had a few car flippers telling me is' not worth much lucky if I got 2g for it told them go find there own ,have always liked there look got one now i'll keep it now to get proper interior parts ,body parts, ect that look and fit like the original ( I hate good enough ) as my dad said do it right or don't do at all ,now it I only had a big *** shop, it s going rotisserie thanks again lionel
 
Unrestored with all parts and complete I estimate $3-5000. With fender tag, build sheet, ALL badges and correct parts
I expect $50000 invested in my 1972 and a little less in my 1971 as I have 1970 parts that fit
 
turdkicker said:
hello fellow members just joined your wonderful site so I'm new to you I was shipped to this site by a bunch of caring members and I thank them. So here goes the storey I purchased years ago a bagged out 1971 dart swinger less engine and whats left of an interior and some alien inspired autobody work to say the least ,typical rusty quarters ,lets make a 2piece fender into a 1piece fender type of crap so now I'm considering getting this unit back on the road Now here's the question what do I have galen govier years ago through a friend decoded the fender tag , said was a 340 4 spd swinger now what I need to know if its a true 340 4spd swinger or was he making me feel good ? so here is the fender tag tx9 c end tx9 L2x9 tx9 513 b31111 e55 d21 LL23 h1r 267669 that's it . the car has the 4 spd and the 8 3/4 diff ,hood scoops have black fronts not chrome grille I think was shark tooth someone had told me. so now I want to put it back together to what it was , I did rob a 340 out of a 1971 340 demon/duster years ago figured get one while the gittin was good so hopefully its a 340 car and I can keep it as such missed a 1970 340 back in highschool kicked myself for years , now its time to get it going before to old to work a clutch, thanks for all your help
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j061093409 said:
Bingo!!!
Real four speed car - Canadian special
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Thanks for posting turdkicker, j is correct "Bingo" you've got a 71 Canadian 340 Swinger Special which the LL stand for Special and the H is 340. Your the lucky owner of one of 75 or less special built Swingers for 1971, 40 of which were built for Crosstown Motor of Edmonton and 25 or less built for Crestview Motors in Saskatchewan. Cliff Guinand is our Historian and record keeper on these cars and will likely be contacting you for more info. There are several Canadian Special owners on FABO and j061093409 is the lucky owner of 2 and probably the only ones in the U.S. I couldn't tell from your description how much of your interior is in tact but you will want to carefully look to see if the build sheet is tucked away and still intact some where in the car, I found mine woven in between the springs on the backrest part of the rear seat but it can be found in other places. If you find it in what ever condition take care to preserve what ever you find. Don't listen to anyone that tells you it isn't worth much, the fact is we don't really know what they are worth, these cars were not suppose to exist and were Special built and in very limited numbers so with that in mind it would seem they would be worth more than the average A-body but we don't know. I love to see some pictures of your car and don't worry about condition its lucky to still exist in what ever condition. Any questions please ask away on here or pm any of us and we will strive to answer them for you. Thanks again Danny
 
Checked out your first posting turdkicker and you said it has white seats so you have a Crestview
Special that makes it a bit rarer, 1 of 25, nice find.
 
it looks like it came as a 340 4-spd triple black car TX9 with X9 interior and TX9 top? Did they modify the cars after receiving them?
 
turdkicker said:
hello fellow members just joined your wonderful site so I'm new to you I was shipped to this site by a bunch of caring members and I thank them. So here goes the storey I purchased years ago a bagged out 1971 dart swinger less engine and whats left of an interior and some alien inspired autobody work to say the least ,typical rusty quarters ,lets make a 2piece fender into a 1piece fender type of crap so now I'm considering getting this unit back on the road Now here's the question what do I have galen govier years ago through a friend decoded the fender tag , said was a 340 4 spd swinger now what I need to know if its a true 340 4spd swinger or was he making me feel good ? so here is the fender tag tx9 c end tx9 L2x9 tx9 513 b31111 e55 d21 LL23 h1r 267669 that's it . the car has the 4 spd and the 8 3/4 diff ,hood scoops have black fronts not chrome grille I think was shark tooth someone had told me. so now I want to put it back together to what it was , I did rob a 340 out of a 1971 340 demon/duster years ago figured get one while the gittin was good so hopefully its a 340 car and I can keep it as such missed a 1970 340 back in highschool kicked myself for years , now its time to get it going before to old to work a clutch, thanks for all your help
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You're welcome.
Glad to see you posting on this thread, it will help you a lot.
Try to get ahold of Cliff Guinand, he has a lot of history and info on these cars as well as the others on here.
I would love to find one of these cars in any condition, consider yourself lucky!
 
OK TurdKicker, who gave you that handle? Now that's a Canadian Prairie name if there ever was one!! Yup, you do have one of the Canadian 340 Swinger Specials and as J says, it was G. Millars prior to you getting it. So, it's not a 'new' one, but it was one that was recorded way back before you, and all we knew, it was somewhere in Saskatchewan - so great on you. We'd love to see pics of it and I'll have a number of questions for you but just wanted to acknowledge the post. Oh, and as for it's worth, the rule of thumb I follow, and as Canuck says, they aren't supposed to exist, I say add 20% to what a comparable '70 340 Swinger is worth. Nice find, umm, turdkicker :)
 
Been over a year since the last post here, would be great to get the conversation going again. Turdkicker, do you have any updates to your very rare Canadian 340 special? Questions? I have a lot of info on these cars so would love to touch base - here, or PM me. Anyone else out there with one? Seen one?
 
Turdkicker. Show us some love, give us a little more info, pics! You have a really neat '71 Canadian Swinger 340 Special there. Cliff
 
Rocky_JS said:
it looks like it came as a 340 4-spd triple black car TX9 with X9 interior and TX9 top? Did they modify the cars after receiving them?
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Hey Rocky. Way late response here... when you refer to 'did they modify', you mean the dealership. As far as my research went, old pics, talking with original owners and such - no. They came 'as is' off the dealership lot. I guess they felt the modification was the 'special' order of getting their hands on these '71 and '72 Swingers with an H-code 340. I still would love to get more info on this Black on black version, looks like a 'special' one.
 
Swinger340Canuc said:
This is a real shoot in the dark everyone but I thought since I have no history on my car from before I bought it in the late 70's as a teenager maybe someone, most likely someone in western Canada, might recognize it and be able to fill in the some blanks. I purchased it in Edmonton Alberta in 1978 as a "repo" for my first car. It was originally purchased new from Pembina Motors in Manitoba (thanks Cliff Guinand for that history). These are the only pictures I have of it way back then. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks Dan
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Well almost six years since this post started, but I would still like to know how you think you have a 340 'Special' when all my info seems to indicate that the only Special (Swingers) were Slant-6 or 318 cars. In 1971, the (340) Swinger was replaced by the Demon 340, but supposedly there were 5 Swinger 340's Known to exist in '71 and 3 known for '72. At least, this is according to Galen Govier.
Could you (or anyone else claiming to own a factory 340 Special car, please post the first six digits of S.N.
The fifth digit must be an 'H' (to be any 340 car)
 
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Hey hwd2... here ya go - definitive proof.
Do you know where one is? I heard there were 1 or 2 over your way... Cliff

71-72_VIN.Tag-blurred.jpg
 
BAM. OK, I've been in conversation with Galen Govier lately, as he's had that old info since the early 2000's, so a lot of rubber has been left on the pavement since then, and he wanted me to send him updated info, we've been in talks and I've fed him the updated '71 #'s.
There are 24 known to survive of the 65 built for '71, both Crosstown and Crestview cars. As for '72, there are 14 known to exist of the 60 built, again Crosstown, and Pembina in Winnipeg.
Oh, and nice on your '70 Swinger 340, enjoy the ride.
Now, for the full story, check out my website on these cars...
www.swinger340specials.ca
 
Sorry, the numbers above are 'documented' numbers, and a few have been known to be wrecked, crushed or MIA. Cg
 
www.swinger340specials.ca
cliff guinand said:
Sorry, the numbers above are 'documented' numbers, and a few have been known to be wrecked, crushed or MIA. Cg
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Thanks a bunch. Nice to finally meet someone who knows (heckuva lot) more than me. Yes, in all honesty, my White Books are about 10 years old so likely much updated or revised since.
Fabulous website and great info. I used to deal with Northern Mopars and Okanagan Mopars - but mostly with E-bodies. So, it seems the "L" as second digit more of a unique identifier and these cars could have same options as the "M" cars? ie: PS and PB? What about any Sunroof cars?
I should clarify about my '70. Yes, a one-owner, from Penticton, (April '70) to Me (April '15). So, I am technically the second owner. Car has everything it came with and all numbers match - but in need of proper resto - so now totally dismantled. It will be a while before driving it. Not enough hours in a day. sigh

p.s. Those dash plates look a bit 'rough' - when were photos taken? :canada:
 
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