How many CURRENT owners of real '74 360 Duster 4 speed cars on here?

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daniel_depetro said:
This is very interesting.
DionR you may be onto something with it being a production plant discrepancy...

My 1974 Plymouth Duster 360 4-speed (a good photo of the fender tag is posted in this very thread) was built on December 7th 1973 ('C07') with the bracket style front bumper attachments. It was built in Hamtramck, MI ('B' code production plant)

My other 1974 Plymouth Duster (VL29C4G) was built on July 15th, 1974 ('715') at the St. Louis, MO production plant ('G' code) also has the bracket style bumper attaching.

1974 Dodge Dart Sport #1 (LL29G4G) was built on December 14th, 1973 in the St. Louis, MO production plant ('G' code). It has the bracket style bumper attachments.

1974 Dodge Dart Sport #2 (I just purchased this past week from a FABO member - LL29C4B) was built on April 10th, 1974 (410) in the Hamtramck, MI production plant ('B' code). It has the bracket style bumper attachments.


I find it extremely odd that I have early 1974 model (late 1973 production date) and late 1974 model (early 1974 production date) cars and they all have the bracket style bumper attachments.
it's very strange that DionR's Duster with a November 21st, 1973 build date from the St. Louis, MO production plant could have the shock absorber bumper attachments and yet my Dart Sport #1 from the same St. Louis, MO production plant built a month later still had the bracket style bumper attachments.
In fact my slant six Duster built 8 months after DionR's Duster was still had the bracket style bumper attachments.
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Good evening,

I recently acquired a 1974 factory 360 4 speed Duster, VS29L4G156171. I was wondering if you might be able to help me determine what date it was built.

Thanks,

Dwight
 
1970Duster said:
Mines an auto (not 4 speed) but it's a parts car (too much rot to try and save)
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I just picked up one that is a factory car a couple of weeks ago. It's a VS29L4G, very nice with all original panels and a 3.91 gear. Perhaps you can assist me with something. When I drive it for a while and park it it seems to permeate my garage with an odor. I can't really say it's a gas smell, but it lingers for a while. Any ideas?

Thanks,

wight
 
Moparman1966 said:
I just picked up one that is a factory car a couple of weeks ago. It's a VS29L4G, very nice with all original panels and a 3.91 gear. Perhaps you can assist me with something. When I drive it for a while and park it it seems to permeate my garage with an odor. I can't really say it's a gas smell, but it lingers for a while. Any ideas?

Thanks,

wight
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could it be an exaust leak? I know I smell them after driving cars in and parking them in the garage.
 
Let's add one more. Mine is a 360 four barrel, four speed with a 3:91 posi. I just picked it up a couple of weeks ago. All of the body panels are nice. It's dark green with a white interior, buckets, fold down rear seat, no console. I checked the door tag and it has a build date of 11/73
 
So, here is the current list of owners on the board. Hope I didn't miss any.

Looks like we are up to 10 current owners of 1974 Duster 360 4 speed cars here on the board.

1 individual that hasn't posted, so I wont say who he is.
Myself - DionR
oldkimmer
TimS
MrHemi
360Duster4speed
Driven
daniel_depetro
manofmopar340
Moparman1966

Never heard whether or not 69CudaFan bought the one he found, so I didn't add him to the list.
 
Are these cars worth restoring to OE gold condition?I would still drive it anyway,but I am curious if these cars bring more than a 1970 Duster/Dart/Demon 340 4 speed car.Are they one of the more rare or sought after A bodies?What's a good price for one of these cars after being restored to #1 or #2 condition?
 
Probably less then an earlier. So about 1/3 of what you will invest in it unfortunately.
 
Is it worth it? Only you can answer that.
From a strictly financial basis, absolutely not.
While rarity usually commands a premium it doesn't always equal absolute value.
These cars are no exception.
As a whole they are more desirable than the 1975-76 360 cars, not as desirable as the 1973 340 4-speed cars, and far less desirable than the 1970-72 340 4-speed cars.
 
That's not the news I really wanted to hear.Do you think these cars will ever be worth anything compared to the 340 cars?Or if they will ever reproduce the interior plastic pieces for 73 & up models?I would love to completely restore mine,but if it is going to cost more than it will ever be worth,I'm not sure if I want to put in the effort.My plan was to buy them,restore them,enjoy them and then sell them when it came time for me to retire(about 20 years from now,no kids or family to leave them to).
 
Honestly counting on anything to be worth more, especially in 20 years is just plain dumb. Car or other investment.
Nobody can predict the future, just look at the hit these 'investment' cars took over the past years since mid 2006.
Will the 1974 360 cars ever be worth as much as the 340 cars? No.
While I prefer the 1973-74 Dusters, especially the 1974 Duster 360s, it's no secret the greater majority of Mopar people have no love for the later model year cars. Unfortunately it's the greater majority that help drive the market, thus the values.

In all honestly to fully restore ANY muscle car right now is a basically losing proposition.
 
I think we are seeing the prices of those big cars come down because they are not the investment they can afford right now.

I mean there used to be cars selling all day everyday for 30-50K (Superbee or Roadrunners) that are now selling for 20 thousand or less. It is a buyers market right now.

The best thing to do is buy the car you will enjoy the most and enjoy it. It is time that we in the hobby get to enjoy it once again.

The market is changing and until it comes back up just enjoy the car the way it was meant to be.
 
I just seen rarity and potential.I'm sure my 67 Charger,68 Super Bee,70 Challenger and 70 Cuda will be worth more later on.I was just hoping some rare A & C bodies that I have would be worth something as well.
 
manofmopar340 said:
I'm sure my 67 Charger,68 Super Bee,70 Challenger and 70 Cuda will be worth more later on.
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I wouldn't be so sure...
The majority the the interested/serious buyers are dying off fast.
Not too mention in 20 years it will be much more difficult to own such an Earth polluter, I assure you of that. Between insurance premiums, dealing with whatever B.S. the Gov't sticks to muscle cars, and gosh only knows how fuel will be then...
There is a real possibility of market saturation. Likely might be only 10 interested buyers for a certain model of car (say your 1970 'Cuda) at any time and there could very well be 35 of them for sale at any given time.
That'll have detrimental effects on the value, no matter what the car is.

It's all about supply and demand...In the 1990's/2000's there were far less of these cars out in circulation and a lot of people wanted them. Thus everything was selling and for good money. As I see it the problem is, now that everyone has drug anything they could out of the woods/swaps there are a ton more driver/restored cars out there than back in the 90's/00's. Great for the hobby, not so much for value. Add in the serious buyer pool shrinking daily as I mentioned earlier and multiply that by 15 years and add in the thought of tougher gov't regulation and higher fuel prices...who knows what will happen.
There is a good possibility nobody will want these old sloppy pigs by then.
After all the 300-550 horsepower fuel efficient New Chargers/Challengers, Camaros, and Mustangs will be old/well used cars by then too offering far greater bang for the money spent.
Think about it, power, efficiency/economy, safety, handling, braking, and will be ~$5k by then...
It'll take a hardcore person to want to deal with a 60-70 year old hoggish muscle car then.
Yes there will still be some market, there always will be.
I just highly doubt it'll ever be like it was in the mid 00's, in fact I think it will still decline or at least will again decline in that time frame you speak of.
Of course I don't know either...nor do I care.
I buy my cars because they are my passion and they are what I want. I could care less if they are worth $65k or $6.5k, I own what I do because they are badass in my eyes.
 
Also what drove the prices up on these cars where rich buisness men that just wanted a toy or invest to resell later for a profit. They drove the prices up and maybe the only thing to thank them on is they made a lot of companies come in and reproduce parts for our cars.
 
I suppose you're right.The future doesn't look too good.Might as well give up on all these cars and just let them meet their rusty fate since there is no point in having them.Good point.
 
You can have them and enjoy driving them but dont expect alot of money when it is finished. Like the 73 340 Duster I got It would barely clear 12000 fully restored to factory everything
 
I enjoy owning and driving something that most other people don't. At the same time, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what it's worth, that is until I start thinking about making a major modification like cutting the floor out of it for a 5 speed. :)

Reality is, even if they bring full value (one listing I've seen for a #1 condition 74 Duster 360 is $16K) there is little chance you will be able to bring it up to that condition and spend less than they are worth to do it. Don't buy and build a car as an investment, it will rarely ever pan out. Buy and build it because you like it. If you don't like it, don't build it.
 
DionR said:
I enjoy owning and driving something that most other people don't. At the same time, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what it's worth, that is until I start thinking about making a major modification like cutting the floor out of it for a 5 speed. :)

Reality is, even if they bring full value (one listing I've seen for a #1 condition 74 Duster 360 is $16K) there is little chance you will be able to bring it up to that condition and spend less than they are worth to do it. Don't buy and build a car as an investment, it will rarely ever pan out. Buy and build it because you like it. If you don't like it, don't build it.
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My thoughts exactly.
 
i decided not to build it.can i use the 4 speed from the duster with a big block bell housing to put behind a 440 for my 70 cuda build,or will it not work?i heard the tail housing is different too.should i just try to sell the 4 speed from the duster and buy another one for the cuda?what would you guys do?
 
If it were me and I wasn't going to build the Duster (if I am understanding correctly), I would sell the Duster with the 4 speed.

The A-Body 4 speed you have will not work on an E-Body without swapping the tailhousing and other parts.
 
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