Dayum, tell us how you really feel. The reality for a lot of folks is the more desirable earlier models are either rusted out badly, or already snapped up.
As far as the extra weight added to the beakers. Most of it is in the crash beams behind the front and rear bumpers, and in the later 73 up disc brake setups, which so many retro to the earlier cars. The A/C luxury item was virtually unchanged fron 67-76 so i dont see where that adds any weight. Bumper supports can be removed, bumper behind reinforcements can be unbolted, and new supports can be made out of lighter gage steel to get the weight back off.
Also all that weight in the bumpers with the energy absorbers bolted in was to comply with the new 5mph impact standards put into place by the DOT, and insurance companies. I am sure chrysler didnt want to add the weight and ugliness but was required to do so. Even the B and E body cars got blocky rubber tipped appendages added to front and rear bumpers by 1973
Yes they lost the power, but everything did from 73 on. The EPA and insurance companies killed it. Sure most became granny mobiles, but thats because most people who bought the ones in the 60s liked them, were getting older, and this was probably gonna be the last car they were gonna buy lasting em thru retirement. These people didnt want V8s, 4 speeds, bucket seats they wanted comfort, and if comfort and convienence was gonna get sales and keep chrysler in cash, then thats what they were gonna sell. Performance was dead by then. You dont try to sell people what they dont want to buy. Thats a recipe for financial suicide. You market and sell an item to people that they want.
Chrysler still marketed the "Rallye" packages, trying to get the youth into their show rooms, the rare hang ten surfer versions , but the good part about the oldsters buying em, is that is a lot of them lasted longer that way, and were well cared for.
With Beak cars came a better design of motor mounts and trans mounts. Plus you can always clip the beak on a duster and dart sport to make an earlier car, while using a later body in better condition.
My 67 cuda has beak car parts in it. K frame, trans crossmember, disc brakes. Had i not found it first i would have went with the granny green 74 dart sport i found later on, and made a 72 demon clone out of it.
Yes the high impact colors were gone, but they were gone on B, and E body cars too. The 318, and 360 were still offered, along with buckets and a 4 speed. The A body never suffered with rubber iso mounted suspension like the B body did in the mid 70s to soften its ride.
I think what you also forget is that most A bodies from the start, to the end in 1976 were "economy cars". Most had a slant 6, most were mundane, most had a bench seat.
You sound like like there were so many 340 dusters that you couldent swing a dead cat without hitting one. The reality is that performance A bodies during the muscle car era were the exception not the rule.
A majority of people bought A bodies during their whole production run because they were inexpensive to buy and got good mileage with the 6. Hell my 67 barracuda coupe had a slant 6, 3 on the tree and although already missing, the mount holes in the floor were for a bench seat in the front when i got it. That screams economy car my friend.
As a matter of fact i'm gonna blow a hole in your big n bloated comment. A 1967 dodge dart 2 door hardtop dry shipping weight is 2930 lbs, a 1976 dart swinger 2 door hardtop dry shipping weught is 3035 lbs. This is a difference of only 105 lbs, hardly the bloating your talking about. Dump the heavy crash beams behind both the bumpers i am willing to bet removing those bumper under structures will kill about 70 to 80 lbs, remove the crash beams in the doors, that i bet will take care of the remainder. I recommend you do your homework before spouting off at the cuff like that. It most certainly requires a rebuttal , and shows ignorance.
Soft suspension is only 340 T bars, heavy duty shocks and sway bars away from being sporting, a simple day job on a weekend. Add wider rims and low profile wide aggressive rubber C body pitman and idler arms, and handling and fast ratio steering is back
You can dislike the beak all you want, but as an economy car the 73-76 As did not stray far from their roots, quirky front end and *** end sheetmetal looks aside. BTW the 73 to 76 dart hood is a recycled stamping from the 69 barracuda, so is the 69 cuda a beak and ugly too?
