Car of the Week: 1970 Plymouth Duster

i've had a few friends who've had one of the '70 - '72 340 Dusters and i've not only gotten to drive them, but traded cars for a weekend (see the pics of my '72 340 Challenger). big fun car. love to have one.

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n hindsight, the Plymouth Duster 340 was one of those cars that probably deserved a better fate. The premise of the car seemed rock solid: offer an affordable alternative to flashier and more beastly muscle cars, but make it reasonably practical as an everyday driver and give it performance to run with the big boys.

The Duster 340 was all that and more, and it had two good years right out of the box. But in the end, the Duster 340 was a bundle of good ideas that came just a bit late in the life cycle of the American muscle car. The feisty Plymouth was a solid hit in late 1969 when it debuted for the 1970 model year, and came back with a strong sophomore season as well. But times were-a-changin’ for muscle cars in the early ‘70s and before long — six years to be exact — the Duster had joined a long list of other memorable pavement pounders that fell victim to oil embargos, rising insurance rates, tighter safety regulations and the evolving needs of American car buyers.

read (a lot) more: https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1970-plymouth-duster

@dodgechargerfan you should appreciate this one. :thu:
 
My mom had a Duster. I borrowed it once to drive my young family from the Chicago suburbs to Madison. It caught fire right next to Lake Mendota on East Gorham St. and burned to a crisp. Luckily, I was able to pull over and got my infant son out before it really started to burn. Oh - and all it's miserable life it had a annoying propensity to die at stoplights.
 
My mom had a Duster. I borrowed it once to drive my young family from the Chicago suburbs to Madison. It caught fire right next to Lake Mendota on East Gorham St. and burned to a crisp. Luckily, I was able to pull over and got my infant son out before it really started to burn. Oh - and all it's miserable life it had a annoying propensity to die at stoplights.
it was a 340 Duster??
 
My sister had a 74 Duster and my Dad bought it from her. It was a bit of a bondo buggy, but it ran and 8-track worked.
I wanted to swap the 318 in it with the Slant6 in would eventually become my 73 Charger.
In the parking lot of our apartment building.

For some reason, my Dad didn’t think it was a good idea.
I also didn’t have any tools.
 
My friend had a shit brown normal Duster in high school that barely got up to 50mph because it probably only ran on 3 cylinders. We called it the Cruster.

One day we skipped school and he just HAD to take his car out (we were there in my car) we went for a "joyride" and then he wrecked the back end backing into the garage like an idiot (with structural damage). Fun times for him.
 
as long as you carried a couple quarts of oil with you everywhere you went. :eyeroll:
That was the 225, I think.

Even the Chrysler engineers thought it was a bad idea.

imo, one of the unsung great engines was the mopar 273 V8. nice little motor, enough power (i had one in a '67 Fury sedan) and was reasonably unfussy.
Agreed. It was a pretty solid engine.

 
I remember a high school friend had a '73 or '74 Duster. The trunk was big enough to hold up to 4 surfboards as long as they were under 6'. Stealth mode was required for surf trips during school.
 
My first car was a 1971 Dodge Dart which was the Plymouth Duster in another name. Great car. 225 slant six was like the easiest engine to work on. I think I could have gotten in the engine compartment and closed the hood with room to spare :thu: Mine never burned oil though the body was pretty rusted out when it died a horrible death (a result of a semi truck and a wet road). I gave the engine to the garage that towed it off the highway so I didn't have to pay for towing fees (no insurance coverage for that since the car was only worth like $600)

I still have the name plates somewhere
 
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