72 dart swinger?

[xskaternickx]

Hey guys,
First off sorry if this isn't the place to ask this but i figured rather then finding a new forum i would see if you guys could help me
Anyways,
I found a 72' Dodge Dart Swinger for sale on CL the other day and we just got back from checking it out in person. The car looks *decent* I'll start off with the good. It's a #matching car and 318. It was restored about 9 years ago? I believe the guy said. But they cheated on a few things. It had a vinyl roof which was removed and now there is bondo or something which is pealing. (easy fix i think, just sand it fix the roof right and probably throw the vinyl back on) and a column shift which now it's on the floor (6 passenger car) The engine is nicely chromed and runs good. It's not a Posi car. The paint is slightly pealing around some of the edges like the hood and trunk have a few rusty spots along the seam. Also had a few dime size holes in the trunk. The interior isn't perfect but do able. Now he is asking $6500 and it comes with an open trailer which my dad thinks we can get $1,500+ out of if we had to sell it. So looking at it that way it'd only cost $5000.
Anyways, What do you guys think?
My dad says if I put 3-4grand into it we could have it looking real nice.

Thanks,
~Nick

[whitesatinmopar]

Truthfully and personally, I would off hand say half that price for what you describe would be closer to reasonable. I bought (out of Ga.) a rust free original sheet mental 71 Swinger that was a Cali. car for 4K a couple years ago, but it was a /6 car. I do beleive others here may give you the input you need but if you would like to join an A body forum I'd suggest forabodiesonly.com. A couple other members here also are a part of that board. Good luck, and your right, the trailer could be some money off your total. 

[xskaternickx]

Thanks,
Yeah i wasn't sure. I mean I've been looking at the more popular cars and when i saw this would only be about 5grand and gave me another 4-5grand to customise it to my taste, I really don't know to much about them or how much they're worth.

[xskaternickx]

Here is a picture,

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Swingers are worth some $$$, but not so much with a 318. Given what you describe, I think the price might be a tad high. Anytime you are dealing with rust on the body, there is bound to be more once you get into it. It is typical for a vinyl roof to leak and cause rust underneath it. I just hope they caught it in time the first go around. Also the rust in the trunk is probably from water leaking into the trunk from around the rear window. Hopefully that was resolved.

[72bluNblu]

Without a picture its hard to say, but it sounds high to me.

For example, is it nicer than this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200461417261&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Swinger's are nice, and I like Dart's, but realistically they aren't worth a whole lot. Really nice restored version's from '70-'72 usually sell around the $10k mark. I've seen quite a few running/driving Dart's with rebuild smallblocks sell in the $3-$5k range, some were definitely better deals than others. But with what you've described I definitely wouldn't pay more than $5k.

I know you said you didn't want to get started on another forum, but check out http://www.forabodiesonly.com/. If nothing else, a quick trip to the classifieds section should show you what the Dart's are going for. I've been a member there since I picked up my first '71 Dart Gt, pretty knowledgeable group over there, lots of info. 

[72hemi]

Here this should give you some perspective. THe purple car below is a 70 Dart Swinger my Dad built. It had a 318 4 barrrel column shift automatic, dual exhaust, and an 8 3/4 rear end. He sold it for $6500. The gold Dart was my 72 Dart and was an original survivor car, slant 6 column shift automatic (i added the hood scoops and rear stripe and changed the hub caps), with disk brakes and the interior was top notch and I sold it for $4500. By your description this guys is more than double what he should be asking for it. If you would like to see some under hood shots and interior shots for more reference let me know I have plenty.

[72bluNblu]

Dang John! 

I'd have paid more than that for either of those Dart's!

But you're right on, they really don't sell for anything like what the E-body's do.

[72hemi]

Looking back I wish I had kept the gold car (needed the money at the time). It would have made a great sleeper with a 440 transplant (I happen to have a couple 440's lying around and a 727 to bolt to it and an 8 3/4 rear end) and leaving the exterior and interior alone.

[xskaternickx]

Wow thanks guys,
Yeah i guess i should probably pass from what you guys are saying. I mean it doesn't sound bad but I know it will need another 2-3 grand at less and thats not even crawling around this car to get it show quality and then if it's only worth about that... hmm...

[JS27N0B]

You have to place it's value on what it would cost you to duplicate it!  It's much cheaper to buy a car done, but it has to be done right or the value decreases. Beware quick splash paint jobs and the like. Look at the quality of the parts in the build and the work performed.

I too have a 72 Swinger for sale but want a lot more for it than the above cars, but did pull it down to a bare shell and perform a complete restification!

[72bluNblu]

Wow thanks guys,
Yeah i guess i should probably pass from what you guys are saying. I mean it doesn't sound bad but I know it will need another 2-3 grand at less and thats not even crawling around this car to get it show quality and then if it's only worth about that... hmm...

Don't get me wrong, I really like Darts. I actually thought about putting in a bid on the one in the link I posted above!

But I already have 2 and I sure don't need another car that needs work.   

It sounds like the asking price for the one you're looking at is high for the condition its in though. I wish they went for more, Darts (or even the A-body Barracuda's) are really underrated when it comes to musclecars. Keep an eye out, they seem to be for sale all the time. I still see quite a few that are used as daily drivers or have been recently, which is something you don't see very often when it comes to E-body's.