68 hemi dart

[MoparMatt383]

Don't know if dodge ever made one or what, but when my dad was in the Air Force in 1974 he saw and test drove a 68 hemi dart for sale at a used car dealership in California.  He said it was yellow with a black bumble bee stripe.  It was a 4 spd with a 426 hemi under the hood.  It also had a regular interior because I know the hurst ones had a stripped down interior with van seats so I dont think it was one of those.  He wasnt dumb about cars so it wasnt like a "340 or 383 hemi engine".  Since it was 1974 the dealer told me for 800 dollars he could drive the car out of there since he couldnt move it because of the gas crunch.  He would have bought it but it would have cost him too much on an Airmans sallery to drive it back from CAli to NYC.  He said it was the fastest car he ever drove.  Anybody have any ideas on what this car could have been.  It seems odd for somebody to have put a hemi into a dart GTS and then just sell it to a used car dealer.  Just an interesting story I figured I would share.

Matt

[JS27N0B]

You know the answer already, someone other than Chrysler had to have done it.

Too bad he didn't have it shipped.

[Ghost]

Sure it wasn't an SS Dart?

[MoparMatt383]

I guess it would have been possible, but he said it had a full interior and a regular hood.  I think the S/S darts had a stripped down interior with a fiberglass hood.  I wonder if it was possible for somebody that had connections at Dodge to have it made.  Since it was 1974 my dad didnt care about vin numbers or anything like that or if it was collectable so he didnt check to see if it had a hemi code.  I wonder if it could have been something like the 72 hemi cuda that burpin has been talking about.  You are probably right though JS27N0B, but it would be cool if that was a 1 of 1 car that somebody had specially made and he got to drive it.

Matt

[Chryco Psycho]

the Only factory Hemi Darts were SS cars they had a full but lightwiegt interior & I believe the hoods were steel not glass but had the scoop on them , other than that it had to have been built by somone other than the factory 

[JS27N0B]

And of course, knowing that light weight as well as ridiculous power won races, this Dart was as stripper as strippers come. Both front fenders and the Super Stock-style hood were fibreglass pieces, and the rear quarter panels were radiused significantly to reduce weight as well as provide clearance for the massive tires. The doors and bumpers were created with a far lighter gauge steel than normal A-bodies; they were stripped of all window mechanisms including the crank itself, and instead the windows were fastened with a seat-belt style strap that snapped to the bottom of the doorframe. In addition, the side windows were made of single plane Corning Glass, weighing far less than DOT-approved safety glass.

[Fleet 500]

Pics of the Mopar-built S/S Hemi-Dart...

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[Fleet 500]

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