The Duster 340 taillights are what got me off of the Chevy bandwagon and onto the Mopars. Because the taillights are all I got to see when I got smoked by one on Great SW Parkway in Grand Prairie, Texas in 1975. That 340 was a giant killer.
I bought a new Duster in 71, I loved it and it was a slant 6 with a three speed on the floor and I traded it in on a 75 360. DUSTER. The best two cars I owned.
Although I was way too young at the time to drive a car, I remember cars like this. My older brother had a Plymouth Duster. I cannot remember what year his was.
I saw no mention of horsepower ratings of the base 198 cube slant six or the optional 225, or of the Nova six. No mention that the Nova three-speed was fully synchronized (optional on Valiant/Duster), or the Duster's three-speed Torqueflite versus the two-speed "slip and slide with Powerglide".
my dad bought a 1970 Duster 318 in 1978 for $350 in Lawrenceburg TN. all clean with factory Limelight Green no stripe no trim only damage is had was the front left fender got push in and the driver door striker got broke off from the 1st owner from St. Louis IL. that the car was made in Cal. on February 20th,1970 it was the first Mopar I ever know and got me into the car hobby since I was born in 1989 and my dad sold the car in 2001 with 455,000 miles on the o.g engine all that was replace was the rear end from a 1974 Gold Duster slant 6 model with 4 1/2 inch bolt pattern wheels he change the front drum into a disc brakes from the 1974 G.D in 1997 after he park the 1970 Duster into the wood in 1991 and pull it out in 1997 with no rust no rot just all clean back in 1978 a guy came to him at a shop he use to work at driving a 1977 Dodge Aspen with a 225 and a A833 O/D 4speed trans and he wanted my dad to trade the Duster A233 3speed manual trans for it and my dad Duster went up to about 30 MPG on regular with the O/D trans.
“I’ll answer that in a moment, but first…” Umm, no. I asked a direct question, please answer it first. (Because I won’t be able to process a darn thing you say while my mind is holding on to the question and wondering why the heck you didn’t just answer me before going into the sales pitch)
I remember a school mate of mine that got a Duster for his senior year in High School. It looked cool. However, I would still take a Nova hands down over a Plymouth any day. The Chevy Nova was just a better built car all around.
The Duster had tortion bars for its front suspension. If you lived in the rust belt, the torsion bars would rust out from the frame in less than a decade.
@@michaeltutty1540torsion bars don't rust . On some A bodies the torsion bar crossmember would rust near the torsion bar anchors after 10ish years on salted roads . But they could often be welded . The A bodies were the only mopars that had that issue .
I'd probably go for the Duster ,its a good looking car with a a great engine and transmission, but I like the Nova as well ,and I tend to prefer cars that have framed side windows.
One of the history teachers at my high school had a Duster. He spent more time doing battle with Chrysler over the horrendous quality than on his duties as a teacher. The final straw was when the electrical system spontaneously combusted while the car was parked overnight in a shed wth the school's maintenance truck and lawn equipment. After exhaustive investigation Chrysler traded what was left of the Duster for a new "Dart Sport", the identical car with Dodge badges.
I owned a Dart Swinger a Valiant, a Volare', and a Diplomat. All slant sixes and all just solid reliable cars. And even when sitting outside on those brutal cold northeast winters, they ALWAYS started.
I built the 1/25 scale AMT 71 Duster 340 and MPC 1/25 Scale 76 Dart Hang 10 as well as a handful of 68-72 Nova model kits-( Revell 69 Nova SS350,Revell 69 Nova Yenko 427 and AMT 72 Nova SS350)....
I am a Chevy person,but I would rather have a Duster with a 318,than a 307 Nova any day of the week,better gas mileage, smoother running,and odds are after 50,000 plus miles you wouldn't have a flat cam lobe or a noisy lifter.
I had a similar 71 Demon 340 back in the late 70’s. In all honesty the duster and the nova were both pretty crappy cars. They both were uncomfortable, noisy rough cars that were lousy on gas and rusted out in no time. The Duster was a bit nicer looking and the 340 was quick and the other engines pretty reliable. The nova was a bit more solid feeling but the duster felt a little less drab inside. Duster rusted faster and worse than nova but both were weak on that front. The Nova felt more substantial but it cost more. Just for fun I like to translate these biased comparison films. They tell you just as much by what they don’t say… Translation of points mentioned… 1…duster is an inch shorter 2…grille is plastic versus metal on the Nova 3…Nova has functional quarter windows, Duster windows can’t go down 4…Nova has larger trunk 5…Duster has rust inducing rubber mat in trunk 6…Duster has uncomfortably low rear seat cushion 7…duster has less legroom 8…nova six has more power than duster 9…duster 340 is smaller and less powerful than Nova 350 or 396
@@eugenepiurkowski5439 I have seen lots of Novas because owners stored them in the Winter and Persevered them Dusters were just Winter Beaters to drive and take to the scrap yard.
In my part of New England, both Novas and Dusters have disappeared except 340 Dusters at car shows. In the early 70s Dusters were VERY popular, certainly outsold Novas by a wide margin. Larger Chevys; Impalas and Chevelles took most of the Chevrolet market at that time. @@mikeskidmore6754
My dad bought Chevies from 1959 to 1968, and despite washing waxing and being garage kept every time we got a new car it was because out current Chevy was rusted. Hell, the back bumper mounts rusted on our 1965 Bel Air to the point it fell off. Heard that Chrysler rusted crap all the time but you what they all rusted back then. I am 70 now so I remember.
NOVA didn't sell real well down south in Mexico or in States with high Spanish primary language consumers.... very simply because nobody wanted a Car named "NO-VA" which is short in Spanish for "NO-GO" or "NO-VAmoose"
A 440 Duster was indeed in the works, but never made it to production! I believe one prototype was completed or almost completed and the engineers were using early max wedge "RB" pieces for a dominant drag package! The program was squashed by brass. The mighty Al Kirshenbaum did an article about this car about 20 years ago but I dont remember what magazine. But I do believe that someone, somewhere got ahold of the project and completed it! The magazine article had photos and the car was KICKASS!!
I will take the CHEVY any day. My friend bought the Duster. It's still sitting in his driveway not running, but rusting. I'm still driving the Nova, only needs paint. The Duster did look good. But so DID the Chick with the dude that didn't get the 340.......