The 74 Duster wasn’t anything special in my humble opinion, but others would disagree with me. However, throughout its time it really stacked up to a lot of competitors and it proved to be a reliable car which also came with a great variety of options compared to others of its time. The power this muscle car would sport was more than enough even for the most demanding users and when it came to the prices, well this was just one of the best things about it. It wasn’t very expensive and that’s why many people could afford to buy it.

Even though until 1976 the Duster series didn’t undergo many changes, in1974 the new model would not resemble the early years of this car’s history. This 74 Duster was more like the 1973 models. One of the biggest changes that this car had been through, which is also the main difference between other models, is that it had its engine changed from the 340 to the 350. This new 360 engine was powerful enough and if you wanted you could also buy the 3.55 gears which were available and also the Hurst shifted four speed.

The 73 Duster had a beautiful design and amazing raw power, which would ultimately satisfy even the most demanding muscle car fanatics. This is one of my favorite models, but I rarely see it on the road, as it wasn’t as popular as the other pony cars of its era. However, I decided to restore a model I had found on Craiglist.

This car’s engine was a 340 engine, which packed enough horse power to get your heart pumping and quell anyone’s thirst for speed. When you look at the engine and it’s specs, I always think this model had a great exhaust system. We’re talking about a Jet Hot coated Dyno Max headers which are bolted the 2 1/2-inch exhaust system which is using Flormaster mufflers.

The interior of this car was rather simple; it featured a cream colored interior which was spacey enough to fit a few of your friends without them feeling like the walls are closing in on them. The materials the seats were ok, but they were high quality back then obviously. However, they have been touched by time and they need a little stitching here and there.

The tires of my Plymouth 1973 Duster needed completely replaced and I went with some simple GoodYears to save on restoration costs.

I had my car fixed a little and I removed all of the unnecessary floor metal and also I had the body braced so it would not distort having the sheet metal support missing. The frame rails of this car were built out of 120 inch thick steel box tubing and they were carefully welded across the entire floor length. That’s how my 73 Duster became a full framed Duster. The tires were replaced and they are also a sure Grip as the originals and the rear has been narrowed down by 10 inches to facilitate support.

All in all my Plymouth Duster is a wonderful car and while it still need a lot more work and my wife makes fun of it, it still makes me beam with pride every time I look at it!

When it comes to unassuming, but powerful muscle cars, the 72 Duster is right up there among my favorites. Plymouth had a long and successful history of making supercars that were unique, powerful and gave a big bang for your buck. If you lived in those times you know just how much owning a car like this meant and how hard it is to find one these days, from people which used to own them. If you are a Duster fan then I guess Plymouth rings as familiar in your mind as your wife’s name. Nonetheless, given the fact that it was one of the best cars around at its time, it didn’t stop the engineers from improving it more and more.

The 1972 Duster featured a vinyl roof covering and a new canopy, and the roof covering could only cover the forward portion of the top and it was being sold in two colors. Even though the designers were disappointed, the planners had proven to be right in retrospect. That’s why there weren’t any changes when it came to the A bodies, because they were good enough and many people were satisfied with them. And that’s why they would still command more than 1/3 of the segment of the compact cars.

Adding new features and designs to a car that had already been received so well was kind of hard but still the designers tried to add a few more things to the Plymouth 72 Duster. The changes ultimately were concerning the rear of the car and when it came to the taillights, they were horizontally split and they were also wider, but they were split by the argent plastic lens, not by sheet metal.

Under its hood, this amazing car had the 340 V8 to cope with the road and it had a compression ration that was ultimately reduced to just 8.5:1 and the horsepower was only 240, but still a powerful car nonetheless. This was available on any Duster model. If you could afford it you could get an options ignition system which would eliminate the breaker points and the condenser.

Plymouth has made history with its cars and this model is surely a part of it.

The 71 Duster was a popular muscle car, and is generally remembered as a good muscle car, but wasn’t nearly as popular as other models. This was a very cheap alternative of the Road Runner. But when it came to being part of the RTS it had to gear up to at least 13.9 seconds, and while that was fairly fast, it did manage to go that far with the optional 3.91 gear. This car had amazing handling and coupled together with the fastback styling it was a big hit back in the day, regardless of the displacement.

The first year the Duster came into production it featured few options. But when the 1971 model was released, this one was fairly different from the original featuring performance hood treatments like a non scooped black out treatment which feature the 340 Wedge inscribed in a corner and also the twin scoops, which, until that time were only available for the Dodge lineup.

It had also a vinyl top and also red deck wings and a nice body stripe which came as a standard when talking about all of the 340 models. The car’s front end was given a new life with the new grille that was designed for this model. Many buyers consider this to be one of the best ones ever in the A Body lineup.

When it came to the motor, this one received a few major changes. It was the first time the Thermoquad produced by Carter was used on the 340’s top and it also had a .02 compression drop which lead to a 10.3:1 when compared to the original 10.5:1. This was because of the future changes in the lead content of gasoline.

The 340 featured a three speed manual gearbox as a standard but now the buyer had the choice of choosing between the four speed a 833 or the 727 Torqueflite, and also between the standard 831/44 rear which had featured a 3.23 Sure grip gear which was set to 3.55 and 3.91 (well these were options). When it came to the seats, these were bucket seats and they become widely available within these models. They also added a performance dash and center console.

The price of this supercar was stated to be around 2700 dollars and made it more affordable for younger consumers, which was in fact their target market.

Plymouth had massive success in 1968 with their awesome Road Runner car, but they didn’t stop there and the 70 Duster was born. That’s how the Duster 340, which was intended as a budget car, had emerged in the 1970s. Designing the formula for this unique model wasn’t a hard job to do. It was rather a platform which was easy to produce (we’re talking in our case about the new fastback body Valiant) which was also paired by a very powerful engine for that time, and that is the Mopar 340 CID four-barrel V8.

This new model had more space inside, and when it came to weight, it was also lighter than previous models like the 340 Cuda. At that time the price for this muscle car was around 2500 dollars and it was one of the cheapest cars that Plymouth’s Rapid Transit System had to offer. Also to top things off, the price wasn’t its only advantage. It was also one of the first cars which had front disc brakes featured as a standard.

The amazing 340 V8 has a long history and it had proven itself many times in the past, and it was used for the propelling of the earlier generation of Barracuda and also the giant killer Darts up to mid fourteen second ETS running nearly at 100 miles per hour. When compared to the awesome 440 Six pack the camshaft timing was a little less radical than that of it and it also used a Carter AVS four barrel. Even though it was actually rated to be able to produce 275 BHP, more and more people who were highly skilled mechanics, said that it actually performed closer to 325 BHP.

The 1970 Duster’s engine featured a heavy duty manual gearbox with three speeds or you could also choose to go with the Torque Flite or the four speed one. The axle was a 3.23:1 and it was the standard, the gears were 3.91:1 and 3.55:1 and if you were not too low on cash, for an extra buck you could’ve had the Sure Grip limited slip diff.