http://www.racingjunk.com/1960-1979/181898721/1963-Dodge-Dart.html Here is the link to it for sale. It's cool little car but he missed the mark on the wheels and tires and the exhaust. It's priced kinda high but it's a super Clean solid no rust car. We are doing a trade so the asking price and the value are 2 different things lol. I'd love to see some more gasser darts for wheel ideas. I'm leaning to Crager SS up front and steelies out back with pie crust all the way around Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Looks like a great looking Dart. The wheels aren't that bad a choice, but the rears just need to be wider, with a better tire choice, like pie crust slicks.
I totally agree he said he use the drivetrain from a 70 model mopar I'm thinking it just maybe to wide for the car. Or the back spacing is way off . Can't get over to till tomorrow can't wait to actually crawl over it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Now that's a full custom! I'm leaning towards leaving it a "gasser" "style" if I get it Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
There was a copy....or that rampage car as t Stafford this year......and looked well worn..original....not faked....maybe was faked by try don't think so... I'm a die hard chevy guy but have always loved those darts!
I went and looked at it, and it is a super solid no rust ever car. Amazing shape for sure, new interior, the motor sounded good, needs just a touch fine tuning, the straight axle installation was done ok, I would dress it up a bit just because the car is so solid. It actually looks very period the way it was done, just not up to par on my liking though. I'm just not sure I want to part with my model A. Even though my A isn't anything special, and or close to being done. I still like it and maybe someday it will be done as nice as the dart, but the dart is a running driving finished if you will car. Minus a few details..... I need to do some hard thinking on this one....
Brandon that thing is killer. I'm torn on what to do, I love the Dart, it's done and driving. It needs a few things to be right. My A is a bit off before its running and driving, but it's almost there.... I need someone to tell me what to do....lol
a pair of et spoke retro americans...and some 500 fronts....steelies and et streets on back and your ready to tear it up....
I've always wanted a hot rod, I've never wanted a dart. I'd keep the A!!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Whats Wrong With This Picture? Valiantly Different in Canada If youre an average Mopar enthusiast you may be wondering what the front of a Plymouth Valiant is doing on a 1963 Dodge Dart. Unlike urban legends about cars with front ends from one brand and rear ends from another of that automakers brands that was being built on the same assembly line, and unlike custom car mashups, this was factory built and sold by authorized dealers. If you were born after the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show you can be excused for not knowing this, but Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valiants werent always badge engineered twins. In 1963 they were more like bigger and smaller brothers, with an odd Canadian cousin in the family. The Dart brand had previously been used by Dodge for both full size and intermediate cars but by the early 1960s compact cars were a growing segment of the market. AMC was selling record numbers of Ramblers, VW was on its way to importing a half million Beetles a year, and GM and Ford were both introducing compact cars like the Pontiac Tempest, the Chevy II and the Falcon. When Plymouth dealers got the compact Valiant, Dodge dealers got a more luxurious version and it was decided to use the Lancer nameplate. For whatever reason, the 1961-62 Lancer didnt thrive, perhaps because it was just a badge engineered Valiant. Today its hard to realize it, what with Hyundai Genesis trying to compete with Mercedes Benz, but in the late 50s and early 60s there were fairly rigid class distinctions between car brands. Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth were not embarrassed to reference themselves as the low priced three and if you could afford to drive something more aspirational (though they didnt use that term back then) you didnt want your ride confused with an economy car. Alfred Sloans business model reigned supreme, and not just at General Motors. For the 1963 model year, Dodges compact was renamed the Dart and to distinguish it from the Valiant it was given a 5″ longer wheelbase, 111 inches, a different roofline and unique rear passenger windows. So an average Mopar fan would notice that this is a long wheelbase 1963 car with a Darts sheet metal from the cowl back but its wearing the front clip of a Valiant. Is it a Dodge or is it a Plymouth? 1963 Plymouth Valiant Convertible (U.S. Market) An average Mopar fan might notice the difference and scratch his head, but a serious Mopar fan, or one located in the Great White North, would know that actually its not either a Dodge or a Plymouth, its a Valiant, made exclusively for the Canadian market and sold at both Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealers in Canada. Chrysler had previously marketed the Valiant as its own brand in Canada, so it could sell it through both Chrysler-Plymouth-Fargo and DeSoto-Dodge sales channels. Its not unusual for the American car companies to use slightly different branding in Canada. Beaumonts may look like Pontiacs and even carry the arrowhead logo, but you wont find the word Pontiac anywhere on those cars. There are Canadian Ford Monarchs that dont say Mercury anywhere on the cars. So this is a Valiant. 1963 Dodge Dart Convertible With the Valiant brand established in Canada, it made sense to continue with that nameplate. They were already selling the identical car in both Canadian sales channels, so it didnt make sense to sell two different wheelbase variants. Since it was sold in Chrysler-Plymouth dealers the Valiant name was identified somewhat by Canadian consumers with Chrysler, an upscale brand. In the 1960s larger equated to more luxurious so using the longer wheelbase car made sense. Using the longer wheelbase Dart necessarily meant using its rear end sheet metal. Swapping out front clips is a simple process, everything bolts on. Changing the rear end of a cars sheet meta, though,l means welding on different quarter panels and other panels plus labor to finish the seams. Thats assuming the stock Valiant rear panels would mate up to the Dart midsection without modifications. They might have had to stamp completely different rear Valiant panels for everything to go together properly. The Dart wasnt being sold in Canada so why spend the money if nobody would notice the difference? The Canadian Valiant also had a Valiant instrument cluster, which was different from the Darts, Valiant hubcaps, Valiant trim on the interior door panels, and seats embossed with the Valiant crest. On the rear deck lid, instead of a plastic insert inscribed withDodge GT, on the stainless steel panel between the backup lights theres a black plastic insert with Signet flanked by two Valiant crests. Of course, making a unique model for Canadians, a relatively small market, costs more money than selling them a car identical to the American model, so the unique Canadian Valiant was fairly short lived. Also, in 1965, the United States and Canada signed the U.S.-Canada Automotive Trade Pact, a precursor to NAFTA, which was the death knell for unique Canadian variants of American cars. When the compact Mopars were restyled with the fuselage look for 1967, the wheelbases of Darts and Valiants were rationalized and Canadians got Valiants that were identical, save for no Plymouth logos, to what Americans were buying. This 1963 Valiant Signet 200 was photographed at the 2012 Orphan Car Show, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Its owned by Terry and Marge Metcalf of Ontario. The Signet trim line was equivalent to a Dart GT in the States so this is as fancy as a Canadian Valiant got. If I understand the story correctly, Terrys family had one when he was a kid and he resolved to find one to own. After searching high and low across Canada and the US for one, his wife spotted this car parked in a driveway not far from their own home and they bought it and restored it. The restoration was easier than with some Canada only cars. With the exception of that trim on the back of the car, you can find parts what isnt identical to a 63 Dart you can retrieve from a 63 American market Valiant. Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can dig deeper at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, dont worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading RJS
Thanks for the history lesson, back to our regularly scheduled program! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
OK, as HJmaniac has said, this is a Canadian Valiant. The front end is a tube axle with dodge components. The original drive train was a six, so the small suspension got the boot when a 383 dual four four speed were added.
I'd never thought of these Dart's as being "cool' until I saw a gasser a few months ago. Now I'd have to say yes. I like em'.
How dangerous is it to run cheater slicks on the street? Or what tire combo works/looks best on a "gasser style" (yes I know it was a drag class That had engine set back rules yada yada, that's why I Said style). In Not claiming it to be a real Gasser or race car Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Exactly, cars have to be made cool. For a person to be cool huimself he or she must be born that way. Cars have changes made to be cool as a rule and people have to not change to be cool. Hmmmmn what a concept. In answer to the question yes indeed a '63 Dart can be as cool as anything else on the road. If you go by antiquated thinking it will be easier with a 2 door then a 4 door but if you have a good imagination 4 doors can be made to be cool in their own right.
Having found myself doing 360's down the road in my '52 Chevy with 371 Olds and old M&H cheater slicks back in '69 on a damp street; so I'd say not too safe in the rain! But on dry streets they have no handling issues at all, and I don't notice any difference over my other hotords with DOT slicks, or street tires. Just remember what you've got back there if you get caught in the rain, and sow way down! I was only doing 35 mph when I entered a slight off camber turn with my '52 and it let go.
The Jalopy Journal
