He paid only $3,000 to buy this Dodge Dart, which is both dirty and dirt-cheap. Was the seller hiding something to sell it for that price, or did he really have no idea how much the Dart was worth?
Buying a classic is always a lottery. You never know what hides underneath years of neglect or how well it was restored, if ever. This is the kind of dilemma the new owner of this fourth-generation Dodge Dart is facing right now.
He can't stop thinking that there is something strange about his two-door hardtop. The car looks as if someone poured ten bags of flour on the body and inside the cabin. However, the new owner told a story about one day taking a taxi.
The taxi was this Dodge Dart. It is not every day that you see a car that old used as a cab. The driver told him that he was actually trying to sell it because he was tired of driving it.
The customer offered $3,000. The taxi driver accepted the offer on the spot. After completing the ride, the owner went home to fetch the papers and they made the transaction right away.
What is that white dust that covers the entire Dodge Dart?
But if he was driving that car, hauling customers around town, how come the windows, body, and upholstery are covered in whatever that flour-looking white dust is? What is that dust?
Photo: Percepcar USA | YouTube
The buyer reportedly plans to clean it up, make it look the way it should, and auction it off for over $20,000. And with the detailer charging only $500 to make the Dart look its best, it really sounds like a great deal. Its first wash in a whole decade should transform it into the shiny turquoise Dodge Dart that it was when it left the factory in the mid-1970s.
The Dart went into production in 1959 as a successor to the Dodge Coronet and survived until 1976, over four generations. The "Dart" designation had been used alongside the "Chrysler" brand name before it was transferred to the Dodge portfolio.
The Dodge Dart came as a lower-priced full-size model and was eventually converted into a mid-size car for one model year, 1962, when the second generation arrived.
Later on, for the third and fourth generation, Dodge sold it as a compact car. The automaker offered it in several body configurations. Customers could order it with either one of the three slant-six power units or one of the seven V8 engines available. The engines could be paired with a four-speed manual, a three-speed manual, or a three-speed Torqueflite auto box.
The Dart shared engines, transmissions, and many components with its sister models: the Plymouth Valiant and Barracuda.
The detailing starts with vacuuming all that "flour" that covers the Dart
The Dart we are dealing with is a fourth-gen model, which is powered by a V8 engine, but we are not told which of the seven V8s that were available in the lineup back then is under the hood of this two-door.
Photo: Percepcar USA | YouTube
Regardless of the engine, vacuuming is the first step of the detailing procedure. Foaming, brushing off the dust, and cleansing reveal an amazingly beautiful shade.
The car, which is over five decades old, has obviously undergone a thorough restoration. The paintwork, which is not the original one, looks somewhat deteriorated. There are several spots of rust every here and there, with the hood and trunk lid being the most affected.
The detailing team polishes the paint and removes the matte layer of dirt that had grown on it over the years.
Meanwhile, the seats were surely reupholstered at some point. They are covered in black vinyl, which looks as if it were brand-new after the vacuuming and degreasing.
The new owner may have just hit the jackpot
Black vinyl also covers the headliner, door cards, and dashboard, making a nice contrast with the turquoise paint. It is a confirmation that, at some point, this Dart was the apple of someone's eye, and it might return to that status one day. It depends on who gets their hands on it when the current owner lists it for sale.
Photo: Percepcar USA | YouTube
The detailer claims that the previous owner must have avoided car washes for over a decade, and the dirt is most visible on the roof. However, hours later, it looks brand new. From a distance, though. Before he auctions it off, the new owner might want to get rid of that rust that has started to eat out the body panels.
On the used car market, the average price of a fourth-generation Dodge Dart hits $39,000, according to Classics.com. So, it sounds like the buyer has hit the jackpot with this purchase. And all he paid for was the cost of a taxi ride and $3,000.
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