Curbside Classics: 1970 Plymouth Duster 340

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

You know those anti-meth ads, which graphically show the physiological effects of speed—lots of bad skin and rotten teeth? Well, this car is the automotive equivalent of the tweaker. I found it sitting forlorn among the garbage cans in a dirty alley, complete with lumpy, flaking yellow skin, bald tires revealing their cords, and exuding the smell of cold, stale tobacco. And desperately awaiting its next hit of crank. The Duster 340 is the speed freak incarnate.

Recently, I spelled out my Curbside Classic check list. Here’s the fail list: perfectly restored Duster 340s and all the other vintage cars, rods and exotics tucked away in their cozy garages only to come out on warm Sundays. There’s plenty of places to see them in the flesh, in print, and on the web. I’m looking for unvarnished street-side authenticity. And this Duster is dripping with it.

No polished Cragar S/S’s with big fat rubber here. Just two pairs of mismatched el-cheapo Pep Boys wheels and original-sized threadbare shoes. And check out that interior: all business (and butts). I wouldn’t want to meet this tough customer in a dark and dusty alley—oh, wait, I just did.

And not for the first time either. My traumatic stress-inducing encounter was in a purple-colored doppelganger of this car including the bald tire (right rear in this case). Once again, a hitchhiking story or, rather, nightmare. Heading to Baltimore to visit the folks, I got picked up by a crazed-looking human counterpart to our featured Duster, right down to the yellowish tint to his skin. There wasn’t much doubt in my mind about the role amphetamines were playing in his metabolic processes.

He drove like an utter maniac (the deeply terrifying kind). I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy the 340’s heavy-metal glass-pack shorty-pipe solo. At nothing less than 95, the trip from Hagerstown to the Beltway was at least mercifully quick. I’m sure we exposed one more layer of polyester cord on his baldest tire. Good thing it wasn’t the last.

In every way possible, it was the polar opposite of my slow and steady chuff through swirling snow in the 1951 Plymouth. But then, the Duster 340 was the yang to the Cranbrook’s yin. Exactly what Plymouth needed in 1970.

When the ChryCo big-wigs decided to split the Barracuda from the Valiant A-body for 1970, it created both a legend (in the ’cuda) and a problem (for the Valiant). Through 1969, the mini-Marlin had been the sporty Valiant variant. Now, Plymouth was looking at a 1970 compact line-up of nothing but boxy sedans—Cranbrooks reincarnated. And right during the nexus of the youth and performance-oriented sixties-seventies carmonic convergence.

Something had to be done and quickly as well as cheaply. And so it was. Out of new-car development dust (a mere fifteen million bucks and six weeks from sketches to tooling) the Duster was created. Obviously, it rode on Valiant underpinnings and shared its front end sheet metal. But the transformation from the boxy donor to the bumble-bee shaped Duster was a neat trick, especially that first application ever of 45-inch radius curved side glass. It put your head mighty close to the window, but then Duster drivers were more likely to be wearing mullets than fedoras.

The Duster was an instant hit: almost a quarter million sold in 1970 alone. How’s that for ROI? Thanks to the little tornado that could, Plymouth reclaimed the number three sales spot in 1971 and 1974. The Duster really was the anti-Cranbrook, if not the Demon; that would be Dodge’s badge-engineered Duster equivalent. As usual, Dodge muscled into Plymouth’s action—when it had any.

Speaking of muscle, the 340 had more than plenty. Advertised at an insurance-friendly 275 horsepower, the informed-user consensus had it pegged at more like 325+. Maximum revs: 6,000. Weight: 3110 lb. Good to go for a six second zero to sixty, and the quarter mile in 14.5 @ 99 mph. That’s with the pathetic little tires of time. Good enough, too, to dust 350 Novas and Camaros all day long. It would take a hemi ’cuda or a healthy 427 Chevy to make the pesky twister eat dust.

Compared to that kind of big-block metal, the Duster 340 was a steal: $2547; that’ll buy you an Aveo in today’s dollars. It was the best dollar to performance equation in the land. Fast fun was dirt cheap in 1970!

But the fun wouldn’t last. Although plain-Jane Dusters stayed hugely popular right to the end, the 340 had its best year in 1970, with over 25,000 sold. It morphed into the de-smogged Duster 360, and by 1975, a mere 1400 were sold. The vortex had dissipated, but not before it became a legend—or a living relic—like this one.

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

More by Paul Niedermeyer

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 38 comments
  • Ole timer Ole timer on Sep 07, 2009

    I've been looking for a 70 Duster like the one from my early days. 340 4spd. 391 posi. rear end. Black on black w/black pin stripes. The ones I have looked at are advertised as "stock, original, etc" but most have drum brakes, ( disc was standard on the 340 car), wrong dash, wrong year grill, spoilers, ( not even a option on the 70 to my knowledge), on and on. thanks for the article.

  • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Apr 06, 2010

    I took driving lessons in a Dart "Swinger", mostly, and a few times in a black 72 Duster with a 318. They were ok cars, and there are a few of them still around here, including a 71 340 that I would love to have, if I had the cash. It's modded enough that I wouldn't worry about dring it a lot, and it's VERY quick, since most of the mods are under the hood.

  • George Some Folks should remember the newest version of this car as the Chevy Aveo was a Free car given away by the White House when Obama was in office and made it happen for folks who had a big old truck that ate gas.so this was meant to help you get to and from work and save at the pump. But one guy was upset that he was receiving a car which he didn’t want but a truck of his choice He Should Understand This:Obama was trying to get you to point A to Point B He wasn’t trying to help you socially by telling your friends that Hey! I Got a New Truck Just Like You Do So Don’t Write Me Off just because you got a new truck and I Don’t.
  • Frank I worked for a very large dealer group back in 2014 and this sat in the crown jewel spot at our GM store showroom. It sat, and sat...and sat. Thing was a boat anchor. I remember the price being insane for a re-skinned Chevy Volt that was also a boat anchor
  • George When I Seen This So Called Nova(Really A Corolla Sold Elsewhere) I could tell this Car And The Corolla that you could buy here or rent at a car rental place Is very Different The interior Floor In This Nova is very high like in a rear wheel drive car where the regular Corolla the entire interior floor is several inches lower that your head doesn’t touch the ceiling and feels very roomy like in a chevette with no tightness and the Corolla gives you a option,Split folding seat backs so you can haul long items and more cargo space using your back seat area. Which you don’t get with that Nova I Wonder Why GM/ Toyota didn’t Offer things like this for this car? It would make this Nova A hit like the Corolla was. And if you bought a Metro OR Suzuki Swift You’ll Get All Of These Features Standard and ONLY Pay For A Few options Floor mats Wheels Covers Air Conditioning and Automatic transmission and that’s it I guess some buyers were buying this car as a second car just to get around by.
  • Lou_BC I can't see how eliminating 2 different engine tunes is a cost saving measure. It's just programming.
  • Inside Looking Out Because they have money.
Next