[Closed] 1:1PICs - A dash of this, a dash of that...

73 PLYMOUTH GOLD DUSTER...

The gold dash brings back good and bad memories. I bought a brand spanking new '73 Gold Duster (just like your dash pic) in July 1973 right before I got married. We were lucky enough to be able to pay cash for it, and to that point in time, it was the biggest check I'd ever written out.

Are you ready for this? The check was for $3,091.00. Brand new, that was the total cost of the car!

And I was so nervous writing it out, I messed up the written numbers and had to void it, and do it again!

That Duster, with the (alledeged great) slant six engine was the hardest starting car I've ever owned! Ever! And I constantly had to replace the balist (sp?) resister on the engine firewall, as well as replace countless fuel filters in that car. Not a good memory.

At 67,000 miles the engine litterly died, and the car was junk! Not to mention, the rust on the tops of the front fenders.

All this said, I'd love it if Danbury Mint gave us a 73 Plymouth Gold Duster. I'd order it fast!

Sad to say, George, '73 was the beginning of the dark years at Chrysler........

Having owned many '63 to '67 Dodges and Plymouths over the years, and known of lots more up to 1970, I can attest to the reliability of both their V-8's and the legendary Slant 6's. Heck, my license plate was SLNT6 for many years! Even so, I learned to carry a spare ballast resistor in my glove box very early on!

Gotta love the '55 Chrysler.......

with the "slash in the dash" shifter and the '63 T-Bird for that spaceship style!

LOL Gene about the balist resister in your glove box. Thing is before I owned that Duster, I'd never heard of a balist resister on a car, and even better, I've never replaced one on any car before or since.

As for that slant six engine, I was told that when I bought it that, I'd have a car that was as reliable as any car could be. I was 21, so what did I know? But whether it was summer or winter, that Duster just didn't like to start! And too, of every car I've owned through the years, no car has ever left me stalled on the road more than that Duster.

Funny thing though, I loved that Duster! It was my first NEW car, and as I said, I was able to pay cash for it. I was proud of it!

I'd love to have it in 1:24.

One of the coolest things about those old MoPars.......

was how easy they were to work on, on the rare occasion that they did break down. As you recall, a ballast resistor failure would result in crank but no start condition. It was right up on the firewall, held on by one bolt with two wires connected; a five minute fix, once I knew what it was, where it was and the symptoms of a sick one. Heck, it was easier to get to than the points and condenser on the Slanters! Nothing so easy on today's cars!
We always remember our first times, don't we? Much as I was a MoPar guy, my first (and last) brand new vehicle was a '78 Chevy C10 pickup, simply because it was the absolute cheapest ride I could buy at the time. Two wheel drive, 250 inch straight six, three-on-the-tree, no p/s or p/b, out the dealer's door and in my driveway for $4100. Drove it for five unpleasant years until it was stolen off the street in NYC. Insurance company gave me $4200 for it because, by then, inflation had driven the MSRP for the '83 version of the same truck up to $6500! Go figure! :O

George, I found the slant six to be indestructible in our '65 Valiant Signet. I drove it for 75,000 miles before my first tune up. At 120,000 I drove from New York City to Bucks County, PA with no coolant (hose busted in NYC). All it needed after that drive was a new radiator hose and coolant! At 147,000 I sold it to a kid who painted it purple.

73 Gold Duster.

I had better luck, George. I had the car with that very interior and kept it 120k miles with no mechanical or rust problems.

Steve, it was the red painted slant sixes in these earlier cars.......

that really rocked. Can't recall the exact year of the color change but it was right around the time of George's car, I think. Chrysler really blue it (sorry! :D)!

George-sounds like the Gold in your Gold Duster was really Lemon Yellow

I ran and worked on Slant 6's for many years, and the amount of abuse and neglect they would put up with was astonishing. People forgot (or never knew) that they had mechanical lifters, and would drive them with the valves clattering so loud you could hear them as the car came down the street. I once did a valve adjustment for someone and when I was finished, they were absolutely stunned by the silence (LOL)

For me it's the'55 Chrysler.

Look at the dashboards in Corvettes C1 ,2 and 3 and then look at this - oh dear!

Yes, the early C4 dashboards were awful.

Sorry to be critical, as I'm a great admirer of the Corvette.

That dash and especially the steering wheel!

I did not know that a Corvette interior looked that plain and pedestrian.