Muscle Car: Dodge Dart Year: 1971 Engine: 360 c.i. Short Block Transmission: 904 Automatic Rear End: 8 ¾ 3:91 Sure Grip

My father originally bought this clean 71 Dodge Dart for $1000 to use as a daily driver in the late 80’s. The 71 Dodge Dart was a clean, white/black top, slant six ,a/c, power steering, automatic transmission car that served him well for a few years. He used it as a daily driver until about 1993 when he bought something a little newer and better on gas.

With the71 Dodge Dart just sitting and my sister Stephanie getting her license soon I decided to build the car up some for her. I rebuilt the slant six, put disc brakes up front, put a set of rally wheels on it for her and sent it to be painted.. I wanted to do it panther pink for her but she would have no part of that. We ended up deciding on a 1994 Musatng yellow that she really liked.

So when it got back from the body shop I installed the hood scoops and bumble bee stripe and had it ready for her the day after Christmas(her birthday). She drove the 71 Dodge Dart to high school and the summer after but wanted something newer and better on gas when she went away to college.

That’s when I bought the car from her. I gave her what she had into it. $2500 if I remember correctly. I ended up putting a nice little 318/904 in it along with a 3:23 sure grip 8 ¾ rear and proceeded to beat the ever living crap out of it for the next couple of years. I ended up building a nice 340 for the car when a friend of a friend offered me decent money for the car so I finished the 340 put it in the Dodge Dart and sold it. I still worked on the car for him, even installed a 3:91 gear in it for him. Man did that 340 run. I guess it was about 1999 when he tired of the up keep on the car and sold it.

The 71 Dodge Dart just disappeared an no one knew where it went. It was supposed to be local. But no one had seen it since itsold. Fast forward to April 2004.

I get an e-mail out of the blue from my good long time friend Dan Mangold saying that he thinks he found my old 71 Dodge Dart. So I go to where he says its sitting and sure enough there is my old Dodge Dart (only 5 miles from home) looking pretty bad sitting under a bunch of trees. I talked with the owner for a couple months and finally worked a deal for the car.

I bought the 71 Dodge Dart back on June 7,2004 (my birthday) with borrowed money from my girlfriend Jamie Hawn. The owner and his father had put a 360 in the car with a set of eddy heads but every thing else was as I remembered. Since then with the help of my son Tyler Bell, girlfriend Jamie and a ton of great friends I have straightened out quite a few things, done a ton of cleaning and detailing, changed the carb, converter, trans and installed an Alter-K-Tion front end and a Street Lynx rear suspension both from Reilly Motorsports and a long long list of other things I don’t have the room for here.

The 71 Dodge Dart is finally getting to where I want it. A few things still left on my list is either a 408 or 6.1L hemi for it, overdrive then finally paint and interior work.

It just never ends now does it.

You can read the entire story of 71 Dodge Dart at www.abodyjoe.com