Since it hit the streets back in the bright days of 1970, it has spun only 26,000 miles on the odometer. Carnagie had bought it off the dealership lot in 1970 after the first owners had returned it following just one month of possession. We have a feeling there was a little old lady leaving unintended black streaks on the pavement someplace in southern Illinois that April long ago!
Twin scoops like this had made their debut on the 1969 Ramcharger-equipped Super Bee and R/T models. On the Swinger and the later Demon 340, the scoops did not receive the under-hood apparatus to be true cold air units, and were primarily for dress.
 The engine uses the standard Carter AVS four-barrel; no factory 340 was ever built with a two-barrel carb. The drop in compression in 1971 would soon give way to the larger displacing 360, but the 1970 example was among the stoutest of the breed. |
As built, the car had come new covered in FC7 Plum Crazy Purple, ordered with the 340 four-barrel engine package, an A833 four-speed transmission, and a SureGrip 8.75 rear with a 3.55 gear in it. Upgrades included Rallye wheels with E70x14 rubber. The interior was devoid of a lot of frills, though the car did get the tach and the Rally dash layout with its 150 mph speedometer as part of the Swinger package. The front seat is a bench dressed in plain black vinyl.
Darren has worked on it over the years. In addition to some fresh paint by Shane Kelly in 1990, the car has been given some other upgrades. New rubber replaced the dry-rotted
originals, and Legendary was called on for some new seat covers. However, the engine and driveline has not been apart, though they were detailed carefully when the engine was out.
For many years, Darren was busy with some of his other cars, so the Swinger was simply one of several projects in the garage. After a trip to the 2003 Mopar Nats, Darren and his father Danny decided to show it regularly, and we caught up with the Josten’s at the popular Monster Mopar Weekend in St. Louis. The car is impressive in every respect, and Darren told us at that time he had recently turned down a cash offer for over 30 big ones on the car. With prices where they are today, that refusal may have been a wise move.
After all, there are lots of nice big-block and Hemi cars out there. Gaining entry into the Scat Pack required that the Dodge could click the quarter-mile timers off at under 15 seconds. Our feeling is that this little beast got into Dodge’s fabled club the hard way – it earned it.
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