Hey, look, this ’73 Dart is…well, it’s finished! I snagged these pics from a Craigslist ad in 2010, back before ‘artificial intelligence’ was even arguably capable of serving up 1982 Packard Patricians or whatever. Here’s the other pic (the illegible New Jersey licence plate and other noisy details are a casualty of image upscaling):
Could wish for more and bigger-better photos, but from what I can see this works really well for me. I might prefer the taillights up in the fins, but that would’ve made this already-major project much more costly and complex to do well; effectively; safely, and attractively. Especially if the original taillight cutouts had been erased from the bumper bar.
Even without that, though, it certainly looks like someone put a great deal of thoughtful, dilligent work into this as an exercise in what if tailfins hadn’t gone out of style?. The fins are sized; shaped, and angled just right to align with the quarter panels and the beltline. They look to be canted just enough to bring to mind the ’60-’61 Chrysler. And I appreciate that this was done on a 4-door car with a vinyl top.
These pics have been bouncing around my hard disks ever since I grabbed them. I’ve had no luck finding any more pics or info, which is a little strange; it’s not exactly a beige Camry, and the A-body enthusiast community is quite vigourous and well connected. So I’d think the buyer would’ve made themself known somewhere or other, but so far nope. Perhaps it was exported to Finland.
It’s not the only instance I’m aware of, though; there’s also this [’73 Dart + ’68 Valiant + ’64 Cadillac] ÷ 3 = 1968.3 ‘Dartillac’ (the owner still calls it a ’73):
Photo from owner’s album on Flickr
I give a thumbs-up for the fintegrated taillights, and…eh…a thumbs-sideways for the pointy round lights in the bumper bar (painted black? Well, okeh, it goes with the rat-rod theme, and chrome is very expensive).
Photo from owner’s album on Flickr
Yeah, it’s a little cracklety-crunchy around the seams and edges; so what? It’s still a hell of a cool build.
Photo from owner’s album on Flickr
Looks a little more polished on this side. I dig that zigzag profile to the trailing edge.
I’ll take a pass on the fins. Those dynamic white stripes on the hood and trunk wakeup the conservative design quite a bit.
Love the Black one. It’s something I could see Joe Mannix in, shined up, of course. Great looking combo car!
The black car pulls it off better, whether it is the more conservative fin with the taillight, or just because it integrates better with the design. The blue car needs some more over-the-top design elements to pull that fin off (which is something in short supply on the A body hardtop). Maybe a 61 Imperial style hanging taillight? Or the vertical dots a la 56 DeSoto?
I presume the black car got hit after the fins were added? Anyone capable of that kind of fin integration should have been capable of pulling some dents while they were in the midst of the job.
I thought this was one of those AI posts. Cool cars. Fins on square designs. Taillights on the black one would have been great to see from a 55 Plymouth. They would have had to be sculpted into the body more to keep the fin height down.
Never a fan of small cars, love the fins. A Salute to Virgil Exners fabulous finned fantasies for Chrysler. This DART was downsized from junior but full sized 60 and 61 Dodge Darts both with FINS. Although the 61 fins were somewhat subdued and reverse. Family had 61 Dodge Dart PHOENIX red convert. Beautiful car. Recently saw one in Hemmings for megabucks. I believe this era Dart and Valiant evolved into Volare and Aspen 😔, which eventually led to 83 through 88 Fifth Avenues. 😃 Had 83 and 85 Fifth Avenues. No fins,but Beautiful, formal look, reliable 318,lots of room and comfort. Have owned RWD FLEETWOODS and TOWN CARS. Those Fifth Avenues could hold their own. FWD KCAR Fifth Avenues ,New Yorkers, and Imperials were a sad end for Chrysler!
Wow, just plain scary! Though the two door cars look better than the blue four door. Fins had their time and place and by the mid-60s, were passe.
The tail lights on the 2 door look like they were lifted from a ’62 or ’63 Cadillac.
I think the Dartillac is pretty successful, agreed chome would be better on the bumpers but to finish the taillight fills to a degree that they would look good chromed would be quite an undertaking. Nevertheless, well done!
The 4 door, not quite a success. Maybe a Batman theme would have helped.
That remind me a bit of the 1953-54 Plymouth body who was morphed into the Chrysler Royal (AP1-AP2-AP3) Down Under in Australia when they added the tailfins. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-australian-brands/curbside-classic-1958-9-chrysler-ap2-plainsman-happy-accident/
I have never liked tail fins, but I am surprised to find that I dislike them less on a boxy-shaped car. They are integrated well on both.
Would the tunnel backed rear window (think 68 to 70 Charger) as used on Mexican Darts have helped carry the fin theme on the 2 door?
I was going to say, I think this was a built on a Friday Mexican Dart, they installed the buttresses backwards!
Somebody had to do it…….
Ridiculous! These look like bad imitations of Brasilian production Mopars.
I think the blue one is close, but it needs better wheel covers. Either baby moons or something from the ’50s. Also a hood ornament. Not one that stands up, but one of the flat swept back airplane wing sorts.
I just like that with the fins, these are literally Dodge Darts.
I love it. Love the idea. There is actually a lot more you could do with this car . Keep going and I look forward to the next chapter!