Road Trip: 1964 Dodge Dart (Grüne Hölle) Goes Camping

Images of cars, camping, and people doing things away from the city with their vintage people movers and ordinary postwar to 1970ss American vehicles seem to be a popular theme here on CC, whether through a curated set of vintage postcards, or a set of well-aged photo album examples from yesteryear.

Unlike those, this trip happened in late spring of 2025 with a 61 year old Dodge Dart that I lovingly call Grüne Hölle. This little Dart of mine has a (ahem) **few** modifications. Let’s ride along and see how the trip turned out.

This Dart has a 1963 grille, as I found a really nice one (the Original  ’64 part supplied with the car was a bit smashed up), and I prefer the look of that year anyway. I have spent the better part of 5 years converting the vehicle for track and autoX work. Nothing in the drive train, suspension, or wheel/tire setup is as delivered from 1964. Finally, the Grüne Hölle name is a nod to the Green Hell of Nordschleife fame on the Nürburgring. Yes, I have been there and driven the track and I would love to go back when life permits.

Back to that camping trip!

My daughter and I planned to go camping at a semi-local state park (Prince Gallitizin SP to be exact). 78 miles from home. We took the Grüne Hölle ’64 Dart and the ValianTrailer with all of our food, gear, tents, paddles, canoe, bikes, and all the rest of the stuff for camping.
We had a nice little site on the main road of the campground.

Here is one more look at the rig loaded for the trip at home.

We arrived at the park, and as I was taking these pictures, a nice guy said that he followed us ~ 5 miles from the last town to the state park sign, where we looped around the parking area for the following shots. The gentleman and I exchanged some stories.

He told me he was appreciative of old cars and stuff of the sort, and that he had just finished up installing a windshield in a VW bug earlier that day before dinner. Love it! Guys and gals working on their cars to keep the classics engaged and on the road!

We arrived at Crooked Run Campground and began to set up camp. It’s safe to say we were the only campers in the campground with a ’64 Dart.

Campfire fare for the first evening included some mountain pies in the pie iron. My choice for this meal: crumbled sausage and shredded cheese. Oh yeah, we made S’mores as well. No photo of that snack, however.

At night, my daughter and I would take a stroll to the lake. The campground area is essentially on a ~1 mile x 1/2 mile peninsula that juts out into the lake. Every night, the weather, wind, and water was calm, also no boats out late, and 2 out of 3 nights it was clear, save for the Canadian wildfire smoke making some haze.

This was the view on Tuesday night, one night before the full moon.

Wednesday night: The moon rise was ~1 hour later, but this time it was the full strawberry moon.

The next day, we ran out to Ebensburg, PA, for some provisions. On old US Route 219, there is one of these markers; I like to take pictures of the car near these informative signs… for no good reason, other than I like doing so. 

The next morning, we headed back to the vessel for some more canoe time and fishing. (The fishing is for my daughter; I know nothing about the activity and have no interest in it.)

Later that night, we went for a drive. My daughter asked for some twisty roads. Well, we were in luck, as there are a few of those around that area, and with 2 local historic railroad sites hauling rail cargo and passengers up and over the Allegheny Front.

This is the view descending down into the valley on Veterans Memorial Highway towards (as it is advertised) The World Famous Horseshoe Curve. The “Curve”, as it is sometimes referred to, elevates the track 122 feet over a linear distance of 2,375 feet of linear travel.

This tunnel goes under the triple track that is part of the “World Famous” Horseshoe Curve.

A few glamour shots at the entrance to the Horseshoe Curve (the visitors center and parking lot were closed for the day).

That wraps it up for this trip, after enjoying great weather the entire time. We left Friday morning, and the rain began to fall a few hours after we arrived home. I hoped you enjoyed this mostly modern nostalgic camping trip in our modified Dart.

 

Note: If you wish to find out more about my Dart and its modifications, then check here and here. If you want to see how those modifications work, then you can check here.