Plymouth Duster

Plymouth
Duster
Production period:	1970-1976
Class :	Middle class
Body versions :	Coupe
Engines:	Gasoline engines : ; 3.7 - 5.9 liters
Length:	4785 mm
Width:	1805 mm
Height:	1370 mm
Wheelbase :	2743 mm
Empty weight :	1305-1480 kg
successor	Plymouth Sapporo

The first Plymouth Duster was a semi-hatchback variant of the Valiant model , which Chrysler manufactured under the Plymouth brand from 1970 to 1976.

The Duster competed against Ford's smaller Maverick hatchback , which was introduced in 1970. The Maverick replaced the Ford Falcon that had rivaled the Plymouth Valiant. The Maverick was a four-door model, the Duster wasn't. The Duster was born out of the desire of the Plymouth design department to use the money accumulated in 1970 for the revision of the Valiant for something more sparkling than just another two or four-door Valiant. Under critical observation of the management, the engineers and designers from Plymouth created a notchback coupé closely based on the Valiant, which offered the desired modern look on the old chassis. The Duster was also intended to fill the void left by the Valiant-based first Barracuda . When the pony Car Barracuda switched from the A to the new E platform in 1970, it left a gap in the model range that had to be filled with a compact sports car. The Duster filled this void and thus also contributed to the failure of the new Barracudas on the e-platform.

There were numerous variants of the Duster, which sometimes emphasized the economy, then again the loading capacity or the driving performance. This led to model names like Feather Duster , Gold Duster , Space Duster or Duster Twister .

1970: introduction

In 1970, Plymouth unveiled the new model based on the 1969 Duster I concept car . In front of the bulkhead, the Duster was exactly like the Valiant, but the rest of the car was very different from the limo. It had a semi-hatchback roof and a special rear end plate with double horizontal taillights. Only in model year 1970 did the cars have a small "Valiant" lettering on the front fenders above the lettering "Duster".

The 1970 Duster came in two versions: the Standard Duster and the more powerful Duster 340 . In addition to the 3.2-liter Chrysler slant6 in- line six-cylinder and a 3.7-liter version of the same engine, two Chrysler LA V8 engines with a displacement of 5.2 liters and 5.6 liters were available.

The Gold Duster equipment package was available for the standard model from the middle of the model year . The Gold Duster was only available with the 3.7-liter or the 5.2-liter engine. The car also had “Gold Duster” lettering, gold-colored side stripes and other luxury features. A total of 217,192 Duster were sold in this model year, 24,817 of which were with the large 5.6 liter machine.

1971

Plymouth Duster 1971

The Duster was such a huge success for Plymouth that Dodge produced its own version of the car under the name Demon in 1971 . In return, Plymouth produced the Plymouth Scamp as a version of the two-door hardtop coupe Dodge Dart Swinger .

In 1971 there were only minor changes to the Duster. The "Valiant" lettering and the "Plymouth" crest on the grille disappeared. A new equipment package called Duster Twister was introduced. The Duster Twister showed the aggressive appearance of the Duster 340, but only had insurance-friendly six-cylinder engines or, at most, the small V8 with a displacement of 5.2 liters. The equipment package also included special side stripes that mimicked the stripes on the Duster 340, a matt black bonnet and the particularly "toothed" grille of the Duster 340. On request, there were also two non-functional hoods on the bonnet and a rear spoiler, as well as bucket seats and double exhaust pipes.

1972

In 1972 the Duster was not significantly changed either. New, more bulky side lights replaced the previous ones embedded in the body, the taillights were slightly changed and the engine layout adapted to the stricter emission regulations.

1973-1976

Like the Valiant, the 1973 Duster also got a new hood, a new grille and new taillights. The previous models had double taillights on each side; the new ones only had one rear light housing for each side. In the middle of the first oil crisis , 1974 was the best sales year for the Duster with over 277,000 units.

In 1974 Plymouth replaced the 340 with a 360 engine (5.9 liter displacement), which, however, developed a lower output due to the stricter emissions regulations.

In 1976 the Feather Duster was a design success; he had many lightweight components, such as B. the intake manifold, the bumper bracket, trim on the bonnet and trunk lid, and the housing of the manual gearbox. It had the 225 in-line six-cylinder (3.7 liter displacement), which was trimmed for economy, an exhaust system with particularly low back pressure, a long rear axle ratio and it was available either with a three-stage TorqueFlite automatic or a manual four-speed gearbox with overdrive (type A833OD ). The car (together with the structurally identical Dodge Dart Lite) had by far the lowest fuel consumption in its class. There was also a version called the Space Duster , which had folding rear seats and a large trunk with a capacity of 1350 liters. This year the Duster 360 was one of the few vehicles on the market with a high ratio of engine size to vehicle weight. In 1976 the special Duster "Spirit of 76" model was introduced as a counterpart to the Dodge Dart Hang Ten, with features such as red, white and blue seats.

1976 was the last year the Duster was built.

Resurrection of the name Duster

First the name Duster reappeared for an equipment package of the 1979 and 1980 Plymouth Volare Coupé, later on the front-wheel drive Plymouth Turismo from 1985 to 1987 and finally on the Plymouth Sundance Coupé and the hatchback coupés from 1992 to 1994 with Mitsubishi V6 engine.

Trivia

Chrysler used the old Plymouth Duster in the 2000's Hemi engine ad campaign where some guys (one of them, played by Jon Reep ) hit a guy in a Dodge Ram with the words, "Yeah, it's got a hemi!" . The guy - if not the car - reappeared in Dr. Z on.

The family car dubbed a " Dodge " in the sitcom A Terribly Kind Family is actually a Plymouth Duster.

A Plymouth Duster (built in 1973 or 1974) also appears in the film Happy Gilmore , where it is driven by Adam Sandler .

Fred O'Bannion ( Ben Affleck ) drives a 1973 or 1974 Duster in the movie Confusion .

Todd Ianuzzi drives a 1973 Duster in Beavis and Butt-Head

The band The Cars used a Duster 340 for the cover of their album Heartbeat City .

A B5 blue 1973 Plymouth Duster star in the horror film Bloody 27 .

Chase Forbes owns and drives a 1973 Duster.

Nick Principe in the role of John Falcon drives a yellow 73 Duster in the action film American Muscle (2014).

Homer Simpson ( The Simpsons ) drives a Duster in one episode, which can be seen from the taillights.

In the movie Edward Scissorhands , a yellow 73/74 Duster is driven several times.

In the series Two and a Half Men (S3E18) it is mentioned that Alan's girlfriend Kandi drives a Duster.

In the series Alf , Trevor Ochmonek, neighbor of the Tanner family, drives a Duster.

In Stephen King's novel Christine, Arnie's friend Dennis drives a 1975 Plymouth Duster. A 1968 Dodge Charger is used in the film.

Web links

Commons : Plymouth Duster - collection of pictures, videos and audio files