Yellow with a black top, my grandfather bought it off the lot here in Denver in 1971. I was allowed to use it (true "ownership" was murky) when I was about 23. At that time it had 77k miles
.It was this
... with better wheels:
I had it for a little less than two years when my uncle decided to live summers in Greeley, Colorado. He pulled rank on me, it being his dad who owned the Dart, and assumed ownership for over a decade. He used it as a daily driver
. It got some rust in both rear quarterpanels behind the wheel well. I couldn't really stand to look closely at it during that time.He sold it about six years ago to a collector who picked it up with a flatbed. I think $6k traded hands.
Anyway, when I was next to the Impala today the feeling of driving the Dart came flooding back. The mass, the weight of the steering, the lumpy bench seats, everything. I haven't driven it for 16 years or so, but I could almost smell the interior of that old Dart.
It was a conversation piece. People would ask about it and we'd talk car talk.
A '71 would have "classic car" status here in Denver, so low plates fees and no emissions test. Bliss.
I almost forgot the most important bit: the power. That car was so light, and the 318 so torquey, my grandmother actually peeled out one time when she was driving it back in the 1980s.
I've read the 318s were bulletproof, as was the transmission. I changed the water pump on her with two screwdrivers and a $10 NAPA socket set, while it was parked on a street. I miss her. Sigh.
)