I have made a few entries with images uploaded to the Cohort by user Hyperpack. As told previously, they are a mix of vintage and recent images, showcasing a personal collection that was in the process of being sold, moved, and scrapped. From that large group, some of the cars were to be keepers. And looking at the love this Dodge got in these shots, I’m pretty sure this Swinger is going nowhere. It’s most likely a family keeper.
For those wondering, the sticker on the rear window reads “Yeah It’s Got A Slant Six.” 1969 was the first year the Swinger name appeared, aiming to add some 1960s swinging vibes to Dodge’s humble Dart. Most known of the Swingers is the 340 version, the ‘lowest priced high-performance Dodge for 1969.’
So, the sticker suggests this was the other Swinger model, sold as the ‘lowest priced Dodge hardtop.’ Engine choices varied, from the 173CID and 225CID Sixes to the 273CID and 318CID V-8s. There’s more on the 1969 Dart/Swinger in the links further below.
These images deviate a bit from our usual curbside finds, but I have a good feeling many of you will enjoy seeing this old Swinger finding true and steady love.
Related CC reading:
CC And Vintage Review: 1969 Dodge Dart 2-Door Hardtop – Swinger Or Solid Citizen?
Curbside Classic: 1969 Dodge Dart GT – A Genuine GT For My Father
When this car was new if I was asked about Swingers my first thought would have been Tarzan.
And I think the Swinger model went away around the same time that word got an entirely new definition.
Grandpa had a ’71 Dart Swinger, also brown. While I know only the front and rear were the main differences between that one and this one, the ’69 just looks so much classier.
Was Grandpa around 18-22 years of age? If so then I bet a few of us are feeling pretty old right now.
My grandfather had a green ‘71 or ‘72 Swinger, also Slant 6. He let me drive it quite a bit when I was 15. I always thought of it as a Dart but he and his wife always called it “the Swinger”. I think they liked that name.
I had a teacher who bought one of these in 1969, it had both Dart and swinger labeling .
We teased her unmercifully about it .
I now know these were in fact pretty darn good cars .
-Nate
This Vehicle that Rich Pic(ked) from the cohort was my 3rd car. I still own it and enjoy it.
I have Put about 35,000 Miles on it since 1999.
The girls and I take mountain trips as well as summer jaunts to the Ice cream shop. It was in a magazine and a book years ago. The wife and I took a 2100-mile round trip in the ‘ 69 Swinger for a Michigan vacation in 2010.
The pictures in this set were from a weekend trip from Irwin, PA to Union Bridge Maryland, in 2022. I decided to shun the interstates and take the National Road and US / State routes for the trip.
I began working on the car in college and finished it before my senior year, and I have been driving (and racing it for about 8 years) ever since.
More documentation on this vehicle can be here:
https://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13007
and some older racing videos on my YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI850WT92vw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uey_OKnOvKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGxNHJqX4ls
Enjoy CC Readers!
We owned a ‘73 Swinger for a couple of years in the early 80s…318 V-8, automatic with a factory hand-crank sunroof, even. Peppy, fun car to drive! My younger brothers were very impressed when my wife burned some rubber in it a couple of times…LOL!!
They were so light in the back. The slightest “wet” to the road and the tires would spin.
In winter, they were a disaster. Had to put a fair amt a weight in the truck , come November.
Our “73” had the same equipment as yours, “sans” the sunroof.
The “slant 6”, one the neighbors had ((same green as ours)) actually did much better in the winter. There’s was “72”.
Assume it wasn’t as “front heavy”.
I know they weighted the trunk , some , as well.
The dad of the house used it to deliver mail. ((rural route))
Why Union Bridge of all places?? I lived about 10 miles away for 30 years. What’s there is mainly a humongous Lehigh Cement plant… oh and there is a small historic railroad station. That’s about it. Every car in town is covered with cement dust all the time.
Owned a blue ’68 Dart GT (buckets, console) with 225 Slant Six back in the late ’70s, well, that is until my wife hit a cow with it one midnight.. both car and cow survived, but the car was sold, and the cow (a steer) did eventually become hamburger
Because of this car show:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAc9CH
and the 2023 version:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAZiCQ
Some interesting rides that I usually do not see show up there – I was not there long enough to experience the Cement dust.
I wonder if the 2 tone with the painted roof was original – or was it like my 71 Scamp that got a painted roof after I peeled off a rotting vinyl top.
I have always loved Swingers and Scamps – wait, I don’t think that sentence came out right. 🙂
Yes, this car wears the 2 Tone paint proudly and properly. It was a factory-painted roof car, with 2 shades adjacent to each other on the 1969 Dodge Color Chart. T5 Copper Metallic and T3 Bronze Metallic.
I sometimes happen on uneducated old dudes at car shows and meets who argue with me that this car had a vinyl top. Then we look at the Fender Tag and the Broadcast Sheet and I show them that It was indeed delivered as a 2 tone car from the factory. Additionally, when I began working on the car in ’98-’99 it wore most of the original paint. especially on the horizontal surfaces. There was no evidence of ever having a vinyl top. Just original paint then the factory primer.
I have since seen other 2 tone-painted roof MoPars. They are not common but do / did exist.
Thanks for the consideration, J P
Reading the previous articles, it seems a lot of folks said the handling on these was bad, the braking was bad, and the manual steering was atrociously slow.
Is this one of those things where if one got the power steering, whatever handling/tire package was available (what were they), and power front discs (were they an option?) they were acceptable-to-good from the handling department? Another one of those “if you get the right options you can get a great car, if you don’t you have something that’s outright dangerou” kind of things that Detroit was famous for?
Otherwise I always thought the packaging, the ergonomics, the greenhouse, as well as the powertrains on these cars were better than anything out of Detroit from the late 1960’s onward. My parents’ generation, and the their parents, both loved them.
If the car came with the factory 9″ Drum brakes – Marginally adequate for the ’60-’62 V and L cars but scary for the Larger, Heavier 3rd Generation bodies as pictured here, also not safe in today’s traffic where you could get brake checked by some guy in a lifted f250 with better brakes than you have,
The 24:1 Manual steering is slow too.
Handling is adequate. but probably bad with the factory 185-75-13 or equivalent factory tires on 13″x 4″ rims.
I upgraded all of those things on this car except the steering box, It is an easy switch however to a 20:1 or 16:1 manual box which are readily available from various suppliers.
I have autocrossed this car and It does not do well compared to a Miata but it is sure fun,
With appropriate tire, wheel, torsion bar, shock, and sway bar upgrades, they handle fantastic just like any older car would the appropriate enthusiast re-engineering and thoughtful parts selection.
My ’64 Dart is a blast to drive now after I did all of that to it, and the ’62 Valiant in semi-stock form with no suspension upgrades is plenty capable, as it is much smaller, shorter and lighter than the 3rd Gen A Body here.
We drove our 1973 225 CID Slant Six Dart Custom Four-Door Sedan until 1989. We accumulated over 140,000 miles on it, sold it for a 1978 Aspen Wagon. Acceleration was “Did we get passed the light yet?” However, it was a reliable auto. I added radial tires in 1974 which changed the traction capability of the Dart. Ours was equipped with the A__ package which gave us most of the optional equipment. I also added an AM/FM Radio.
I am only familiar with the “Leaning Tower of Power” from driving my Dad’s ’61 Dodge two door Seneca stripper. At least it had a three speed. I’ve always liked that engine. I thought that the car was quite ugly at the time, but wouldn’t mind having it now. I wonder how the slant six fared in a Cordoba/Mirada?
By the time the Slant 6 appeared in the Cordoba / Mirada, it was seriously down on power and no longer available in the Super 6 configuration by 1980. We had one on the car lot – a 1981 model I believe with the 225 1 bbl and AC. It was no performer in the heavy Mirada chassis with all the safety bars and bumpers required of the time and wheezy performance with sub 3.0 Rear axle ratios and air pumps and various extra clean air devices.
Slant six engines came in 170, 198, & 225 cubic inch versions. I’ve never heard of a 173 Slant six.