With Father’s Day 2015 finally here, I think about my late father and my formative years growing up in Flint, Michigan in the 1970’s and 80’s. My dad passed away six years ago, but only positive associations remain of the stoic, Liberian expatriate professor who helped raise his three sons in this flavor-rich, historically working class city with his wife, a German-Irish American farm girl from northwestern Ohio. The subject car pictured above, photographed at the annual Back to the Bricks car festival, is the inaugural-year 1970 Plymouth Valiant Duster. My dad’s yellow, 1971 Plymouth Duster looked much like it.
Dad’s Duster was the first car I learned to associate with him, and it was like him in many ways. It was probably clear to most observers that neither the Duster, with its decidedly ChryCo shape, nor my father, with his thick accent, originated from these parts. Flint was a very General Motors-centric town, and had a lot of corporate pride in the company that was founded here in 1908, in a brick building (the Durant-Dort Carriage “Factory One”) located less than a mile from where the above photo was taken. When I was growing up, most cars I’d see on the street were GM cars, with a decidedly smaller percentage of Ford and Chrysler products (and with an even smaller percentage of imports and AMCs).
Dad taught Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus downtown, and on a few lucky days when I was in elementary school, I got to go to work with him. He shared a suite of offices with several other professors, and they all shared one secretary. There would be glazed doughnuts at the secretary’s desk, and there was a pinball machine (!) in one corner. The spiral exit ramp pictured below has since been removed from the parking garage structure, but I remember the fun, dizzying sensation of being buckled in and sitting low on the front passenger’s seat while Dad looped us around. (This ramp seemed much bigger back then.)
Dad’s Duster was bright yellow with black tape stripes on the sides, the cartoon “dust cloud” decals on the front fenders and rear panel, and also a blackout treatment on the rear as also offered on the “Twister” option package. The interior was black vinyl, and there was no AC. It likely had the base 198 CID Slant Six (given my parents’ frugality), and it had three-on-the-tree. When I think about it, this car was about as perfect as a bargain basement, strippo-special ever got, with lots of visual appeal and probably really good gas mileage for its day.
The Duster had a basic, likeable, honest, durable quality about it that was missing from our ’77 Volaré that Mom drove, with the latter car probably spending more time at (now-defunct) Chinonis Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge on Clio Rd. in one month than the Duster spent during its entire decade with our family. The Duster seemed as reliable as my dad was punctual.
I used to be on the lookout for cars like the ones our family had, and I remember not seeing a lot of the original-style 1970 or ’71 Dusters in the area by the early 80’s. Sadly, I can’t find any full shots of our Duster, but I did find a commercial on YouTube that features a dead ringer for our Duster, down to the “saltshaker” wheel covers:
I remember myriad sensory things about that car. The way the black vinyl seats scorched the backs of my legs in the summer, and the way it felt to trace my fingers along the vertically embossed vinyl. The whooshing sound made by sliding the horizontal dashboard vent control. The nasal whine of the Slant Six. How hard I had to thumb-press the AM radio pushbuttons. The distinctive, dusty smell of the interior, which was likely a combination of whatever material Chrysler was stuffing the seats with and baking vinyl. One of my favorite interior touches was that the rear quarter windows could be flipped outward, and I remember the feel and tension of those metal controls. (My brothers and I would fight over who would get the window seats back there.)
I’ll close with the only image I could find of the car, a sliver of which you can see at the far left of frame. This would have been from summer ’82 when I was 7 (and the car was 11), at a time when it was okay to ride your bike on the sidewalk with no shirt, helmet, or knee pads. (“Look, Ma…no hands!”) So here’s a tribute to my pop and one of my favorite cars that anyone in my family ever owned.
The subject car is as photographed August 2010, downtown Flint.
The now-demolished U of M parking garage exit ramp is as photographed July 2009, also downtown Flint.
The bottom photo was taken in front of our driveway in the East Village neighborhood of Flint, summer 1982. We sold the Duster the spring after this photo was taken for $300 to a guy in his twenties who seemed thrilled with his purchase. (You just know a 340 ended up under the hood.)
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1974 Plymouth Gold Duster – There’s Gold In Them Thar Hips
Curbside Classic: 1974 Plymouth Duster: Another Unexpected Find
My dad passed away about a year and a half ago, and I remember our own Duster story. Dad wanted to replace his ’65 C10 283 3 on tree pick up with a new car. We lived in Southern California and he was working in Portland Oregon, (where we lived until I was 11). He flew down and was going to give me the truck and we would drive up in the new car and I would drive back in the truck, It was the end of 1973, I was 17. We looked at Mazda’s and VW’s first, almost went with Mazda but we worried about rotary engine durability. Turns out that was a good call. He wasn’t going to pay over $2500.00 for a brand new car. I convinced him to go to the Plymouth dealership, I knew a compact with the slant 6 engine could be a good car. We found 2 stripper ’74 Dusters on the lot, one was red with black interior and one was forest ranger mint green in and out. Luckily in California only the 225 was smog legal, so they had the bigger engine. He decided on the green car I liked the red with black interior better but he had a ’67 Monterey in green in the past, and liked the color. Before we left I bought and installed a Clarion AM/FM Cassette and a couple of door speakers and we were good to go. We drove up fighting snow over the passes without snow tires, but made it no problem. I spent a few days with my best friend in the 6th grade, and then drove back down in the Chevy truck alone. Sold my ’63 Beetle and drove (and thrashed) that truck until the end of high school. Mom passed in 2010. Dad quickly put 100 k miles on the Duster and the only problem was poor shifter linkage, I eventually put a Hurst Indy floor shifter in. He sold it around 1979, Mom was tired of driving such a basic car, and they bought a new Dodge Aspen, loaded but with 225 slant 6. That car was not so great. Happy Fathers Day, everyone in CC land.
That was a great story. Thanks for sharing it with us.
There were a lot of new choices in the compact market in 1970, the Maverick, Hornet and Duster. A neighbor of mine traded an almost new SS Nova in on a slant 6 Duster as the insurance on the Nova was too high and he had a family now. The Duster was blah beige, but it was a VERY solid car and felt as if it would last a long time. He and his wife eventually split up and he disappeared, I have always wondered about what happened to the guy as he patiently allowed me to look over his shoulder as he worked on his cars when I was about 12. I was never able to thank him for starting me on my lifetime love of wrenching on anything mechanical, but whenever I see a Duster I think of him.
Thanks, Karl!
Good Read. My first college roommate had a 72 Duster. Car was indestructible. After one year of college the thing did not have a straight piece of sheetmetal on it due to his drunken shenanigans. I remember once he drove it over 300 miles with a busted radiator from running over some sort of road sign, loosing most, if not all, of the coolant, car made it and seemed not to be any worse for it.
I owned a baby blue 1975 Duster 360 from 1978 to 1984. It had the white “feather” side stripe, white deluxe interior, a white half-vinyl roof, and plastic chrome between the taillights, as well as being equipped with A/C and automatic. It was fast off the line but handling got nervous and squirrely above 80 or so. While the car was generally sturdy and reliable, the build quality was almost shoddy (especially the interior) and it rusted like nobody’s business. I was not too sorry to see it go in 1984 as it was replaced by a new Honda CRX – an altogether different driving experience.
tonyola
Wow! I’ve never really heard anyone else talk about owning a 360 Duster.
Mine was a Red 1974 Duster 360 with black vinyl interior, bench seat , factory three speed manual on the floor, and air conditioning. Not any old factory air conditioning either. My Duster had the underdash Thermo-King added a/c unit that could have you shivering on the hottest day.
The build quality on my Duster was quite good, at least from my perspective of having zero problems with it at 60,000 miles
I owned the Duster in the late 70’s, but (foolishly) traded it for a Dodge Omni when the second gas crunch hit.
In retrospect the Duster when driven responsibly, was decent on gas.
Truly one of my greater goofs ,was getting rid of it.
I had a bunch of experience with the Dusters and Darts of the day. Many of my contemporaries had them, and a lot folks raced them back in my hometown.
I also had a Dart Sport, a 1975 version with a 360 & TQ. I had it for about eight weeks. I bought it from a friend of mine whose father worked at the Twinsburg, OH Chrysler assembly plant. It was light metallic blue (B5) with a white interior and 1/4 vinyl top (over the front seats). My buddy had put air shocks on the rear and huge 60 series tires on the back.
I really liked that car, but I had the misfortune of traversing an icy bridge in early November with those huge tires on the rear. I apparently gave it some gas on approach to the bridge which caused a spin that threw me into both sides of the bridge walls. I bounced off of them like a pinball game. When I finally came to a stop, the only panel on the car that wasn’t wrinkled was the roof. The car was too old at the time (1980) to repair, so it was totaled.
Ugh.
Great story about the dad and the car. I hope my kids remember me as fondly someday.
Panther pink Duster with a 340 and 4 speed for me & Deep Purple’s Highway Star on the 8 track thank you
Great tribute, Joseph…
With a nice story like that, I think you just gave your dad a fine Father’s Day present… remembrance.
Great story Joseph. What a wonderful Father’s day present for ALL of us.
Agree with the last two comments. Dad made the story more than the duster.
Wonderful story and a great tribute to your father.
In my college years, I owned a 71 Scamp (with those same wheelcovers) and my roommate/best friend had 3 different Dusters, a 72, 71 and 73. And later a slant 6/3 speed 74 Charger. Your story had me remembering the same same sounds, smells and tactile experiences that you described.
Sincere thanks, everyone, and also for taking a few minutes to read this. It felt great to put this out there. 🙂
We had 2 Dusters during that time … my sister had a baby blue slant six, with a 3 speed on the floor (bench seat as well!) The shirter was this huge thing that came out of the floor and bent just the right way. That car felt very cool to me as a 18 year old. I added an FM converter and really felt like the man. Huge trunk. Made many road trips in it as it became the family car after awhile.
Later we had a white ’73 with a fake “turtle-skin” vinyl roof and gold stripe down the side. Automatic though – also a slant six. We moved on as a family to a ’72 Maverick – those were all fun memories
Great story about a car that was everywhere in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The CC effect struck this weekend, as there was a yellow 1973 or 1974 Dodge Dart Sport parked on a somewhat rundown used car lot in rural Indiana County (western Pennsylvania). I was there for a family reunion on my wife’s side. The Dodge really stood out, as the other vehicles were mostly early 2000s GM vehicles – Chevrolet Cavaliers, Cobalts, Malibus and Silverados.
This wasn’t a basic Dart Sport – it had black stripes and the optional factory styled wheels.
It sticks in my mind that people who bought Dusters would often buy them stripped, but people who went with the Dart Sport generally bought them fairly well-equipped.
In the 1970s, our neighbors had a 1971 or 1972 Plymouth Duster in Army green with the Slant Six, manual transmission, black-wall tires and dog-dish hub caps. They NEVER washed it, and within a year of purchase it was covered with dents. They were a young couple with two small children, but their cars always looked like war surplus material within two years of purchase (and they bought brand-new cars!). Despite the lack of care, that Duster kept running.
A others have said, good story, thanks for sharing.
My mom’s first car was a Duster, light metallic green with a slant-6. She bought it brand new. This was before she met my dad. They only kept it till I was a couple years old (1977 or so) because the rear main seal started to leak oil. My dad was worried about it getting worse and didn’t want to have to deal with fixing it. He has never said as much, but I suspect he just didn’t like the car. Additionally, my grandma was looking to buy a new car, so it was convenient timing to buy her Coronet and sell the Duster.
I’ve had a rather intense (in a good way) weekend, and didn’t really get a chance to read this properly until this morning. Very nice.
It’s a funny coincidence about both your and my post being about immigrant fathers and their frugal Chrysler A-Bodies. I guess Chrysler was sort of the Toyota of its time, as so many immigrants seem to favor that (and similar brands known for reliability).
Thanks, Paul. We probably have more in common than even that. My dad was Liberian / Liberian-born, but spent his formative years growing up in Germany (Berlin). That may be a story for a different forum. 🙂
A great remembrance of your father, along with of the Duster itself! Dusters seem to be one of the cars that I remember seeing frequently in the ’80s but almost never since. Interesting, especially in comparison with the fact that I see Dart/Valiant sedans up to the present day.
No one in our family (that I know of) ever had a Duster. My Dad did have a Dart though, a ’74-ish sedan, from sometime in the late 70’s until 1982. It coincided with my existence for a couple of years, though I have only the very faintest memories of it. To this day he speaks well of that car and the slant 6, yet he’s never owned another Chrysler product. Interesting…
I always liked these cars…never owned one but I have ridden in several when I was young back in the 70’s. My Uncle had a blue 73 Duster with white stripes and the slant/6. My Grandfather had a 73 Dart Swinger hardtop coupe….Gunmetal gray with black vinyl roof and the slant/6. Only trouble he ever had with it was the ignition switch went bad one day. He would start the car and it would shut off. The only way to keep it running was to hold your hand on the ignition switch and keep it turned a bit toward the start position but not far enough to engage the starter.
If I could have one now, I’d either get a Duster or Swinger with the slant/6 or 318 with a 4 speed manual overdrive.
Grandfather’s Swinger suffered from the famous Mopar ballast resister failure.
Don’t leave home without a spare in the glovebox!
My Duster story actually became a Dart Sport story. When I got my license to drive, my parents and I hopped on the subway to get downtown to Ontario Chrysler to get a Duster as the new family car. I was to be the primary driver as my Dad could no longer drive due to medical issues. This was January 1974. We got down there and saw some nice Dusters, but then we were shown a Dart Sport. I did not like the taillights of the Dart, and I had really wanted a Duster. However my folks liked it and bought the Dart for the same price as a Duster would have been (I think there was a $50 difference when new). 225 slant six. I did manage to convince my Dad that we needed to get an automatic, not a three on the tree, and we also got power steering. His cars had always been three speed strippers, a 66 Valiant, a 55 Dodge Crusader, and a 46 Plymouth.
With the fuel crisis having been a recent problem, we got a locking gas cap too, which was fine until the first ice storm and the keyhole froze up solid, which was a problem at the gas station to say the least.
Salty roads in Toronto had their way with the front fenders on the Dart, but I kept on top of having them fixed every year or two with the lifetime warranty that rustproofing came with.
I would help my Dad out by going to pick him up from work when he was on the late shift to save him from having to take public transit home, which I think he appreciated. It gave me a chance to have 1-1 time with him but I don’t remember much of our conversations. Probably sports talk and him telling me about his day at work.
That car took me to New York City, to Chicago, to Montreal, Ottawa, Lake Huron, and lots of driving holidays.
That Dart lasted from 1974 till 1983 with me, then I regrettably sold it to a young lad for not much money. I still have one of the floor mats from the back seat, which I somehow kept, and some photos. I only had a single car garage and driveway at my house at the time and I didn’t want my new daily driver, a 1981 Chev Bel Air, to sit out every day and have to have ice and snow cleared from the windshield all winter. Plus with the arrival of our first son, we would need the space.
At any classic car shows I view Dusters and Darts first, and recall the feel of the steering wheel, the speedometer needle sometimes vibrating at 60 MPH, those vinyl seats that were so hot to sit on in the sun, being able to fit my 10 speed bike in the trunk with the lid closed, that my buddy could not do with a bigger car, and driving three across in the front seat with friends. I remember the wind noise from the windows on the highway at speed, the rattle of the lifters on the slant six. I remember being cut off in my lane doing about 30 MPH, hitting the car that cut me off, a Javelin, and getting basically no damage on my car, but the Jav suffered a few thousand bucks worth of body work. I had a great deal of fun in that Dart.
All these Father and Son stories are great .
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I tried hard to raise my Son well , this is the first year I can remember we didn’t spend it to – gether =8-( .
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Didn’t Al Bundy drive a Duster ? .
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-Nate
IIRC, the car on “Married With Children” was referred to as a Dart in the show’s dialogue, but from scenes where it was shown on camera, appeared to actually be a Duster.
I think you’re right. But in the episodes I can remember, they didn’t even name the model. Al Bundy just called it the “Dodge”.
Wonderful family history!
Dusters and (to a lesser extent) Dart Sports used to be everywhere when they were new. I saw so many of them when I was in college in the 70s.
A friend bought a Duster in the 70s when she was teaching and working on her doctorate. She drove the wheels off that thing, and said it was incredibly reliable. It was nothing fancy, but it did have the usual automatic, power steering, power brakes, and (darn near obligatory for Arizona by then) factory air.