Dodge Dart was also two door wasn't it?
When I graduated from college, my mom promised me her 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger 2dr, 3 sp Manual, with the 225 slant six that would run until the Sun novaed. It was a pale yellow and in great condition. Looked a lot like this car, but without the stripes and the air intake. Even had the original gas cap in matching yellow, which, in the 90s, was rare for these cars.
The manual transmission was also a rarity. As I understand it, the 73 Dart only came in an automatic, but my grandfather insisted on a manual, so he had it customized, with a Hurst shifting box, which felt great, even though a 225 slant six did not exactly exude power. Nonetheless it accelerated pretty well from 35-55, which was fun when getting on the freeway. I loved that car. Drove it in high school and while I was home on breaks during college. Pushed it up to 105 on a wide open freeway once, and quickly realized that was too damn fast for that car (which is saying something for an 18-year old to realize: "this is not safe.")
My plan was to upgrade it to a 318 or 340 V8 (although, to be fair, I probably didn't fully understand the amount of work that would have required).
Literally two weeks before I graduated my mom was in a wreck and the car was totaled. (Mom was ok, which was a minor miracle given how cars were built in 1973.
Instead they gave me some money for a down payment on a used, 4dr Honda Accord. Not very interesting--not nearly as interesting as the Dart--but a great car. Sigh.
