Plymouth Feather Duster

Nmna

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/cto/4039165258.html

There was an article I read somewheres recently about this car that says it is rare, has several aluminum parts (bumpers and hood?) and actually is a decent runner. This guy apparently wrote his ad with Mopar fans in mind or he would have told you where the aluminum is used.

Paint looks decent (tho I don't remember this being a "stock" color) as most F-Ds were similar in appearance to run of the mill Dusters with a few unique decals as the tip-off that this wasn't your ordinary Duster.

Decent price if there are no surprises under the paint.

Can't find it now but I've seen these were EPA rated at 36 mpg on the highway.

Hard to fathom any version of the slant six getting anything over 20?

2.76 gears, overdrive four speed, tiny carb, and an overly optimistic EPA testing procedure. Real world I'd probably bet on high 20's on the highway.

I had no clue these existed. I want one, but make mine with an EFI and turbocharged Slant Six, you know, for fuel economy.

Quite a few were turned into drag cars. I'd expect it is very rare. Valuable? Probably not overly.

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show-classic/car-show-classic-a-light-weight-1976-plymouth-feather-duster/

Yes, these had some very optimistic EPA highway ratings. Still, the /6 was a pretty economical engine if you drove it right. I had a '63 Dart convertible with an automatic and 2.94 gears that used to reliably get low 20's in mixed driving. One trip on the BRP returned mid-20's. So I can imagine a lightened hardtop with taller gears and a manny tranny could break 30, with a good carb tune. Fuel injected, absolutely low 30's. I bet this car weighs maybe 2500 pounds.

I dunno...I'd bet more like 2700-2800. My 73 base model (/6, air, auto) went 3000.

Buddies aspen wagon gets 22. And he has the high performance 2 barrel

The 2 barrel actually increases mileage from the base 1 barrel that most of the /6 cars got (as well as a very healthy power bump). I think the Feather Duster and Dart Lite got a different 1 barrel than the other /6 cars, though.

Dart Lite and Feather Duster had aluminum hood skins. IIRC, the framework under the skins were still the regular stamped steel piece.

They were economy models, low options, low to no sound deadener, etc. All to keep the weight down.

The color isn't correct for the year, but the wild colors were available on the early '70's models.

2800 lbs is probably right. They still had the 5 MPH crash bumpers and other impact bracing.

I'm pretty sure the entire front clip is Al. I've seen a feather duster and a dart lite at car shows over the years. There are also Al parts on the engine that normal /6 cars didn't get.