Here's a quick opinion question for you all.

How much would you pay for a 1974 Dodge Dart custom 4-door, in show room condition with 11,700 original miles, meticulously maintained, garaged and documented throughout the years?

High book value is for this model is roughly $5500. But street value (and ebay,etc. value) would seem to be significantly lower (the whole 2 extra doors thingy). But this car is a time capsule... Mopar perfection...

What's the most you'd pay (providing of course that you had the money to spend)?

I have may have an opportunity to buy said car.

Thanks!

-Matt

Honestly? If it is as nice as you claim $3500.

"Book" value is jusr someone's wet dream of what a car should be worth.

Just remember, it's still an old car that has spent most of it's life sitting. There will be issues with it that pop up as you start driving it.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Matt, Re sale on the 73-up a body cars are not much. Some consider them as un-desireable years. 4 door cars make some people shutter.Me , I like 4 door cars. Unless cheap they are a hard sell if you plan to flip it.
The big question is it something that YOU want and will be happy with ? 3 to 4 thousand sound about right,if you plan on using the car for yourself.

Thanks guys!

I might as well reveal that the price of said car is a non-negotiable $6000. Trying to figure out if I can justify paying that much for it.

I currently drive a '73 4-door Valiant as my year round daily driver. It's a damn good, reliable car and I've put a lot of work into it to make it that way. However, I know that no matter what I do it will never be in "show room" condition.

The idea of owning a mint, unrestored "time capsule" car sounds awesome... But is it worth $6000 to me? I just don't know.

-Matt

10 years ago there was a similar mint survivor post '72 car, but a 2-door, that sold for $5500 here in Portland. With inflation and the extra 2 doors I would say $5k is fair, but $6k isn't too out of line. If I wanted the car bad enought to pay $5,000 I'd look the car over thoroughly, tell the guy you can't pay that much, but that if he gets down to $5,000 to call you and hand him your number. If you really want to push, take cash and count out fifty 100-dollar bills.

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Joshua

I don't know if my thoughts will help, but I have recently had to do the same thing. What finally convinced me not to engage in a new project, was the thought of the cost to make my current car into perfect condition, weighed against a price for an upgrade to a level I could live with if it wasn't perfect, vs a costly new project. Poverty sucks!

Olaf

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Aspenized

The only thing that would worry me would be the (lack of) mileage. A third the price of a New Dart... I'd go for it!

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1964 Dart GT

Be prepared for seal leaks!
And if the basic maintenance has not been done, be prepared for other issues. All the rubber hoses should need changing, fuel system parts will need to be upgraded to ethanol resistant stuff. Rad and heater core may need to be changed if the coolant has not been changed. I've seen almost terminal corrosion inside the blocks as well. Brake flex lines should be changed and fluid flushed. There are a ton of other incidentals as well.
I've seen it cost almost as much as the purchase price to bring a low mile car back to daily drive status.

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Mattelderca
78 NYB (gone now), two S series, three old Snow Cruisers and a Doo.

If the paint is good and there is NO rust, then the price is less than the cost to restore the body alone to factory levels. That said, buy if it is the car you want to keep. Right now anyway, the 4 door aspect limits its resale value.

There is a Duster in my area with similar mileage at a similar price. If I were in the market for another car I would get it. It is awsome to pop the hood and have it look like new. But, if you drive it, that will not last. Those cars will rust if you drive them in the rain or snow. Be aware that you will not likely drive it anywhere near as often as youdrive your current Mopar.

Sam

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Are you going to drive it or keep it as a show car? It should be worth it as a show car but it's a waste of money if you decide to drive it.

For about four years, I owned a beautiful minty-green 74 Dart Swinger 2 door. Obviously not the Custom, but I prefer the 2 door anyway and 2 door Customs are even more scarce than the 4DR. Had 35K miles on it when I bought it and drove very well. Here is a link to a photo album of the car.

I paid $3,750 + nearly $1K to ship it from WV, and this is back in 2006. I was willing to pay it because the car was supposedly mint (it wasn't but close), and it was exactly the colors I wanted (hard to go 'new car shopping' for a 40 year old car, so I jumped on it). We negotiated a little and the seller did come down some since I was going to have it trailered, but in the end, I still paid a pretty decent price for it.

What mattelderca said about seal leaks is really true. Unless this car has been stored in a climate-controlled environment, and started and driven to warm-up point once a month for it's entire life, you're going to replace seals and other odds 'n ends that after nearly 40 years will be worn out. Even with climate-control, rubber parts would simply disintegrate: that's their nature after time.

My Swinger needed the exhaust manifold replaced immediately after I bought it (and no, the seller didn't disclose that). It shouldn't have, but the metal of the manifold kind of moulded and powdered away. It was very strange. Point being, weird stuff happens after 40 years and you never know, even on a 'mint' car what will need replacing because the car wasn't driven regularly. "Use it or lose it" never was so true as applied to cars.

And what Sam Powell said about the cost to restore it was totally true. I just got an estimate to paint my 63 Dart wagon for between $8-$10K. And no, I'm not doing that. Buy the best car you can afford, especially if you plan on keeping it.

Punchline: After four years driving it around LA, I was able to sell it for $5,200 to someone who wanted a very nice Swinger. I felt lucky to get the price. By the time I sold it, I was into the car about $9-$10K and wanted out. Sometimes the geographic market you're in dictates if you'll pay the price.

Funny, I think quite the opposite... A car that gets driven is worth it, but a car that sits in a garage is a waste of money.

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I'm with Zorg! Trailer queens do not interest me! No doubt others have other opinions. So???

BC

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'64 Dart GT convertible, 64 Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust (the Az Dart) & a sixty THREE Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust. (future project)
Early Dart Disorder (EDD) is real, and I've got it!

I was talking from a strictly financial standpoint. You put $20k miles on it or so and start wearing things out, that car is going to drop in value like a rock. If you keep it garaged with super low miles, it'll only go up in value.

I'd never buy a car to just keep it in the garage but I wouldn't buy a super low mileage car and then drive the wheels off it either. There's plenty of good condition 4 doors that can be had for cheaper without the low mileage stigma.