Keith Fox has always regretted the sale of his 1969 Dart Swinger.
It was his favorite car from his younger days and the memory never faded for him, so he kept a lookout for another Dart from the legendary 1967-69 Mopar stable.
He found a beautiful 1968 Dodge Dart GTS in the collector car ads about a year ago and knew that he had to have this green beauty.
The car was originally an Ontario, Canada car and had made the trip to the western coast of Canada in British Columbia after an extensive restoration.
The guy previous to Keith had only put about 300 miles on the GTS during his 6 years of ownership, so it had been almost retired before Keith bought it. This summer Keith put about 4 times that amount of miles on the car because he “bought it to drive it” to quote the Dart’s happy new owner.
The car carries extensive documentation, as well as a big list of special order options like factory police suspension, factory discs, factory quick ratio steering, undercoating and 3:55 posi-trac rear end.
The original Ontario owner must have spared the Dart from the generous winter salt used on the roads in that province because it is a rust-free car that only needed a fresh paint job to revive its factory green color.
Keith also pointed out a unique “nose beak” feature in the center of the front grille that was a very rare factory addition to the ’68 Dart.
Some MSCC readers will spot the headers in the Dart and so did Keith when he bought it. He likes the performance, but he is on the search for an original exhaust system for the car.
However, he will accept the aftermarket intake manifold because it was installed by a Chrysler dealer in 1972, according to the paper work that came with the Dart.
One of the more interesting documents with the Dart was an April 1968 Car Life Magazine test that ran the 1968 340 Dart against its bigger stable mates in a performance shootout. The nimble little Dart beat a ‘68 440 powered Coronet and a 426 Hemi Charger in a ¼ mile and 0-60 test.
The power to weight ratio of the well balanced GTS was enough for it to knock off its bigger and more muscular siblings in the Scat Pack from Chrysler in 1968.
It is clear that Keith is the right owner of this beautiful little Dart because he wants to make sure that his powerful little road warrior stays on the road and stored not in a garage. Keith even let his young son drive the car, although he rode shotgun during the drive.
Keith loves everything about his GTS, right down to its original dog dish hubcaps that look so cool on any 60s muscle car.
We wish owner and car well as they head down many roads together in the future because that is our idea of a Walt Disney ending.
Jim Sutherland
Follow us on Facebook at-http://www.facebook.com/MyStarCollectorCar
Follow us on Twitter at- https://twitter.com/#!/MyStarCollecto1
Follow us on Pinterest at- http://pinterest.com/jerrysutherland/classic-iron/
