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Weird as all these cars seem huge to me. When I think of compact cars. I think of Pintos, Chevettes, etc.
Compact cars of 1969 ...
- Thread starter odie
- Start date
Nice choice. Mine would be the Dart with the 440 Magnum. Automatic was the only transmission available, and few options could be had. They were built to run in SS/EA, so they were kept pretty basic.I’ll take the 69 Nova with the L78 396 box checked, along with the Muncie M22, and 411 posi please…and in Marina blue….sure…add the console and gauge package…and the am/fm eight track….! I’ll figure out how to make the $93 a month payments later.
A friend of mine sold this one a few years ago. A friend of his bought it and raced it when new, so he'd always known the car. It's a real beast.
https://buy.motorious.com/articles/news/372649/1969-dodge-dart-m-code/amp
My girlfriend at that time had two '69 Dart/Scamp(at the same time) w/Slant 6's. One car was refrigerator white and the other was pea soup green. I can't remember which was which but the green one had green interior and the white one had like a charcoal-ish interior, IIRC!
The only compact cars we had in our family at that time were...well, I don't think we did have anything smaller than a BUICK or CHRYSLER.
The only compact cars we had in our family at that time were...well, I don't think we did have anything smaller than a BUICK or CHRYSLER.
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I know, right!
But those cars didn't arrive til the 70's
the dart and valiant were the best of this bunch by far
What you don't see is the tq these things had. The 225 slant 6 in a valiant or whatever had 215 ft lbs of tq. And all available at about 1200 rpm! My dad's 68 valiant moved out very well and could squeek the tires with it's 2.7 rear end ratio. Cars today make their power at much higher rpm. Often 3x that rpm.
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I remember the Valiant. Not too many small cars in the 60’s save for the Beetle and the occasional Karmann Ghia. The Ford Cortina was another small car seen around. The Opel Kadett as well but not too often.
We had a friend of the family that drove a Metropolitan. That was a interesting car with the shift lever coming out of the dash. As I recall he had a dickens of a time with the carburetor. That was a constant battle.
We had a friend of the family that drove a Metropolitan. That was a interesting car with the shift lever coming out of the dash. As I recall he had a dickens of a time with the carburetor. That was a constant battle.
The 66mpg 1969 Subaru 360 was available back then in limited numbers
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I never knew the Nova came with a 4cyl. I always thought a 6cyl.
It was 2/3rds of the 6
We’ve basically moved back to that with modern engines. Pentastar v6 makes 90+% of peak torque starting at 1800rpm.
I also thought the six cyl was the smallest engine to be had.
Just a few years ago, I sold my ‘69 Nova. Before Rock Auto was available, getting parts at the local auto store was interesting because some parts men would insist that it was a Nova, others would insist it was a Chevy II. Anyway, my car had the four cylinder/power glide combo. Factory manual choke, no power anything, drum brakes all the way around and AM-only radio. I won a bet with that car, though. I bet a co-worker that I could change the fuel pump, from start to finish, in five minutes. Plenty of time to spare. Best mileage I got was 22 mpg.
I also think the car was designed for a college student woman. I think women drivers were much smarter back then. I can’t imagine a modern woman successfully using a manual choke today.
have a pal who owned 1 road worthy & 1 not-so-road-worthy 360. While he did some body work in his shop,
I threw together an engine for his coaster/parts unit. Even got it fired & drove up & down the road several hundred yards.
Think it took me four-ish hours. Fun car. Clown Car !!!! Ring-a ding ding. Last time I saw one, four years ago, an old Subaru mechanic cruised
in my local supermarket lot. He's like 85 & retrofits bike frames with engines too. Talented guy, his Twoobie really purred.
I mentioned "SCAMP" but I believe it was a "VALIANT". That sounds' bout right.
Man, it's been a long time!
VW owned the micros in the '60s. The Japanese imports were just starting to squeeze through a crack in the door. My uncle bought a Carolla around 1967. Compared to contemporary competition, it was pretty basic and crude.
You were right, a Scamp is a Valiant.I mentioned "SCAMP" but I believe it was a "VALIANT". That sounds' bout right.
Man, it's been a long time!
The first Dusters and Barracudas also had Valiant badging that only lasted a model year or two.
. I drove an DART with the automatic for a few years . Was 3rd car .
