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'A sporting car, a fun car, a thorough bred!' HE TESTED THE DEPENDABLE '63 DART-THEN BOUGHT ONE! |
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Having three teenagers who are avid car
fans and co-testers helps one to sort his
prose very carefully before committing
it to print. One misplaced word of
praise, or criticism, can place Old Dad in
the dog house, but good! With this in mind, imagine my
consternation at discovering that after
living with our Dart test car for three
weeks, and driving it nearly 2,000 miles,
I couldn't find anything wrong with it!
A short conference with my co-testers
produced equally perfect score sheets
for the new car. When a professional
car critic finds that he and his crew fall
in love with the same machine, there is
only one thing to do . . . we bought one! Our test car was a tan Dart GT, with the
optional 225 cubic-inch engine,
automatic, push-button transmission,
and power steering. One of nine models
offered in the Dart line, the Dart GT is a
"sporting" car . . . |
a fun car, with rakish thoroughbred
looks, comfortable bucket-type seating,
light positive steering (with or without
power), fine brakes, an excellent
suspension system, and enough power
to hold its own in fast company. The Dart is a king-sized "compact" with
a wheelbase of 111 inches. Styling is all
new with a "dart-like" shape, low in
front, curving back to the tail with a
graceful, long highlight line, which joins
miniature fins sweeping down from the
hard rear roof line. This section features
an almost flat window, and strong rear
pillars which look very much like the
window and trunk styling seen on
Dodge's $125,000 experimental
"Flitewing" back in 1961. The upward
sweep allowed Dodge engineers to
design a larger trunk, with 30.2 cubic
feet of usable space. The trunk lid curves below the car's
"belt line", permitting a trunk sill only 22
inches from the ground, |
for easy loading and unloading. The front grille is of anodized aluminum, which resists
corrosion. It curves back toward the radiator, well
behind the bumper, where it is protected from damage
in the bump and grind of city parking. Visibility over the low, tapered hood is excellent, and
much easier on the eyes now that the front and rear
windows have been flattened. Getting away from
wrap-around windshield has also allowed Dodge
engineers to mount parallel wipers which sweep
across the glass from |
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