DIORAMA DETAILS – A “Forgotten” Muscle Car?

This post was inspired by the recent arrival of some new diorama pieces. Setting one of these onto the layout got me thinking…when was the last time I saw a Dodge Demon? When was the last time you saw one? I recently received this pair of Johnny Lightning models of this car; one represented in “Banana”, the other “Sublime.” The yellow car has genuine rubber tires, both ride of what look like Crager mags, although there is a slight difference in the design between the two, with the ones of the green car actually looking more accurate.

Recall my entry about the “Grabber Green” 1970 Ford Maverick in the muscle car fleet, where I mentioned that the Maverick is one of the few cars of the muscle era that seems to have slipped through the cracks of the collector market. The Dodge Demon and its companion the Plymouth Duster is another. On the surface these cars were nothing more than a Dart/Valiant with a fastback roofline (similar in concept to the original Barracuda in 1965 before it graduated to being its own car in 1967) but, while most of these cars were equipped with the bulletproof but sluggish slant-6, more than a few got upgraded to tough-guy specs. Top of the heap was the 340 model, as represented by these cool Johnny Lightning models.

The Demon and Duster 340 were only available for a scant 3 years, with power dropping every year, thanks to the feds. On top of that there was a “dust-up” (ha ha, punny!) over the Dodge model’s name, with some killjoy religious groups hemming and hawing about it, so for 1973 it was rebadged as the “Dart Sport 340.”

After ’73 the 340 option disappeared. The fastback roofline version of these cars-with both nameplates-soldiered on until 1976; although the top 340 option was replaced with an available 360, this was a low compression “cruiser” engine rather than a muscle car mill, and lacked the rip-snorting performance of the 340. Even so, few cars were so equipped, with buyers in these latter years overwhelmingly opting for the slant-6.

Today, it seems that few Demons and Dusters have survived the ravages of time, but those that remain offer what is possibly the cheapest way to get into vintage Mopar Muscle. But if that’s what you’re after, don’t delay: like seemingly everything else in the world today, these cars have been “discovered” and prices are moving up fast, so if you want one, better start looking: remember a slant-6/3-speed car is an easy conversion to something faster!