This is the 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger concept car that was first shown at the 1969 Chicago Auto Show, and unlike most of the concept cars of the time, this one didn’t end up in the crusher or locked away in the company collection.
This concept car was built for Dodge by the Alexander Bros in Detroit, Michigan. It had a modified body designed to evoke the working-class-performance spirit of the Dodge Dart Swinger – a model that was much cheaper than the Charger but was still capable of excellent performance when optioned with a V8 engine.
Fast Facts – The 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger Concept
- This is the 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger concept car, it was built by the Alexander Brothers in Detroit, and was first showcased at the Chicago Auto Show, then later toured the country as a promotional piece. Unlike many concept cars of its era, it avoided destruction and underwent a full restoration with NOS parts.
- Based on the production Dodge Dart Swinger, the concept car features a 340 V8 engine, four-speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter, dual exhausts, and custom Ansen Sprint slotted aluminum wheels fitted with Goodyear Polyglas tires.
- Custom body modifications include a bespoke grille with rectangular headlights and circular driving lights, a prominent non-functional hood scoop, and an all-new rear end with a spoiler and rectangular taillights. The car is finished in deep red with a black rear stripe and a black bucket seat interior.
- The restored concept car is now set to be auctioned by Mecum in January, with an estimated starting price of $160,000 USD. Previously part of the Steven Juliano Collection, it represents a rare piece of Dodge and Alexander Brothers history.
The Dodge Dart Swinger
The Dodge Dart made its debut in 1959 and it would be sold over four generations until 1976. It was always one of the less-expensive model options, but there was a time in the late 1960s where the model could be optioned with high-performance V8 engines, making it a bit of a performance bargain.
The slogan for the Dodge Dart Swinger was “Clocking in at 6,000 rpm for under $3,000.” It was catchy and it highlighted than the car was cheap, only $27,197 USD when adjusted for inflation. Image courtesy of Dodge.
In 1968 the Dodge Dart Swinger made its first appearance. It had been developed as the most affordable muscle car on the market, with few frills but plenty of thrills, and importantly it had the ability to keep up with many of the performance cars with far higher prices.
The official company slogan for the Swinger was “Clocking in at 6,000 rpm for under $3,000.” This was a bargain price for the time, and the top-engine spec available for the car was the 383 Magnum V8.
It didn’t take Dodge customers long to realize that the real performance bargain was the Swinger optioned with the 340 V8. This engine may have turned out a little less power than the 383 but it weighed a significant 90 lbs less, and it was still good for 275 bhp at 5,000 rpm, and that’s before you started bolting on performance parts from the aftermarket.
Performance was brisk by the standards of the day, and by the standards of today really, with a mid-14 second quarter mile time and a 0-60 mph time of just 6 seconds with the 4-speed manual gearbox.
The Dodge Dart Swinger 340 came from the factory with the 340 V8, heavy-duty Rallye suspension including firm ride shock absorbers, a 4-speed Hurst shifter, and dual chrome tipped exhausts and cost a little over $2,800 USD. Its nearest rival was the $300 more expensive Chevrolet Nova SS, and this is late-1960s $300 we’re talking about here, over $2,700 USD today.
Dodge would sell over 16,000 examples of the Swinger 340 for the 1969 model year, and many owners of far more expensive muscle cars would be left fuming on the asphalt after being beaten soundly by the economy-priced bruiser.
The Dodge Dart Swinger Concept Car
The Dodge Dart Swinger concept car was commissioned by Dodge and built by the highly-regarded Alexander Brothers in Detroit – made up of Mike and Larry Alexander – two brothers who studied automobile body and fender work at a trade school thanks to the GI Bill.
The interior of the Dodge Dart Swinger is spartan, but it was never intended as a luxury car. It was built to highlight the low cost and high performance of the Swinger 340.
Mike and Larry started out doing repair work on cars in their father’s one-car garage however by 1957 they realized they had enough work coming in to sustain themselves as a business, and so they set up the Alexander Brothers Custom Shop in Detroit.
Between 1957 and 1969 over 60 custom cars rolled out of the Alexander Brothers shop, many of them were highly influential and the Dodge Dart Swinger must have been one of the final cars out of their garage before they shut down due to a planned highway through the area.
It seems likely that the Swinger concept car was created to help promote the production model, it was specified with the 340 V8 engine option with a four-barrel carburetor, the four-speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter, dual exhausts, Ansen Sprint slotted aluminum wheels, and Goodyear Polyglas tires.
The real work was done on the body, with large rectangular headlights paired with smaller circular driving lights mounted in the center of the grill. The grill was custom made, as was the prominent (and sadly non-functional) hood scoop.
The rear of the car featured an all-new tail end with a discreet integrated spoiler, elongated rectangular taillights, and a fully-functional trunk lid. The car was finished in deep red paint with a black stripe around the rear, a pair of hood pins, and a black bucket seat interior.
The 340 cubic inch V8 with the four-barrel carburetor is good for 275 bhp. Power is sent back through a 4-speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter, and a live axle rear end.
After it was displayed at the 1969 Chicago Auto Show this car toured the country as a promotional piece. It later ended up in the Steven Juliano Collection where it was given a comprehensive restoration using original and NOS parts.
The car is now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum in mid-January with a price estimate starting at $160,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
