The 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger Baby! – Vintage Road Test Video by Bud Lindemann

Watch this 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger vintage road test video with Bud Lindemann

Posted on YouTube By: We Love old American Iron

Quotes by Bud Lindemann in this video.

1969 requires coming on stronger than ever in the performance car market for 69. The Dodge boys have concentrated on beefing up the Dart line with a model called the Swinger. When Frank Wiley called from his Hamtramck Hot Rod assembly plant and told us about the Swinger. Our road-test crew hopped on quick. The Road Runner and the Super Bee were both proof that the young car buyer wanted a hot car at a price he could live with. Consequently, the same theory went into the building of the Dart Swinger. Not a lot of frills and gadgets. But, a ton and a half of Go

For quite a while now the Dodge Dart has lived inconspicuously within the shadow of its big Charger and Coronet brothers. But, now with the birth of the Swinger, Dodge has launched another torpedo. Right at the fickle heart of American youth buyer. It’s another car out of the high-performance, low-price tag mold that Mopar so successfully adopted when they built the Road Runner. Whoever tossed this idea into the suggestion box should be much better and richer by now.
With a 111-inch wheelbase the swinger tips the scale at 3,300 pounds and just a shadow over 195 inches from bumper to bumper. With the name emblazoned on the rear fender, plus bumblebee stripes wrapped around the tail. They’re pretty easy to spot by everyone, including the guys that give away the naughty slips.

“Easy to spot by everyone, including the guys that give away the naughty slips”

1969 Dodge Dart Swinger advertisement

“This is the generator room that makes the Dart swing.”

The concave rear window gives an altogether different look to the after compartment. This is the generator room that makes the Dart swing. 340 cubes to happy land, it unleashes 275 horsepower at 5,000 rpm. Has a 10.5 to 1 compression ratio a four-barrel carter carburetor and 340 foot-pounds of torque. With no frills and a bench seat, the interior is clean and honest as Little Orphan Annie.

We ran the automatic transmission first and knocked out 0 to 30 in 3.2. The second time up, it leapt out of the hole and we squeaked out 45 mph in 4.8 seconds. The acceleration of the swinger won’t give curvature of the spine. But, it’s still pretty swift. We ran 0 to 60 in 7.3. We cut this time down with a 4-speed manual shifter.

1969 Dodge Dart Swinger White

A beefed-up suspension comes with the Swinger package at no extra cost and its rally paid off through the pylon course. It handled well, body roll was about standard for a supercar. Our tester had power steering, we were able to run through the cones at the 45 mph. In high speed hard cornering we felt that the rear end was a little skittish, and the car seemed a little unpredictable. This run through the S turns at our track was shot in slow motion. If you notice, it comes into the turn well. But, halfway through you have to stay right on top of it or you could lose it, like this.

“1969 Dodge Dart Swinger Baby!”

Four binders the Dart employees Disks up front with Drums in the rear. From 30 mph we stopped in 38 feet. After several high speed, all-out panic stops. Heat buildup was intense, and the pedal faded to about ½ inch from the floor. From 45 the car stopped in 66 feet. We also noticed a considerable brake fade during our high-speed cornering runs around the track. We made several 65 mph stops. This one was the shortest 213 feet. Here is the same 65 mph in slow motion.

The full-time power steering unit in this Dart left very little feel of the track. We felt in hard cornering the manual steering would be far better. This particular car with the automatic transmission seemed to lack power in the turns. When we threw it into a corner the front end would start to go, and it lacked the muscle needed to steer it through with the throttle. As a result, the recovery was choppy, a little bit uncertain.

1969 Dodge Dart Swinger Ad

As a mentioned earlier, we had two Swingers for this test. One was not only a horse of a different color. But, a different transmission. This four speed Hurst shift made a lot of difference. Our 0 to 30 times went down to 2.9 seconds. It felt solid and much stronger through the corners too. We fired off the line to a 45-mph run and stopped the clock in 4 seconds flat. We cut our run to 60 mph to 6.6 seconds. That Hurst stick puts the power right down to the asphalt.
For the 4 speed we had all the power we needed to steer through the corners with the throttle. Rebound and recovery were much smoother. The Swinger is a fun car with a monthly payment book that won’t choke you. This Dart should do very well in competition circles. It certainly is another feather in the white hats of the Dodge Boys

1969 Dodge Dart Swinger Blue

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