If you follow NHRA drag racing or the Nostalgia Super Stock Circuit, the name Doug Duell needs no introduction. He’s won numerous events and championships with his ‘69 C/Stock Automatic Barracuda and NSS ’64 Plymouth wagon. But even the most hardcore enthusiast likes to turn it off every once in a while and just go for a cruise. Doug picked up this 1969 Dodge Dart GTS 383 convertible for just such occasions.
Doug, a retired car dealer and founder of the Dave Duell Classic NSS event, won six NMCA Nostalgia Super Stock championships with the Dragn Wagn. His ‘69 Barracuda has won five class titles at the prestigious U.S. Nationals. He also campaigns a ‘68 Super Stock Hemi Barracuda and 2015 SS Challenger Drag Pak. The latter two cars and the wagon have each gone 8.90s at over 150 mph. The ‘69 440 TorqueFliute car has gone 10.13 in class legal trim. As this is StreetMuscleMag.com, though, we were intrigued by his ‘69 Dodge Dart GTS 383 ragtop.
”This is an original 383 car. I happened to be at the Mecum Auction in Indianapolis, my buddy was selling a couple of cars and I was helping him,” Duell said.” If I go to a Mecum auction I always look through the inventory to see if there’s anything I like, and I always wanted a Dart convertible. I thought it’s a really good looking car. So I got up there and saw this car and was super impressed. It was a fresh restoration.”
This was about five years ago. Doug really liked what he saw after inspecting the A-body, so his friend Jeff Freese, a registered bidder, jumped in when the car crossed the block. Jeff won the auction and Doug’s had it ever since.
It was definitely an unusual find. Dodge, which was determined to put big-blocks in everything, shoehorned the 383 in the compact in 1967. Power steering could not be ordered and the manifolds barely fit around the steering box. It was rated at 275 horsepower, versus 325 in the Charger, etc. Only 457 were produced.
The following year, the 383 received the Super Bee’s improved cylinder heads, a new intake, and a larger Carter AVS carb. This raised horsepower to 300.
The result for Dodge was less than perfect. The B-motor barely fit; you couldn’t order it with power steering and the exhaust manifolds were fairly awful.
Improved manifolds were fitted in 1969 and horsepower improved to 330 at 5,200 RPM. Torque was 425 lb-ft. Still, the 383 Dart was an acquired taste. Fewer than 1,300 hardtops and only 63 convertibles were sold in ‘69.
Alas, we could not put our hands on a 383 Dart road test for any of those three years, so how well they performed is open to conjecture, or to the memories of any surviving original owners.
Doug remains super stoked about this Dart. He couldn’t tell us the name of the shop that did the restoration, but he is thrilled with the job they did. Everything works the way it’s supposed to. The engine and most of the car’s parts are original, it drives beautifully, and is the perfect cruiser for ice cream runs in Florida.
”I have a very diverse car collection and this is one of my favorites in it,” said Doug, whose 25 vehicles run from this A-body to a Challenger Demon 170, and even a new Ferrari.
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