Image: AmCarGuide.com

The Dodge Dart originally started as a cheaper version of its 1960 full-size line, eventually evolving into a compact for 1963. Typically referred to as an A-Body, the Dart was one of America’s most durable cars, especially with the “Leaning Tower of Power” Slant Six.

But not all Darts were utilitarian modes of transportation driven by blue-haired ladies and Mao worshipers. Eventually we’d have the likes of the Dart GTS, Dart Swinger 340, the legendary A023 Super Stock HEMI Darts, and of course, the Daroo.

Daroo? Researching online, it could be an Egyptian sycamore, but that’s a funny thing to name a car, right? However, there was nothing amusing about the Dodge Daroo. Dodge chief stylist Bill Brownlie penned the show car for the 1968 season with the intention of conveying “…the feeling of a real dart in motion, even while the car was standing still.” So the task of making a Dart look truly like a Dart was given to none other than George Barris and Barris Kustom Industries.

Starting off as an extremely rare ’67 Dart GTS convertible (Dart GT + 383 = GTS), Barris added 17 inches to the nose and removed 10 inches from the rear; the beltline also was lowered, giving the Daroo a height of just 42 inches. The top mechanism was discarded and integrated with a tonneau cover to eliminate the rear compartment. The windshield was replaced by a sleeker tinted unit that wrapped around the sides and tapered to the rear like flying buttresses.

European-style headlights, common on show cars of the era, hid exposed behind a seven-bar grille; driving lights were situated in the lower valance. Non-functional “longhorn” injectors popped from the hood, but the side pipes were perfectly functional. The interior was reupholstered and was highlighted by gauges that were canted towards the driver. For the final touch, Barris painted the flanks an orange with a black stinger going from the front of the hood to the spoiler of the Kamm tail.

After touring the circuit with factory members of Dodge’s Scat Pack, the Daroo was repainted a Candy Apple Green, and the longhorn injectors were replaced with short stacks. The Daroo then toured again in 1969 in its new configuration.

The car before you is owned by Mopar show car wizard Steve Juliano and has been restored to its 1969 appearance. It also is proper to refer to it as the Daroo I because Chrysler created another Dart-based show car for 1969 and christened it Daroo II, which was nowhere as memorable as this car.