[CudaPete]

"GT" in the center cross hairs of the grill would have been a nice, distinctive touch. Kind of like the 67's which was one of the nicest grills Dodge ever made IMO.

 

[CudaPete]

Back in the day it took a few years for the Dart to become a performer. The 273 4V was a decent runner but performance didn't really take off until 68 with the introduction of the 340. GT's were more of an appearance package....trim, bucket seats. The GTS had it all.

 

[CudaPete]

The original Dart did wonders for Dodge's reputation for outstanding reliability and engineering excellence, mostly from the /6 variant though. This is why I don't quite understand the lack of marketing linking the new Dart to the near epic reputation of its predecessor. In reality, the basic 60/70's Darts were very boring cars....but very boring cars that sold very well to a diverse demographic. It could be anything from a plane jane grocery getter, take grandma to church on Sunday, to king of the drag strip in GTS form. I think the 68 Hurst Hemi Darts still dominate the A stock automatic class today. IMO, The key to the success of the new Dart is finding this broad market appeal. The GT is a step in the right direction of doing this. Just a step though....we need a true GTS (for grandma's Sunday trips to church) LOL!

 

[CudaPete]

Here's the interesting thing....Darts and Valiants basically sold themselves back in the day. Reliability will still sell today. Glitz will only get you so far. The Dart appealed to a very wide demographic from young families, to hot rodders, to old men in hats. I actually enjoyed the Corolla commercial. BTW - New Yorker was the longest continuously used name plate on an American car, 1938 - 1996, before being discontinued.