As soon as the Car and Track road test crew were told about the 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger, "they hopped on quick". Watching this vintage road test, it isn't hard to see why. Even if the reasonably priced Dart Swinger didn't have "a lot of frills and gadgets" according to Host Bud Lindemann the little "supercar" did have "a ton and a half of go".
Car and Track host Bud Lindemann describes the 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger as a "hot car at a price he could live with" in this found on YouTube vintage road test. This was what Dodge had in mind when it first created the Dart Swinger. As Lindemann explains;
"For quite a while now the Dart has lived inconspicuously in the shadow of its Charger and Coronet brothers. But now with the birth of the Swinger, Dodge has launched another torpedo right at the fickle heart of the American Youth Buyer"
According the Lindemann and the Car and Track test crew, Dodge accomplished what it set out to do with this Dart Swinger. Lindemann thinks the brain behind the Dart Swinger should be rewarded, saying "Whoever tossed this idea into the suggestion box should be much fatter and richer now". We have a feeling quite a few dodge employees played a part in bringing the Dart Swinger from the suggestion box to the showroom floor.
When you first look at the Dart Swinger, you can tell it is a separate model from the ordinary Dart. As Lindemann explains "The name emblazoned on the rear fender, plus the bumble bee stripe on the back makes the car pretty easy to spot by anyone, including the guys who give away the naughty slips". Inside, the Swinger's interior was "no frills" and "as clean and honest as Little Orphan Annie".
Even though the 3300 pound Dart Swinger wasn't anywhere near the top of Dodge's muscle hierarchy in 1969, it still had a enough power to get you in trouble with "the guys who give away the naughty slips" after you attracted their attention. Inside the "the generator room that makes the Dart swing" were "340 cubes to happy land" which produced 275 horsepower. Although the "acceleration of the Swinger won't give curvature of the spine" the little car was still judged by Lindemann to be "another feather in the white hats of the Dodge Boys." We have to assume this is a good thing.