Darting Around

A fellow in my neighborhood says his
father, now 71 years old, and in a nursing
home with Alzheimer’s disease, has a
’66 Dart that he bought new back in the day.
He says his father told him it was a special
model built for drag racing only. I went and
looked at the car, it seems like a typical
modified smallblock V8 with rusty headers,
etc. The paint is shot (chalky) and the engine
hasn’t been started in at least 10 years. But
the car does show only 1356 miles on the
odometer and shows no signs of having
been driven 101356. The car may be for sale.
Can there be any truth to this story?

Could be. There was a limited production
drag package called “D-Dart”, so named
because it was designed specifically to win
in the NHRA D-stock class. The bottom end
was stock 273-4Bbl stuff (based on the 235
HP powerplant), but up top it sported a big
Holley, Racer Brown solid cam, and Doug’s
headers, all of which raised the rating to 275
HP. The only available drivetrain was the
’833, Hurst shifted and backed by a Weber
clutch and a 4.86-cogged 8-3/4” axle.
Although there was no special badging or
callouts on the car’s exterior, this package
was well documented. We’ve heard of VINs
beginning with LP23 or LO23, but the data
plate should show a minimum of code 699
(D-Dart package) and engine code 32. The
car should also be white (WW1) with a red
interior (P4H).
If you’ve found a real car, I’d imagine it to
be pretty valuable. But don’t ask me for an
exact number—there’s no market reference
on these that I’m aware of.