At $13,500, Will This 1974 Plymouth Duster 4X4 Cause A Dustup?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Duster is about as Mad-Maxican a car as you could want. Let’s see if we can find any beauty in the price tag for this post-apocalyptic Powerstroke-powered beast.

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In The World According to Garp, the titular character decides to buy a house after witnessing a small airplane crash into it, assuring his wife they will be safe living there since it’s been “pre-disastered.” Not all older BMWs are disasters waiting to happen, and in fact, the 2000 BMW Z3 2.8 we looked at yesterday had undergone such extensive maintenance and replacement work that, like Garp’s house, it might prove a safe purchase. A $9,500 asking made it a relative bargain as well, at least as evidenced by the 64 percent Nice Price win you all awarded the car.

Hey, do you like package deals? You know, trips that are described as “all-inclusive” or, when you were a kid, getting a Garanimals outfit that also included underwear and socks.

Today’s 1974 Plymouth Duster 4X4 is one of those package deals since it comes not just with the Duster body but also with (try and keep up, now) a 1990s Ford pickup frame, a 2001 7.3 Powerstroke turbo diesel V8, and a set of bolt-up monster wheels from a Humvee. Additionally, there’s also a roof rack-mounted spare for some upper body exercise should the car suffer a flat, serape seat covers sprucing up the cabin, and a decal on the car’s ass that’s both misogynistic and disparaging of people with weight issues. We won’t acknowledge that last aspect any further.

According to the ad, this mad melange of mechanical mischief remarkably comes with a clean title. What that title claims the vehicle to be — a Plymouth, Ford, or alien species of unknown origin — goes undisclosed. The seller does claim to have a folder full of sales receipts and pictures from the car’s build. We can only hope that one of those pictures is of the builder looming over the finished mashup during a lightning storm, laughing manically, “It’s alive!”

OK, so someone built this monster, obviously not with society’s betterment in mind, but with the goal of realizing some sort of outlandish personal vision — or perhaps a vendetta — thus bringing to actuality something unique and with the singular purpose of causing mud-flinging mayhem. Is that something we could all get behind?

I don’t know about you, but I kind of like it. I mean, it’s not something I’d pick up the kiddos in after school on the daily, but I could see it being a hoot and a half off-road. It looks to have fairly decent approach and departure angles, and the big 7.3 Ford turbo diesel is rock-solid enough a motor to ensure the Duster gets you back to base without any butt-puckering mechanical issues.

The ad doesn’t provide any more specs, but based on the pedal count, we can assume the transmission to be an automatic. That’s shifted through a ridiculously long floor-mounted shifter that looks like something Rob Zombie uses to scratch between his toes. Behind that is a more traditional length lever for the transfer case. The front locking hubs for the 4WD appear to be of the get-out-and-do-the-twist manual variety.

One nice touch is the welded-up hood that now opens clamshell-like with the fenders attached like some sort of nightmare Triumph Spitfire. One thing that probably should be added before heading out for off-roading shenanigans is some sort of frame-mounted roll-over cage in the cabin. Well, that and shaving off six inches or so from that goofy windshield visor.

I’m not going to bore you with details like the quality of the bodywork or the car’s mileage since we’re way off the farm with this car for anything like that, even to matter. Most of you made your decision about the Plymouth’s fate when you first laid your peepers on the lede image. If you’ve since made it this far in the story, kudos to your tenacity and iron will.

I will ask one more thing of you this fine Friday, and that’s to vote and comment on this car and its $13,500 price tag. I know you’ve got it in you. What do you think, is that price a reasonable amount to ask for so crazy a car? Or does that make this a Duster for which you would never settle?

You decide!

Grand Island, Nebraska, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to Sintek for the hookup!

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