In 2003, Chuck Leutz purchased a 1971 Plymouth Duster Twister that needed to undergo restoration. Chuck has enjoyed a career in auto repair for many years, and was quick to supply us with an abundance of information while discovering the what and why of how the Duster evolved. It all helped us conclude what we titled “Automotive History of the Future.” It’s unique how people come together to make great things happen, how some incorporate, even stretch advancing technology into new products and services, and how the technochasm we’re currently enduring will cause kids yet to earn a drivers license to look back at today, and see us in the way that we view Henry Ford, William C Durant and Walter P. Chrysler’s ideas and early automobiles.
In 2016, I worked as a salesman at a Chevrolet dealership owned by a family who could boast of a heritage that helped keep General Motors Corporation solvent at the request of its then CEO and founder, William C Durant. General Motors ranks as 18 among automotive giants at the time of this article. A few months ago they made a statement that really caught our attention, saying by 2035 they would be done producing combustion engines. Really? Is this due to the wild-eyed notions of environmentalists harping about global warming? Car guys know batteries power golf carts and Tesla’s, which generates about as much enthusiasm as a toothache. Or is this due to corrupt politicians forcing people to adopt things they don’t want so they can profit more for themselves? The strip mining that occurs to unearth lithium for batteries to power a Tesla is said to be worse for the environment than anything powered by fossil fuels, including homes and businesses. We do realize Elon Musk isn’t the name of a new men’s cologne, but that of a very savvy, modern, automotive pioneer.
What many may not know is that Elon’s Tesla Corporation is a technology company that wraps an automobile around technology created. Artificial Intelligence or (AI) as it’s commonly referred to, and other new technologies are rapidly emerging. These are pushing battery powered cars to take a major leap forward, forcing Tesla to rethink a paradigm they helped initiate. We’ve all experienced the great techno-savvy devices that seem to never stop being rolled out, but modern technology is about to hit hyper-speed becoming a major Colossus, redefining economies of scale around the world, significantly affecting every small family business, and large enterprise everywhere.
Investment analyst Louis Navellier, a top 1% income earner says; “the world is going through a process of such computerization, automation and mass technological adoption, that each passing day companies are taking over more and more of the American economy and quickly scaling to $100 billion dollars and beyond.” The speed at which technology is changing daily life, Mr. Navellier calls a Technochasm. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, the middle class will continue to erode as emerging technology with Artificial Intelligence upends and shifts everything we’ve ever known about how to function within our rapidly changing world.
Jimmy Mengel of the Outsiders Club, an investment newsletter service, claims Hydrogen Fuel cells will replace Elon’s battery powered Tesla’s, and that fuel cell technology is considered to be a $12 Trillion dollar industry, and will replace everything powered by fossil fuels. Needless to say, when General Motors marked 2035 as their target to quit producing combustion engines, we began to dig in to discover what exactly was going on. However, for now we’re going step back in time to take a look at a good ole gas guzzling classic, the –Plymouth Duster.
On July 7, 1928, Madison Square Garden served as the launch pad for the first Plymouth, an exclusive new brand offered by the Chrysler Corporation to compete against Ford and Chevrolet who dominated what auto makers considered the lower priced car market. To understand where the Plymouth Duster came from, you discover predecessors, Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart. You also realize the intense pressure of competition battling for relevance in the minds of consumers, who don’t just want a car and a payment, they’re looking for an experience to go along with a story that their hard-earned money will help them tell.
Competing automobile targets for the Plymouth Duster were not limited to these makes and models, but included the AMC Hornet, Ford Maverick, Chevy Nova as well as crossed over to compete in the Pony Car market. Pony Cars were made popular when Ford introduced the Mustang. These cars offered a stylish sporty appearance, compact, but with a long hood, shorter trunk or decklid, rear-wheel drive with plenty of options to make each car unique, while making use of parts interchangeable with other models.
In 1971, Plymouth introduced the Twister package: Bucket seats, Racing Mirrors, Rallye wheels, Styled grille. Engine options remained the same. This Duster was restored to the owner’s comfort and style specification, with pictures for concept, pertaining to the story.
To influence a new consumer pool, Gene Weiss was given a $15 millon dollar budget to freshen up the Plymouth Valiant. With an improbable timeline and tight budget, Chrysler executives never expected Mr. Weiss to gather such an efficient, highly skilled and competent crew to develop and introduce an entirely new design model to the public. Besides that, it just wasn’t in their Long Range Plan (LRP) playbook. Tooling preparations and other machine shop creation necessities were cut because of costs and the short schedule. Importing everything from the Plymouth Valiant, from chassis to wheelbase, and aspects of the body, would have to be used while somehow crafting a newer, more sporty cabin appearance.
The size and weight of the 426 engine was too much and would make the car too heavy. That idea was cut in favor of muscle able to be extracted from smaller V-8’s –318, 340 and 360. Slant six engines were made available for the economy class.
Several objectives needed to be achieved, and quickly. Gene tapped the genius of Milt Antonick, who was known to possess the perfect junk-yard styling required. Junk-yard styling is using what you have, to create value where little exists. Mr. Antonick was studio supervisor where Chrysler developed compact and pony car designs. Overall, what they embarked upon presented a headache of Titanic proportions. Milt tapped the expertise of stylist Neil Walling, who was able to turn out a concept drawing within a couple of days. Eventually a clay model was developed, but one problem persisted that almost derailed the entire project –door windows!
Walling’s design sketch eliminated the little side vent glass in the door window that smokers commonly use, to showcase a sharper angle glass, going from a 90-degree angle to a single door glass window cut at a 45 degree angle, while hoping it would still roll up and down problem free, inside the short Valiant door panel. By eliminating the little vent glass, they achieved the appearance of a unique body roll without huge tooling expenses.
Since the 1957 Chrysler Imperial, door glass improvements hadn’t been achieved from traditional square windows. Mr. Walling’s proposal of cutting 90 inch radius glass down to a 45 inch radius presented an engineering headache, but it set Duster apart from Valiant, making history also. The heavy glass still had to fit down inside the existing Valiant door panel. Mr. John Worthy solved the door-window problem.
Car engineer John Worthy who worked in the Advanced Engineering Department was tapped to solve this problem. John understood he was only satisfying a curiosity regarding the door glass angle possibility, while unknowingly risking his job and reputation, by helping these guys maintain secrecy concerning real plans they had in mind. When Mr. Worthy discovered he had solved a design problem for an active project not part of Chrysler’s LRP, and did so without proper Corporate approval, not only did he feel deceived and used, he was as mad as a hive full of kicked hornets.
These Plymouth guys were experts in their respective areas, driven, inspired, motivated and loyal. The last thing Gene Weiss wanted was someone who’d run back to corporate, fearing they would err on the side of caution and nix the entire project, his budget or worse –their jobs. As much as any talented professional, their desire to excel and solve a daunting problem Chrysler faced in the car market, drove them to greater performance. While Mr. Worthy’s expertise achieved a steeper angle for the door glass, he simultaneously provided a green light to continue the illusion of a body roll to a smaller roof, causing the car not to simply resemble a refreshed Valiant. In other words, using Valiant doors, the Plymouth Duster was born, commanding its own sleek and sporty look.
By late September 1969, the 1970 model Plymouth Valiant Duster rolled off the line and was made available to the public. Just over 217,000 cars were sold at a base price of $2172, whereas in 1969, Plymouth had only sold a little over 36,300 Valiants. Just under 25,000 would be equipped with a 340 cubic-inch engine. By 1971, the Valiant part of the name was dropped. These guys, this team, achieved huge success. Whatever anxiety Corporate Heads discovered and felt toward this risky effort was eventually met with solid profits and many joyous handshakes, exhibiting a great sense of relief by everyone involved.
Cartoon characters helped sell Plymouth’s Road Runner in 1968 and showcased a certain sense of humor. So, Milt Antonick drew a Telephone Booth image along with Duster’s car door slightly open, with initial’s “C.K.” that stood for Superman –Clark Kent. One top executive thought the idea completely ridiculous, shutting it down. So, the Clark Kent idea became a Duster 340 instead. However, the engineered integrity was maintained, upside down, underneath the hood.
Several color and interior choices, trim and option packages, and engine choices were made available over the course of Duster’s 7-year (1970 to 1976) run. Plymouth Duster wasn’t only for customers seeking economy, but it offered muscle, and came in names such as Feather Duster, Silver Duster, Space Duster, Gold Duster, Duster Twister, Duster 340 and Duster 360. The Plymouth Duster was a great competitor to the Chevrolet Nova, and other makes and models, many of which ended up as drag race cars…
This authors first car –a two door, 1972 Chevy Nova, came with a 350 engine. My Chevy Nova was sold to Mr. Leutz’s older brother, who we began the story with, and the guys rebuilt it many years ago, then sold it, and we’ve all lost track of where it could’ve ended up. Cheers!
Bibliography Jimmy Mengel https://www.outsiderclub.com/
Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2016 Source Info. https://www.valiant.org/duster.html Wikipedia