Though better known today as a compact , the 1960 - 1961 Dodge Dart was a full - size car . It was also a vast gross sales success . The sharp condensation of the intermediate - price market after 1957 force Chrysler to pare down from five variance to just Dodge and Chrysler - DeSoto - Plymouth . This give many Dodge franchises without a companion make for the first time , and they were jealous because the timely newfangled 1960 succinct Valiant would be sold only by that " other " class .

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But direction pacify Dodge dealers by award a greatly expanded 1960 lineup dissever between two " senior " series , replacing Royal and Custom Royal , and lower - price " junior " fashion model to take over for Coronet as full - size Plymouth competitors . This considerably fatten out the Dodge catalog , which give out from 19 model to no few than 35 .

Christened Dart , after a finny 1957 Chrysler show car , the new junior line was almost a separate make , with three serial publication , a full range of body styles , and 23 individual model . Seneca was the price leader , followed by Pioneer ( which offer a hardtop coupe ) and the line - leading Phoenix ( which duplicated that and added aconvertibletoo ) .

Non - Charles’s Wain spanned the 118 - column inch wheelbase Plymouth had used since 1957 . beach wagon rode the 122 - column inch platform adopted for that class ’s Dodge and DeSoto ( plus Plymouth wagons and the 1959 Chrysler Windsor ) . The latter also attend Dodge ’s 1960 seniors .

Also vulgar to 1960 Plymouths , Dodges , DeSotos , and Chrysler Windsors were the corp ’s famed torsion - bar front hanging and a conversant family of wedgehead V-8s . But chassis were now full weld to interior body structure - the tighter , more solid monocoque construction that Chrysler called unibody . Per Detroit usance , different exterior sheetmetal set the various makes aside .

dart probably do best among Plymouths and Dodges , with meek fins and a busy but not unattractive font . If not the pretty car of 1960 , they were certainly best bet than the more exaggerated senior Dodges and the equally overstated Plymouth .

Keep reading to pick up about the styling and sales success of the 1960 - 1961 Dodge Dart .

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Continued

The 1960 - 1961 Dodge Dart ability team were basically those of Plymouth ’s 1960 " standards , " plus a few more . All models economize the V-8 - only Phoenix ragtop came with the prominent , 225 - three-dimensional - inch interpretation of the Valiant ’s new 170 - cid Slant Six , a modern overhead - valve designing with efficient grinder - shape burning bedroom and 145horsepower .

The stand Seneca / Pioneer V-8 was a 230 - bhp version of the intimate Dodge / Plymouth 318 . Phoenix offered a 255 - bhp alternative , received on the convertible . Next came a 295 - bhp 361 for Pioneer and a 383 with 325/330 - bhp for Phoenix , all with four - barrelcarb , 10:1 condensation , and Chrysler ’s tuned " Ram Induction " intake manifolding .

Transmissionswere also conversant : received three - speed chromatography column - slip manual , the same with excess - cost overdrive , and the proved two - speed PowerFlite and three - speed TorqueFlite automatics , also optional . The automatic ' famous pushbutton controls were freshly pit by a touch - activate climate system in a rather ornate two - grade Dodge panache .

Futuristic characteristic were distinctive of Chrysler in this period , and the Dart had its part . option include those two 1959 Chrysler novelties , pivot front seats and reflexive day / dark rearview mirror . And Phoenixes sported the corporation ’s new 1960 oval - squaresteeringwheel , which gave more under - rim thigh clearance but looked quite odd – aggravated by Dodge ’s conventionalised hub that one powder store likened to " a man on a torture rack . "

Properly equipped , a 1960 Dart could be a hot performer in the cracking D-500 mold . That , along with attractive prices in the $ 2,300-$3,000 range , made Dart amazingly popular , and Dodge happily retailed over 323,000 – a whopping 87 percent of 1960 yield and more than double its 1959 reckoning . Dodge promptly went from eighth to sixth topographic point in the diligence – at the disbursal of Plymouth , which lost about 10,000 sales despite the Valiant .

Dodge fall back far more than that for 1961 , dip from almost 368,000 to just over 269,000 and a 9th - place finish . It should have done better . Dart was back with the same broad lineup , well-nigh unaltered Price , and even a red-hot novel read/write memory - induction 413 V-8 selection with 350/375 horses . what is more , Dodge benefit its own compact , a Valiant clone ring Lancer .

But Dart styling was now an odd combination of aged - Dodge front end and 1961 Plymouth " plume Gallus gallus " rear fenders with canted brand quintuplet stick on – rearward . cut-rate sale plummeted to about 183,500 , though this was nothing like the disaster that await the 1962s – wither to near compact size and even ugly .

Which only proves how much styling sold cars in the 1960s , as indeed it does today . But though the full - size Dart vanished after 1961 , the name did n’t , destined for new success from 1963 as a compact with far respectable aspect .

Keep translate for 1960 - 1961 Dodge Dart specification .

1960-1961 Dodge Dart Specifications

The 1960 - 1961 Dodge Dart was a huge sales success despite having to manage with challenger Chrysler - DeSoto - Plymouth .

Specifications

Engine: ohv 1-6, 225 cid (3.40 x 4.12), 145 bhp; ohv V-8, 318 (3.91 x 3.31), 230/255 bhp (1960), 260 (1961); 361 cid (4.12 x 3.38), 295 bhp (1960), 305 bhp (1961); 383 cid (4.25 x 3.38), 325/330 bhp; ohv V-8, 413 cid (4.19 x 3.75), 350/375 (1961 only)

Engine : ohv 1 - 6 , 225 Criminal Investigation Command ( 3.40 x 4.12 ) , 145 bhp ; ohv V-8 , 318 ( 3.91 x 3.31 ) , 230/255 bhp(1960 ) , 260(1961 ) ; 361 Criminal Investigation Command ( 4.12 x 3.38 ) , 295 bhp(1960 ) , 305 bhp(1961 ) ; 383 cid ( 4.25 x 3.38 ) , 325/330 bhp ; ohv V-8 , 413 cid ( 4.19 x 3.75 ) , 350/375(1961 only )

Transmissions:3 - velocity manual ; 2 - speeding PowerFlite automatic and optional 3 - hurrying TorqueFlite automatonlike

Suspension front : upper and humble A - arms , longitudinal torsion bars , anti - roll prevention

dangling bottom : alive axle on semi - elliptic leaf bound

brake : front / rear drums

Wheelbase ( in.):122.0 Dipper , 118.0 others

Weight ( lbs):3,290 - 4,065

Top stop number ( mph):NA

0 - 60 mph ( sec):NA

Production:

1960 Seneca 6 : 93,167

Seneca V-8 : 45,737

Pioneer 6 : 36,434

Pioneer V-8 : 74,655

Phoenix 6 : 6,567

Phoenix V-8 : 66,608

1961 Seneca 6 : 60,527

Seneca V-8 : 27,174

Pioneer 6 : 18,214

Pioneer V-8 : 39,054

Phoenix 6 : 4,273

Phoenix V-8 : 34,319