Updated Production Numbers!

'71 & '72 'special' Order 'H' code Swinger 340's!

 

WITH the discontinuation of

the Swinger 340 after the 

1970 model year, fans of

this feisty little A-body

were out of luck. But, never say never with

Ma Mopar as a Western Canadian dealership did something no one else could do for ’71 or ’72!

 

Crosstown Motor City out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was the driving force in getting Chrysler head office to make a few more of these popular Mopars for them.

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NOW, with that said, no other factory '71 or '72 versions were ever made, by anyone, you couldn’t even order one if you wanted - they were discontinued – and as you read on, these were the only 'H' code 340 Swingers ever made after 1970! PERIOD. Making for a very rare and 'special' Muscle Cars!

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What's so 'special' about these 340 Specials?

The writing was on the wall for muscle cars in the early '70's as insurance companies, along with the EPA, started penalizing performance, along with the so-called energy crisis, made Detroit start dialing back the 'muscle' even more. Hmmm, well, out here in Western Canada, the gas crisis didn't exist and young drivers were able to get their hands on the few cars that dodged the insurance companies with small block performance engines, like the 340. But, with the Swinger 340 gone they’d now have to switch to the new for '71 Demon 340 or the Plymouth Duster 340.

 

If you still wanted a Swinger, the biggest engine available was the 230 horsepower 318-2bbl. With 16,637 Swinger 340s produced in 1969 and 13,785 in 1970, it was no question that they were damn good sellers, especially in Canada. With the lack of a 340 Swinger for 1971, it left many enthusiasts and drag racers empty handed.

 

BUT as mentioned - out here in Western Canada - if you were one of the lucky ones, you could still get an ‘H’ code Swinger...

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NOW, at the end of 2018, I had the good fortune to be introduced to Bob Beveridge, the original Crosstown Motor City Sales Manager from that era, by Mike Bullis, a life long friend of Bobs who worked at Chinook Chrysler in Calgary. In 1968, Mike helped campaign the 'other' LO23 Hemi S/S Dart here in Alberta, with the 2nd one being from Crosstown - the only 2 LO23 Hemi Darts sold new in Canada. Because they raced in the same class - SS/BA, they saw each other almost every weekend as they went head-to-head at almost every Western Canadian dragstrip all summer long. With that bit of history, I chatted at length with both Bob and Mike about the Edmonton/Calgary rivalry, the movers and shakers and the performance cars that came out of their perspective dealerships. With that, it was soon revealed that the numbers for these ultra rare '71 & '72 Swinger 340 Specials needed to be amended...  and here’s a quick ‘updated’ version of the new info and numbers!!!

 

Back in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s, the owner of Crosstown Motor City, Zane Feldman loved applying sales and marketing to his dealership, constantly making deals with head office and making sure his sales force could move a lot of vehicles because he was wheelin' and dealin'. To make sure this would happen he promoted Bob Beveridge to sales manager in ’67 and things began to move - and with Bob being a performance junky, Crosstown was soon known for the place to get your muscle Mopar as well. In just a few years they were the highest volume dealer in Canada and they were purported to have sold the most Hemi cars per capita in Canada. They also sponsored a number of successful drag racers, as well as sponsoring a Challenger funny car with Bob Papernick behind the wheel (click here for more on Crosstown).

 

So, with Zane, Bob and the sales force moving a shitload of cars for head office, they were soon demanding a few more things, and when Dodge discontinued the Swinger 340 for ’71, they still wanted a ‘price point’ Swinger 340 for the drag racing scene, which was hot in Edmonton at the time. Sure there was the new Demon but they cost a bit more and they needed a stripped down version at a low price point, so they ‘special’ ordered some - hey, the worse that could happen was for them to say no, but with Zane in a direct pipeline to head office in Windsor and in Detroit, it started coming together.

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Bob first asked for a whopping 300 of these cars but knew that wasn’t going to happen - hey, start high... and as things dragged along - so much so that things were getting close to the ‘build out’ time as it was already almost May. Also, with Drag racing season getting into full swing and knowing they were going to be the guys buying these cars, they needed to get these cars built. So, after some prodding from Zane and Bob along with some back and forth and factory commitments, the total build number was soon whittled down to 83 units. Then, as time was dragging along they realized their lot footprint wouldn't allow all 83. They then reached out to regional office (Red Deer) and knowing a number of other dealerships wanting in on these 340 Specials, they in turn made some arrangements with a couple other Western Canadian dealerships, and when the dust settled, 18 were taken over by Crestview Dodge in Regina, Saskatchewan and a couple drop shipped to Ft. St. John, BC with the remaining 63 being sold out of the Crosstown lot.

 

WHAT? IT WAS SAID ONLY 65 or 75 WERE MADE FOR ’71!!! With 40 for Crosstown and 25 for Crestview and now there's 85!?! Well, we’re very sorry, but we had the very good fortune to find and chat with Bob Beveridge… the original Sales Manager at the time, and he straightened out the full story - because he instigated and made this all happen as head-of-sales at that time.

 

 

 

 

 

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So, does this effect the ’72 Swinger 340 Special story too? Ummm, it sure does!

 

It seems owner Zane was up to his old ‘over promise’ and some how deliver scenario, and as mentioned before, they were able to blow out over 1,100 vehicles for head office and in exchange they were able to get some more 340 Specials! No sooner said than done, Bob was on the horn with the order for those popular 340 Specials again. But this time he knew he wouldn’t get what they got for ’71 so he lowered his order number to 50 or so.

 

Then, as performance started waning, and with the '72 Windsor plants 'build-out-time' just around the corner (orders had the tendency to go off the rails), they only delivered 23 cars this time round, with 5 being ‘swooped’ by Pembina Dodge in Winnipeg, Manitoba before they left the factory floor. As well, a dealership in Abbotsford, BC wanted a couple, so Bob drop shipped a couple there - for a grand total of only 30 of these ‘H’ coded Swinger 340 Specials for ’72.

 

WHOA!!! BUT YOU SAID THERE WERE UP TO 65 OF THEM BUILT FOR ’72, WITH 45 GOING TO CROSSTOWN AND 15 OR SO GOING TO PEMBINA!?!!! Well, I do have to apologize again because we were only going on guesstimates and off of the sequential VIN numbers of the known cars, hearsay, stories and what people heard back in the day. SORRY.

 

Well, we’re sorry for putting a 1/2 inch bolt down the cylinder on this story, but when the update comes by a first-hand-account from the guy who did the orders back then, you have to know that this ‘IS’ the story. 

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Only in Canada, eh?

Canadians are known for being passive, low key and for the most part – we don’t wave our flag very high (except for the odd hockey game). Well, the story behind these Canadian ordered '71 and '72 Swinger 340 Specials was no different. In the US, dealerships like Yenko and Grand Spalding Dodge made sure everyone knew about their performance machines, but in typical Canadian hype and fanfare – virtually no one knew these cars even existed. With that said, we have to hand it to Crosstown Motor City to have had the 'prairie oysters' to order up a round of these rare little cayuse's. 

 

And just to drive the 'Canadian' aspect of the cars home a little more, the '71 Crestview cars and the Pembina '72's were all coded for winter! They all received code F56 (-35 antifreeze) as well as code F25 (block heaters). One of the  upgraded '72 Pembina cars even got the code H31 (rear window defogger). Now, that's pretty Canadian, eh?

 

Although the Crosstown cars weren't coded for them, we are sure the new owners didn't leave the dealership without a block heater installed. Brrr.

 

How rare is rare?

Known only to a handful of Western Canadian enthusiasts (see sidebar), these rare little Dodge’s flew under the Muscle Car radar ever since they were built. Along with being pretty much unknown and rare as hens teeth – these stripped down scrappy little Canadians were built to go – and go they did! Armed with the performance minded 340 and plenty of go-fast goodies, and built on the base LL platform, they were introduced with virtually no options or creature comforts like carpet, bucket seats, rear arm-rests, chrome moldings and for some, no hood scoops or radios!

With the Crosstown cars being bare boned, stripped down race cars, the '71 Crestview and '72 Pembina cars got a few extra goodies - as you will find out.

 

As of the beginning of 2017, there are only 24 known '71's documented with a few awaiting verification and 3 that have met an untimely death. As for the '72's, we have only documented 15, with 2 meeting an early demise and an another couple that are essentially ghost cars. So, with only a handful of these factory hotrods in existence, 'rare' doesn't come close – the word 'scarce' or 'inconceivably few' come to mind - especially the ’72’s.

 

Oh, and just to let you know, the 'Special' in Swinger Special does not imply a special run (although it was), the Swinger Special was the LL (base model) of Dart Swingers in '71 & '72 – making for a stripped down car when all you wanted was performance.

 

Here's something interesting – these cars were for-the-most-part sequentially built, which means that each batch was built one after each other, all on their designated date – making for a very, very short production run – of not even a day! A very rare occurrence on the factory line...

 

These 'H' code '71 and '72 Swinger 340 Specials aren't supposed to exist...

But if you have a VIN that reads likes this, then I think that quantifies the car:

 

The 1971 version can be identified by the VIN: LL23H1R... 

(L=Dart, L=Low, 23=2 Door Hardtop, H=340, 1=71, R=Windsor, Ontario)

The 1972's VIN looks like this: LL23H2R... 

(L=Dart, L=Low, 23=2 Door Hardtop, H=340, 2=72, R=Windsor, Ontario)

 

As well, each of these 340 Specials came with the very coveted 'Y39' special order code and of course the E55 engine code - along with a number of other go-fast goodies coded on each broadcast sheet.

 

...and with that, I'd have to say that's pretty darn special, 'eer, 340 Special.

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NOTE: These cars weren't a low production factory car anyone could get their hands on. They weren't a dealership 'hotrod' like Yenko and Mr. Norm cars were... They were a factory order of a discontinued non-existent performance car. As well, they weren't a Swinger 340 like the '70 model. They were a Swinger Special with a 340 added to it, with accompanying go fast parts.

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With that in mind, if you happen upon a '71 or '72 Swinger Special with scoops and 340 badging, check for that illusive 'H' in the VIN code – you might be witness to a piece of American muscle history. Only in Canada, eh? 

 

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Special Disclaimer!!!

Yes, these '71 and '72 Swinger 340 Specials are very rare and their collectability is rising in the muscle car arena as more info and cars are found. With that, this website was built as a labour of love by the handful of owners, and even though there is a lot of info displayed here, there are a number of 'special' traits that aren't talked about or shown. Traits that make these cars, and these cars only – special. If you are one of the lucky owners, you know what makes up the DNA of these cars. Now, if you don't own one but want more info, please contact us, we'll be happy to go into a little more depth on what you want to know. cg