Home » How To Arrive In Style: 1949 Willys Jeepster vs 1962 Dodge Dart

How To Arrive In Style: 1949 Willys Jeepster vs 1962 Dodge Dart

Sbsd 4 7 2023
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Good morning, Autopians, and happy Friday! We made it, not only to the end of the week, but to the end of our voyage down Route 66 as well. (Hey, Bobby Troup mashed Kingman, Barstow, and San Bernardino together all at the end; so can I.) We’re going a little fancier and more expensive today, just to make sure we end this series on a high note. But first, let’s finish up with yesterday’s 2WD SUVs:

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Huh. I’ll be damned.  I expected that to go the other way. Could it be the Aztek’s time is coming around? Or is the idea of a 2WD Cherokee just that absurd? Either way, looks like we’re going car-camping.

And that brings us to the final installment of our first-anniversary trip down Route 66. Today’s route takes us out of Arizona into California, through the Mojave Desert, and on into Los Angeles. It only seems fitting that the last two cars on our journey be American classics, and both old enough to have traveled the Mother Road itself. And either one would make a statement upon arrival in LA. Let’s take a look.

1949 Willys-Overland Jeepster – $11,500

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Engine/drivetrain: 134 cubic inch F-head inline 4, three-speed manual with overdrive, RWD

Location: Kingman, AZ

Odometer reading: unknown

Runs/drives? Of course!

After World War II, Willys-Overland started producing Jeeps for civilian use. Wagons, panel vans, and pickup trucks quickly followed, but Willys wanted more. Enter the Jeepster, a low-slung variation on the same theme, with a more car-like interior, aimed at urban customers who weren’t exactly the Jeep demographic.

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The Jeepster originally came with the same “Go-Devil” flathead inline four that served so many Jeeps so faithfully. This later model features a more advanced “Hurricane” four, with an “F-head” design; the intake valves are in the head above the pistons, but the exhaust valves are down in the block, flathead-style. Sending this little engine’s 75 horsepower to the rear wheels is a three-speed manual with overdrive.

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The seller says it runs and drives well, and still operates off its original six-volt electrical system. We don’t get many details about it in the ad, but plenty of photos of the undercarriage show its condition, and it looks like an honest old car in good shape. A clean frame and a smattering of new parts make it look like you could drive this thing just about anywhere.

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It isn’t cheap, but for a bona-fide classic in this kind of shape, it doesn’t seem too expensive either, when you look at what some sellers are asking for things these days. It won’t be fast, but it’s a cool convertible with a good honest face and a storied bloodline.

1962 Dodge Dart – $6,200

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Engine/drivetrain: 318 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Riverside, CA

Odometer reading: 95,000 miles

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Runs/drives? Sure does!

When somebody says “Dodge Dart,” chances are you think of the slab-sided A-body sister model to the Plymouth Valiant, with a Slant Six under the hood and vinyl on the roof. This is not that car. The ’62 Dart rode on Chrysler’s larger B platform, and featured, shall we say, unique styling.

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The ’62 Dart is one of those cars that has a front end with another, smaller front end inside it, a styling curiosity that I know Torch has written about before, but I can’t find the link right now [Editor’s Note: Google harder, man! It’s right here! – JT]. You would call it over-styled, except that compared to the ornate creations of Virgil Exner that graced Dodge showrooms only a couple years prior, this car is almost boring. Almost.

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And you won’t find a Slant Six under this hood. This is a 318, but not the 318 you’re thinking of; this is the earlier A-series “poly” V8, so named for its polyspherical combustion chambers. This was originally a Plymouth design, back when Chrysler’s divisions produced their own engines, but Dodge started using it in 1960 as well. Here, it’s topped with a four-barrel carb and backed by a pushbutton Torqueflite automatic.

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The seller says this Dart runs and drives very well, and has newer tires. Its overall condition is perfectly presentable, but the front seat upholstery could stand to be redone, and the seller says there is a little rust creeping in along the bottom of the fenders. Neither of those are anything that would prevent you from cruising around in this stylish machine, however.

Well, thanks for coming along with me on this little voyage down Route 66. On Monday we’ll be back to business as usual, with a couple more cheap old beaters to look at. See you then! Have a great weekend.

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(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)

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R.J.
R.J.
1 year ago

Low and slow in the Jeepster. Pretty sure I am on a losing side of the vote this time. I aways wanted to drive one of those. In my time those Darts were grandma’s pass-down car, sitting in high school parking lots. They don’t hold sentimental value to me, V8 or not.

UnseenCat
UnseenCat
1 year ago

Dart for me. The styling is weird; it was when it was new and it still is. Just eternally weird, and that’s OK. The interior is pure mid-century Jetsons-esque, and it has a V8. What’s not to like?

I’ve always liked the look of the old Jeepsters, but their weight versus the small four-cylinder engines makes their performance lackluster at best, anemic at worst. They were always known for being slow. Nice-looking in their own way. But slow.

Give me the Dart; I want something I can safely drive on the roads to Cars and Coffee, not something that can be outrun in a stoplight race by a golf cart.

ProudLuddite
ProudLuddite
1 year ago

I never liked Jeepsters,don’t know why, maybe because kind of a diluted or bastardized OG Jeep. I also used to always think this generation of Mopar was both bizarre and frumpy and old at the same time, just because for my whole life they have been not very desirable old cars, but I am starting to appreciate or at least understand that when designed they were a bold if controversial statement of where car styling was going, an attempt at being seen as a new trendsetter.

Anyway, give me the Mopar, but more importantly, give me engine compartments where I can see the sunny ground easily from an open hood shot. Holy easy access Batman!

Jimmy7
Jimmy7
1 year ago

Girl I’m just a Jeepster for your love!

Justin Short
Justin Short
1 year ago
Reply to  Jimmy7

Came here for this!

MATTinMKE
MATTinMKE
1 year ago

Tough choice today. Will it be a convertible stick, or a V8 & ‘that face’? Probably the Jeepster, but like always, in real life neither.

Edited, because I can!

Last edited 1 year ago by MATTinMKE
Taargus Taargus
Taargus Taargus
1 year ago

Jeepster is a little rich for my blood, so I’m going with the Dart here.

Richard Troutman
Richard Troutman
1 year ago

Holy crap! $6200 for that fugly, fugly Dodge with “rust creeping in along the bottom of the fenders”?
Holy crap! $11K for a 74(!) year old Jeepish thing?

I think that I’ve outgrown (outlived?) “classic” cars.

Shooting Brake
Shooting Brake
1 year ago

I want both of them! 🙂

Cheats McCheats
Cheats McCheats
1 year ago

Meh, price is only thing I care about in this choice. Dodge wins.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
1 year ago

The Jeepster is in Arizona so Therefore Mohave Desert. And top down the only way to do 66 and pants down the only way to 69.

Dodsworth
Dodsworth
1 year ago

I’m unleashing my inner Spencer Tracy and choosing the Dart. I will call him, Aloysius.

MaximillianMeen
MaximillianMeen
1 year ago
Reply to  Dodsworth

You’re mad! Mad, mad, mad, mad I tell ya.

Dodsworth
Dodsworth
1 year ago

Quit buggin’ me. You’re bugging’ me, Man!

Mike S
Mike S
1 year ago

I have to go with the Dart today. Looks to be in decent condition with V8 rumble and power. Jeepster is interesting but seems like it would be an uncomfortable, wheezy cruiser. Maybe put on a moderate Flowmaster muffler and upgrade the wheels and tires a bit, and hit the highway 🙂

Stephen Walter Gossin
Stephen Walter Gossin
1 year ago

Great choices today! Jeepster here, but either would work just fine.

Cyko9
Cyko9
1 year ago

My first reaction is always toward a Jeep, but yesterday proved I can be swayed by a cleaner, weirder vehicle. Today, I see Dart in the title, and I know it’ll be a tough fight, but I had no idea. Argh, a pretty solid but butt-ugly Dart or a wacky convertible Jeep car? I went with the Jeep, because I wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen in it. More than I’d be willing to pay for it, though. I’d bite if it were a Commando.

PlatinumZJ
PlatinumZJ
1 year ago

It’s not as practical as the Dodge, but I’ll take the Jeepster! I prefer the styling of the ’48-’49 Jeepsters, although the pointed grilles on the last model years do look much better in person than in pictures.

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