Plymouth Duster
The first Plymouth Duster was a semi-fastback version of the Plymouth Valiant automobile, produced in the US from 1970 to 1976.
The Duster competed with Ford's sporty fastback styled Ford Maverick compact, which was also introduced in 1970. This car replaced the rather plain Ford Falcon which had competed with the Valiant. The Duster resulted from the Plymouth planning staff's desire to use their allotted 1970 restyling money for something more desirable than the usual two and four-door Valiants. Working "under the radar", Plymouth designers and engineers pulled off a neat trick - a close-coupled coupe design that managed to fit all of the "hard points" of the existing Valiant platform, but provided the new and exciting product that the planners wanted. The Duster was also created to fill the slot that was formerly occupied by the Valiant-based Barracuda. When the Barracuda moved from its A-body platform to the new E-body platform in 1970, this left a hole in Plymouth's lineup for a low priced youth-oriented car. The Duster would fill this gap beyond Plymouth's expectations, and would be one of many factors in the sales failure of the E-body pony car Barracuda.
Several versions were designed for different market segments, from economy to performance, often with fanciful names such as Feather Duster, Gold Duster, Space Duster and Duster Twister.
Muscle Car
Many versions of the Duster were available with the big engines and striping and paint packages that came with 70s muscle cars. Hot Wheels would even sponsor a drag racing team called the Mongoose and Snake which consisted of Funny cars with a Plymouth Barracuda and Duster bodies. Because so many were sold, the Duster is today one of the more affordable muscle cars, along with the Chevrolet's Nova.
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