If there’s a bonus to being near the three-ring circus of Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale location, it’s that you are in a prime area for some absolutely bitchin’ rides of all types. Arizona is certainly car-friendly, with wonderful weather, great roadways, and a killer car culture that covers all of the bases, on road and off. Hidden in Cave Creek, Arizona is this gem of a 1972 Plymouth Duster that has our jaws on the floor…it’s powerful, it handles, it’s absolutely stunning to look at and we’re trying to figure out if we would get away with knocking over a bank so that we could buy it (well, McTaggart is, at least.)

On the surface, this car is restoration-clean with just enough custom touches to make things interesting. Dressed in Petty Blue, the Duster was rotisserie-restored to a high quality, with the chrome appearing to have been replated. He claims to have modified a lot of the body but we would need a list to figure out where the modifications were performed on the outside. The wheels are upsized takes on Mopar’s Rally wheel and look great on it.

Underhood, things start to become much more obvious. The smoothed and painted fenders and firewall showcase the 472ci aluminum Hemi, which sits in the engine bay like a jewel. Backing the Elephant is a Tremec five-speed, and power is sent out to a 3.73 geared Dana 60. Just look at that engine bay…so smooth…

Wilwood discs sit at all four wheels, ready to slow the Plymouth down at any speed. The Hemi is good for it, but not much is mentioned of the suspension past “road race style”. We don’t doubt that there’s some stout pieces underneath the Duster, however…for one, who would make the effort to smooth out the engine bay but wouldn’t touch the torsion bar front end? We’ll extend credit to the guy, especially since the car was built by Greg Fernald of SS/AFX, a restoration and rectification shop that has turned out some absolutely stunning clones of the vaunted Hemi Barracuda and Hemi Dart.

The interior sports a nice restified vibe. The factory dash and gauges were kept, but laterally bolstered seats took the place of the factory originals, an aftermarket sound system is in place and, of course, there is that roll bar. There is even air conditioning in the Duster, just in case you were tired of hearing the Hemi sing with the windows down. But judging from the looks, whatever driving this Duster has done has been gentle cruising on perfect afternoons and was quickly followed up by a thorough cleaning.

eBay Link: 1972 Plymouth Duster