I spotted this car advertised on CraigsList a month ago or more, and neither Matt King nor I could tell for sure if this was the car that he and I did a makeover on when we were both at Car Craft magazine. As of today, I’ve communicated with the seller and it is, in fact, Matt’s old car. See the current ad here.

Matt and I sometimes carpooled to work and often passed by this car as it sat for a year or two at a tire shop in Hollywood. Eventually we stopped and asked what the deal was, and with our Obi Wan powers of negotiation, ended up owning the car for $200.

The ’71 Duster was super clean, but the cheap repaint was very dry and the Slant Six was locked up. We had Mothers buff out the car, then stuck on the stripes. Matt added a new junkyard motor with a head from Steve Magnante and tossed on some old Rallye wheels from his notchback Cuda. 

Eventually, Matt ran this at a SlantSix.com race in Sacramento and actually set an e.t. record, even though the car was bone stock.

The guy who has it now bought it around the year 2000 for around $2,200 and has had it ever since. Not surprisingly, I’m in negotiations to see if he’ll trade me for some RB Mopar parts.

Because I really need another car.