Joe Kelly Jr
Dodge Dart GTS
By Joe Kelly Jr.
Jan 19, 2006 - 7:06:24 PM

Highway 61's Dodge Dart GTS, How do we love thee? In many ways. You gave us cars we didn't know we wanted, until we saw them on your table. And then you gave us a few that we did want - and you made us want them even more.

Such is the case with this 1968 Dodge Dart GTS. Mopar fan or not, this model has been one of the consistently lusted-after images in the large scale collecting hobby for years in a row.

That lust is well founded. Darts and performance have always gone hand in hand, from the original D500-equipped 1960 version right through to the hellacious Max Wedge and reasonably potent 273-cid V8 powered rockets of the mid 'sixties. For 1968, the checklist for the Dart included the 275-horse 340, standard in the top-dog Dart GTS and good for 14-odd second quarters within a whistle of a hundred miles per hour.

But it was a time of bigger is better, and both the 300-horsepower 383 (available for an extra twenty-five bucks) and the 426 Hemi (nominally rated at 425 horses - for a whole lot more) waited in the wings - the latter through a special arrangement with Hurst Performance, who twisted up eighty of the cars for '68. 440's were on tap, too - if you had a friend at Grand Spaulding Dodge, that is.

The good news is the promise of all of these cars from Highway 61, sooner or later, with some of the hairier drag and super street permutations coming by way of made-to-order specialists Supercars Collectibles. All will be high detail - no surprise there - and all will be based on the perfect body mold set we see here.

It's no secret that the folks at the wheel of H61 came from the other side of the Ertl fence, and the finesse that they impart onto their models is rivaled only by the lofty levels of working features they build in. That being said, a look at this well-traveled, late-process prototype - goobers and all - has my mouth watering for more.

It's a first deco, so the paint and the body casting are a little rough in spots, but the panel fit and attachment points for all of the glazing and detail pieces is virtually flawless; the hood and trunk seams appear scale close. The black stripes at the tail are joined by applied chrome badging at the nose and trunk. This same process is used for the fender callouts on either side.

Fronted by a dead-on grille - which will be photoetched in production - the model has the Dart's aggressive rake just right, and rolls on reverse-lettered Firestone redlines, centered by replications of the Dart's available mag-look wheel covers. In typical H61 fashion, the car's chrome trim, including the wheel arches, is replicated with applied foil. Taken with the power bulges on the hood, the dual exhausts poking out at the rear, and the deep metallic/clear coated silver, the model just sings. These guys are good. These guys are real good.

Operating features are slick as hell, and straight off the Highway 61 menu: working antenna, working suspension, rotating driveshaft and engine fan, steerable wheels, opening glove box, movable shifter, slide and tilt seats, and working sun visors and vent windows. I may have even missed a few.

Under the hood - and by the way, folks, those are the correct hinges for the car - lies a dressed-up 383, complete to the heater hoses. Our sample has a little tilt - which will be addressed in production - but uses tight castings, multiple levels of paint and chrome, and a boatload of good old model car sense to replicate the 383's broad-shouldered look. Hey, it works, and seeing all that motor stuffed in there makes my right foot itch. Future releases with 440's and Hemi's installed should induce uncontrollable twitching.

Interior detail is great, and could be improved only with a working courtesy light. The floor's flocked, and the seats, front and back, wear fabric belts with etched buckles. Beneath a fully detailed headliner, it's apparent that a couple of the bits have yet to be chromed here, but the castings themselves are razor sharp. There are stereo speaker grilles on the package deck, and the trim on the door panels has been given the foil treatment. Coolest here is the car's VIN plate, on the pillar inside the driver's door.

The trunk has a pinstriped mat, and the jack is stowed to the right, with the spare supposedly residing below. The chrome and blackout tail panel on the trunk lid is one of the car's high points - it's so cleanly installed and lines up so perfectly with the taillights and the curves of the body. The model's chassis, dominated by the Chrysler blue engine, uses the same attention to detail as the rest of the car, and bounces courtesy of the steel coils hidden within the suspension.

With three colors on deck for imminent release, as well as Supercars' black-fendered "as-delivered" Hemi, Grand Spaulding, and drag-liveried classics waiting in the wings, muscle fans will go ballistic. Car model folks who simply dig well-engineered, crisply built replicas of cars they remember can join right in.

I can't help cheering for these guys - and maybe that's a little selfish. But my heart's in the right place. Too many times, this hobby sees a beloved image get the bum's rush from cut rate, low-intended manufacturers with a hit-or miss record and a pipeline to the discount racks.

When the right car is done right, as it most certainly is here, the result is magic. I'll be looking for one in every color they make. Very highly recommended.

© Copyright 2006 by The Diecast Pub