Hi, my name is Pau i'm from Tarragona, in the north of Spain, last year i had the opportunity to buy a 1970 Dodge Dart GT, it's an Spanish version of the american model made by "Barreiros" an old and alredy disapeared spanish car company, the diferences where basically the front end which was modificated into a desperate way to save the company selling more cars because of that "reestyling", this model is called "linea 69" which means "'69 line". It increased a little bit its sales but in 1970 the president E.Barreiros resigned and Chrysler Corporation got the company whic a few years later disapeared.

As i was telling you this car in America (that's what i know) was sold as a cheap economy car, it was extremely different in Spain, with a much elaborated interiors, air conditioning (hardly ever seen in spain back then) and details this car could cost nearly the same as a whole house or maybe two, it was the official car for politicians or very welthy people which back then didn't abound.

I have to say i've been so lucky of having found my car and i'm so proud of it, in comparison to other classic european cars it looks wonderful, something different.

Let me show it to you:









































I hope you like it as much as i do now it runs extremely well but i want to put power steering in it and maybe change all the carburetor and intake parts, now it has a twin barrel one 165 HP does it drink a lot using a 4 barrel one? I'd like to know it, petrol is quite expensive here.

Greetings from Catalonia!

Pau

PD: Sorry if my english is not extremely good.

 

Very Nice !!!!!!!!!

People must really look at you over there....

Engine is a 318 CI V-8 ??????

 

WOW way cool. i think the american 60s GTs was 2 doors. look out bob will try to steal it from you.

 

Thank you very much for your comments!

The engine is a Slant-6. All this cars in spain had the same engine, there weren't any v-8 Dodges or 2 door ones.

As they had a very "restricted" market back then they only made 4 door "big cars", all with the same engine, the difference of the GT model were the front disc brakes and the bigger carburetor.

This were the models made in Spain:

This one was the first ever made by "Barreiros" in Spain (other importation cars were nearly "forbidden" (you had to be rich and be someone related to politics) in Spain because of the dictatorship). It was te "Dodge Dart '65 Barreiros" (you'll see the brand "8" from barreiros in the rear part of the car). I think this first model was exact to the american one. It has a single barrel carburetor 3 speed on the tree, slant 6, and 4 drum brakes no air conditioning i think.





Then in 1966 appeared the new model with the versions "L" (luxury) or "GL" (grandluxury) they were the same car 6 passenger seats, 4 drum brakes, single barrel carburetor, slant 6 engine and 3 on the tree, depending on the version it could have air conditioning or vinyl on half the top. You'll see both here:





And also came out the diesel version in which the rear end was different (Barreiros was originally a diesel engine factory). It has very poor power, couldn't even reach 60mph by far.



Then the 70's were arriving and those cars had been the same for a few years and the sellings were falling and they decided to make the "linea 69" (my one) that made the company sale a few more of them, it had front disc brakes (an extremely good improvement as the drums were not enough to that car), optional air conditioning, it had the "sporty" dash and instruments, 4 gears on the floor "more european" and 2 seats in the front like all european cars, it also had different stabilizer bars and "limited-slip differential" (i dont know if i'm translating it too well... sorry) optional fog lamps, electric anthena, etc... Obiously it was a much better car but even the sales improved they only sold 4.242 cars



The last bodyworks of the Darts were sold as waste without assembling because they got rusted in the very same factory as the cars just didn't sell.

After the '69 model (which was sold until 1970) the president E.Barreiros resigned and Chrysler corporation got the factory 100% and they made a new model called the "Dodge 3700 GT". They made (from '71 to '77) lots more of this new model, it had the very same features as the '69 dart, just with another bodywork and an optional automatic gearbox.



In the late 70's with an oil crisis and a rising fuel price this cars started to be impossible to keep and people just sold them or let them rust away, parts to repair them weren't available nearly anywhere and car companies like "Seat" (the spanish Fiat) were offering cars like the 124, or renault with the renault 12 extremely cheaper in comparison and even faster, more confortable and a lot less fuel thirsty.

This was the end of Spanish Dodges that ended like rubbish until the internet came everywhere and suddenly there were parts available again and people who wanted to restore this cars. Now people loves it or hates it, people that doesn't know what car it is loves it because its so diferent from cars here, its enthusiasts love it too (there are few of them) and then there are "utilitary" car lovers, as europe was full of utilitary cars like de beetle, the Citroen 2cv, the Fiat/Seat 600, and when they see such a thirsty car they simply hate it remembering them as untenable, or cars that were always breaking down (as they were always badly kept with no parts).

Now that its all different... I'm 20 years old, i own this car and i just drive it near the mediterranean beaches with my music between brand new mercedes, volvos, volkswagens, audi... And some of them may look at me like thinking "what a rubbish old car" but mainly its not like this, there is always someone taking pictures or saying "ok" with their finger from other cars, its just... Great i think, one year ago i never thought it could have ever happended to me. In the other hand i used to have a '79 Citroen Dyane convertible, which was an extremely fun car, just two cilynders and 31 hp but oh, it was amazing i wish i still had it. Those high school days...



I hope you liked the spanish Dodges history and all i've written to you, and of course thank you so much again for your answers, its extremely interesting to me being able to share my car and opinions with other people like you that live so far away from where i am writting!!

Pau

 

Great Story's... Thanks for sharing.. Just across the water in Italy is Raffa. He is a member here. He runs a shop called 2000 Motors. Great guy... You will like the looks of his work also.
Very nice to see a young man still liking the older cars.
You might would like to look into EFI one day, for some better fuel mileage. But that would be a chore for a 3.7 or 2.8
Good luck and also keep up the good work!!!!

 

Its a.small world after.all.
welcome paufont.
i am the wiser.
Your dart is a beauty

 

The Wiser ????

 

Welcome!