For love of Demons (Dodge name chosen to appeal to youth market)
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03-11-2006 | 01:55 AM
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For love of Demons (Dodge name chosen to appeal to youth market)
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/aut...-3902747c.html
For love of Demons
Dodge name chosen to appeal to youth market
Fri Mar 10 2006
CLASSIC CRUISING/LARRY D'ARGIS
WHAT'S in a name? Well, back in mid 1971 when Dodge offered their new fastback-styled Demon, there was a good deal of controversy surrounding the name. Basically a twin to the Plymouth Duster introduced the previous year, the Demon name was chosen to appeal to the youth market.
The name rolled off the tongue quite naturally and the impish Demon logo was in step with the Duster's tornado emblem. Unfortunately, church groups didn't take kindly to a car named after the devil and they let Dodge know it in no uncertain terms. There were even some Dodge dealers that refused to sell the car.
Returning in 1972 basically as a carryover with a new grille, Demon sales dropped by over 40 per cent. With numbers like that and bad publicity, the Demon's days were drawing to a close.
For Robert Stelko of Alma, finding a classic muscle car to restore was proving to be a lot of work. Owning the Shell service station in Alma, meant that spare time was precious and after five years of coming up empty in his hunt for an early '70s Challenger project, it was time to broaden his search.
In the spring of 2003 a Winnipeg Free Press ad led him to a 1971 Dodge Demon 340 located in Tyndall. The Demon was stripped out to the bare shell and had served as an old drag race car since 1984. While it did have some rust in the rear quarter panels and trunk pan, the balance of the body was fairly straight and rust free. After buying the Demon he stopped to look at a '73 Duster parts car in Beausejour and bought it as well as another Duster on the way home. While his wife had become accustomed to Stelko returning home without purchasing a car, this trip he was able to inform her that he had bought not one, but three cars. The first order of business was to get the Demon's body back into shape. With new rear quarter panels and trunk pan purchased from Pro Body Parts, Stelko's friend Sam welded them into place. Next, Pete did the balance of the bodywork before it was turned over to Conroy's Collision in Whitemouth for final preparation and application of the bright Plum Crazy purple paint.
The front and rear bumpers were replated by North Star/Fairmont Plating and RPM in Saskatoon supplied new black side stripes, decals, weather-stripping, door panels and a new headliner. Reupholstered black vinyl seats and the balance of the interior came from one of the '73 Duster parts cars.
Powering the Demon is a 340-cubic-inch V8 bored .030" over, with a Cam Dynamics performance camshaft, Edelbrock Torker aluminum intake manifold, 750 c.f.m. Holley four-barrel carburetor and Flow Tech exhaust headers leading to a pair of Turbo mufflers.
Underneath the car, Stelko rebuilt the brakes and steering assembly as well as going through the 8 Sure-Grip differential, fitted with a 3.23 gear ratio. The transmission is a four-speed overdrive unit from a '75 Dodge Aspen giving the Demon some serious highway cruising ability. Other options found on the Demon are power front disc brakes, "Go-Wing" rear spoiler, Rally dash and instrument package, Pioneer AM/FM CD player, Hurst Competition Plus floor shift and 14-inch rally wheels with B.F. Goodrich T/A radial tires.
The car was finished in July of 2005, so Stelko had a brief season of cruising and taking in the local car shows, but he promises to be out whenever possible throughout this summer. A rare car from one end to the other, Demon 340 production was less than 18,798 units and absolutely pales in comparison to the 53,384 Duster 340 models built between 1970 and '72. Now seldom seen, this svelte performance compact is one of the most collectable A-body cars produced by Chrysler.
There was never anything sinister about the Demon, its name was simply meant to invoke rabid enthusiasm for its speed demon capabilities, yet to calm the waters, in 1973, the Dodge Demon was discontinued and the car was renamed the Dart Sport. While the name was sedate, you could still equip one of these little 3,200-pound econo-rockets with the venerable 340 or in later years the 360 V8. From a performance point of view, I'd still call that scary stuff!
PHOTO RUTH BONNEVILLE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
For love of Demons
Dodge name chosen to appeal to youth market
Fri Mar 10 2006
CLASSIC CRUISING/LARRY D'ARGIS
WHAT'S in a name? Well, back in mid 1971 when Dodge offered their new fastback-styled Demon, there was a good deal of controversy surrounding the name. Basically a twin to the Plymouth Duster introduced the previous year, the Demon name was chosen to appeal to the youth market.
The name rolled off the tongue quite naturally and the impish Demon logo was in step with the Duster's tornado emblem. Unfortunately, church groups didn't take kindly to a car named after the devil and they let Dodge know it in no uncertain terms. There were even some Dodge dealers that refused to sell the car.
Returning in 1972 basically as a carryover with a new grille, Demon sales dropped by over 40 per cent. With numbers like that and bad publicity, the Demon's days were drawing to a close.
For Robert Stelko of Alma, finding a classic muscle car to restore was proving to be a lot of work. Owning the Shell service station in Alma, meant that spare time was precious and after five years of coming up empty in his hunt for an early '70s Challenger project, it was time to broaden his search.
In the spring of 2003 a Winnipeg Free Press ad led him to a 1971 Dodge Demon 340 located in Tyndall. The Demon was stripped out to the bare shell and had served as an old drag race car since 1984. While it did have some rust in the rear quarter panels and trunk pan, the balance of the body was fairly straight and rust free. After buying the Demon he stopped to look at a '73 Duster parts car in Beausejour and bought it as well as another Duster on the way home. While his wife had become accustomed to Stelko returning home without purchasing a car, this trip he was able to inform her that he had bought not one, but three cars. The first order of business was to get the Demon's body back into shape. With new rear quarter panels and trunk pan purchased from Pro Body Parts, Stelko's friend Sam welded them into place. Next, Pete did the balance of the bodywork before it was turned over to Conroy's Collision in Whitemouth for final preparation and application of the bright Plum Crazy purple paint.
The front and rear bumpers were replated by North Star/Fairmont Plating and RPM in Saskatoon supplied new black side stripes, decals, weather-stripping, door panels and a new headliner. Reupholstered black vinyl seats and the balance of the interior came from one of the '73 Duster parts cars.
Powering the Demon is a 340-cubic-inch V8 bored .030" over, with a Cam Dynamics performance camshaft, Edelbrock Torker aluminum intake manifold, 750 c.f.m. Holley four-barrel carburetor and Flow Tech exhaust headers leading to a pair of Turbo mufflers.
Underneath the car, Stelko rebuilt the brakes and steering assembly as well as going through the 8 Sure-Grip differential, fitted with a 3.23 gear ratio. The transmission is a four-speed overdrive unit from a '75 Dodge Aspen giving the Demon some serious highway cruising ability. Other options found on the Demon are power front disc brakes, "Go-Wing" rear spoiler, Rally dash and instrument package, Pioneer AM/FM CD player, Hurst Competition Plus floor shift and 14-inch rally wheels with B.F. Goodrich T/A radial tires.
The car was finished in July of 2005, so Stelko had a brief season of cruising and taking in the local car shows, but he promises to be out whenever possible throughout this summer. A rare car from one end to the other, Demon 340 production was less than 18,798 units and absolutely pales in comparison to the 53,384 Duster 340 models built between 1970 and '72. Now seldom seen, this svelte performance compact is one of the most collectable A-body cars produced by Chrysler.
There was never anything sinister about the Demon, its name was simply meant to invoke rabid enthusiasm for its speed demon capabilities, yet to calm the waters, in 1973, the Dodge Demon was discontinued and the car was renamed the Dart Sport. While the name was sedate, you could still equip one of these little 3,200-pound econo-rockets with the venerable 340 or in later years the 360 V8. From a performance point of view, I'd still call that scary stuff!
PHOTO RUTH BONNEVILLE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
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