Like most cars of this age, this one has a great story.
Avid car collector and TV celebrity Jay Leno has wide and varied tastes. He was impressed when he tried a Ferrari 296 GTB recently, but he's known to profess his love for good old American muscle like his 1968 Dodge Dart GTS that he recently got to take on the streets.
Like most cars of this age, this one comes with a story. According to Leno, his Dart was brought by a military man for “street racing.” The guy acquired it with his wife, who also bought a Dodge Charger RT for herself, which she eventually sold.
While the guy was deployed to the Vietnam War, and even after a divorce, she kept the Dart GTS for years. And as time went on, the car deteriorated, but then it was restored to its former glory. Eventually, it went into the hands of Leno, who remarked that all of its interior bits and its 6.3-liter V8 were as they were from the factory.
Jay didn't mention any output figures for his Dart, but the 383 V8 made 300 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. As a side note, Leno says the condition he found it in was ideal, so those figures might still be accurate for this particular car. That's rare since these engines were known to be used heavily and sometimes went through abuse.
Jay Leno's Garage/YouTube Jay Leno's Garage/YouTube Jay Leno's Garage/YouTube
Leno also drove the Dart GTS and mentioned that while it has big V8 power, it isn't the car in which you'd want to carve canyons. Sure, it's light, but it doesn't have power steering and uses drum brakes.
While this thing oozes style, not all Darts are. Remember, the more modern version sold from 2013 to 2016 was a bore. Oddly enough, the last one was a 2016 version sold in 2022 as brand new. Another weirder version of the car was sold in 1962, and while peppy, it counts as one of the most disappointing muscle cars of all time for being too hideous.
Jay Leno's Garage/YouTube Jay Leno's Garage/YouTube Jay Leno's Garage/YouTube
Keyword: Jay Leno's Dodge Dart GTS Is An Immaculate Classic Muscle Car