Still a Kid at Heart

            Jim Swafford still feels like a he did when he first started driving cars. “I guess I’m just a kid at heart,” he said.

“When I was a kid I was a bit of a lead foot,” he added, joking that his glove box was always stuffed full of tickets. “I had to work two jobs just to pay them off.”

With that kind of background it is little wonder that seven and a half years ago, when he was looking for a classic car, he aimed for a 1967 Dodge Dart GT.

He found the car that he wanted in Arizona by way of Indianapolis.

“I restored about 90 percent of it, including the drive train,” he said. “I did everything myself except the paint job.”

When asked if he was finished, Jim laughed. “I’m still working on it. When you own one of these cars you’re never done,” he said.

Dodge started building the Dart in 1960 and continued on through 1976. In 1967, the fourth generation of the car got some major redesigning. In addition to new styling the car also received an updated steering system as well as a wider front track and frame rail spacing which allowed the car to be fitted with larger engines.

Since MoPar parts are much easier to find these days than in the past, the car is pretty authentic. While Jim has stuck to these, it is the fact that the car could hold larger engines that prompted him to make one major change over stock.

“It has a 360 (cubic inch) which is not standard,” he said. “It puts out over 500 horse power,” he added with a grin. “It hops out at about 115 miles per hour and can run in the low 12s in the quarter mile.” The lead foot is still there.

“It’ll pin you to the seat,” he added.

Jim drives his Dart quite a bit, racking up between 3000 and 4000 miles per year. “I go to a lot of shows and I win more than my fair share,” he said.

Some other changes he’s made over the stock version include putting in a modern suspension system including anti sway bars. And, yes, he admits, it corners well.

All of this allows him to drive just like that kid that is still inside of him whenever he takes his beautiful 1967 Dodge Dart GT out on the road.