Jason Hovey bought his 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger in November 1995 for $900. The rusted and beat up pea green car took Jason many places throughout two years of high school. During that time, Jason and his dad changed the motor and rebuilt the transmission. Jason’s dad, Randy, taught him how to fix anything that was wrong with the car.
The Dart was a special car to both Jason and his friends. His best friend, Jeff Mracek, a fellow car lover, even wrote a poem about Jason and his car for an English assignment.
Jason drove the car to his 1996 junior prom at Crestwood in Cresco, Iowa, and took his senior pictures with the car. When he headed to college, he tucked the Dart away in a shed and bought a more reliable car to use.
Once he graduated from college and had a full-time job, Jason decided to let his brother Casey take the Dart to work on for an auto body project in school. The car proved to be too much of a project; it returned to Jason’s parents farm with still more work needed.
When Amanda and Jason set their wedding date to take place in Protivin, Iowa, they also set a goal of finishing the Dart in time for their wedding. Jason and Casey spent 16 months working on the car every weekend. Car parts were arriving on a weekly basis as the duo worked to complete the project.
In May 2004, the week before the wedding, they finally got the car on the road only to blow the radiator. The car was back on the road in the nick of time for the wedding, to the relief of everyone! The Dart has been a part of five weddings in all so far.
The Hoveys, who live south of Preston, have taken several summer trips in the Dart; they also drive it in the Preston Trout Days Parade each year. Jason and Amanda don’t take it to car shows; the Dart is for their own enjoyment. The whole family – Jason, Amanda, Connor (17), Braelyn (14) and Taylor (12) – enjoys taking the Dart for a drive.
Jason and his family essentially rebuilt the entire car in a two year period. An all new interior was reinstalled using vinyl identical to the original. Most of the body needed replacing. Jason’s sister even pitched in when it was time to sand the body before painting. When it was time to paint the car, Jason chose 1970 Dodge F8 green for the color in homage to a car that his dad had once owned. The Dart went from a pea green color to a darker hunter green.
During the restoration, Jason opted to replace the vinyl roof with metal. He also moved the gas cap to the top of the rear fender instead of the side and used a snazzy Barracuda gas cap in the process.
The Dart had originally sold for $3,668.50 in Arkansas when it was new. When Jason bought the car, the window sticker was found tucked in the glove box along with the oil change records for its first seven years.
When Jason bought it in 1995, the car was already 22 years old. Jason proudly bought it with his own hard-earned cash from working for a landscaper and milking cows for a local farmer.
At the time he was restoring the car, Jason had more disposable income – he had a full-time job and was single with few responsibilities. As he and his brother made the car repairs, they added a few bells and whistles. The Dart has a custom Ford rear end with disc brakes. They widened the rear wheel wells to accommodate bigger tires. The car has custom mag wheels and custom gauges on the dashboard; it also has headers and dual exhaust with a 380 horsepower motor.
By the time they were done working on the car, they had invested double the amount the car was worth when they decided to redo it.
A Dodge Dart Swinger was considered an economy car and was not a popular car – few people would have chosen to redo the car. Why did Jason choose to do the restoration? Jason said the car had too many memories to get rid of – the time working on the car with his dad, repairing the body with his brother, taking it to prom and using it for his wedding. He had watched too many friends as they regretted getting rid of their old cars and wished they had kept them.
Jason noted that lately he’s been seeing more restored Darts. Challengers, Chargers and ‘Cudas are “insanely expensive” now. (A pristine condition ‘68 Charger recently went for $120,000 at auction.) An increased appreciation of old cars has garnered collectors’ attention for the less expensive Darts.
Now it’s time for a new chapter for the Dart. Once again the Dart will be going to prom; Jason’s son Connor and his date Katie Pickett will be driving off to the Fillmore Central prom in the Dart.
Connor thinks it’s “really cool to be able to take it – it’s been around forever!” He had wanted to take the car last year, but it needed brakes and some wiring repairs at the time. According to Connor, Katie really likes the car too.
Jason and Connor are going to do a little driving to get Connor used to the car. The Dart has an automatic transmission, but it doesn’t shift for itself. This is called manual valve body and was originally designed to help in drag racing.
The 1973 Dart Swinger will be heading down the road to prom soon. This will surely not be its last chapter with the Hoveys! It will remain in the Hovey family forever, piling on more and more memories!
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