Dodge Demon 340

Demon 340 at a glance

A Duster body with a Dodge name

Dodge needed a fastback after Plymouth's Duster 340 arrived for 1970, and the Demon followed one year later. It used the Duster body with a Dart front end and different tail lamps, on the same 2,743 mm (108 in) wheelbase. In the Dodge range it succeeded the Dart Swinger 340 hardtop as the compact with the 340 engine.

The car was nearly called the Beaver. Chrysler's marketing staff dropped that name after learning it was CB-radio slang with a vulgar meaning, and chose Demon instead. Dodge then leaned into the theme: the badges carried a small devil with a pitchfork, and dealer material invited buyers to "come in for a Demon-stration ride". An advertising headline read "Dodge's new Demon brings out the Devil in you."

What came with the 340 badge

The Demon 340 cost US$2,721 in 1971, close to the price of the Plymouth version. For that price Dodge supplied the 340 four-barrel V8 with dual exhaust, a three-speed manual on the floor, the Rallye suspension with heavy-duty torsion bars, rear springs, anti-roll bar and dampers, a 150 mph speedometer, a 17-gallon (64 L) tank and side and deck stripes. The 1971 engine had a forged steel crankshaft, high-flow cylinder heads and a single Carter four-barrel carburettor.

Options read like a list from a bigger muscle car: a twin-scoop bonnet with matt black panels and bonnet pins, a rear spoiler, a tachometer, bucket seats, a console and the four-speed with a Hurst shifter or the TorqueFlite. One surviving car with a few options cost US$3,651.30 out of the showroom in 1971.

For 1972 the engine changed more than the body. Compression fell to 8.5:1 so the 340 could run on low-lead fuel, a Thermo-Quad carburettor replaced the Carter, and electronic ignition became standard. The rating moved to the net method at 179 kW (240 hp) and 393 Nm (290 lb-ft). Visible changes were a new grille, a single bonnet scoop in place of the twin scoops and metal fender badges; front disc brakes became an option.

Road tests and the drag strip

Magazines tested the Demon 340 against the compact class it was built for, and it did well. The figures varied with gearing, tyres and driver:

In the Motor Trend comparison the Demon reached 60 mph 0.2 seconds sooner than the AMC Hornet SC/360 and beat the Chevrolet Nova SS 350 by 1.43 seconds over the quarter mile. Car Craft's test car weighed 1,515 kg (3,340 lb). Dodge's factory-backed drag racers also ran Demon-bodied Pro Stock cars from the 1971 season, with drivers such as Herb McCandless and Billy Stepp.

Production of the Demon 340

The Demon sold well as a whole range, and the 340 was a small part of it. Conceptcarz gives 79,959 Demons for 1971 and 48,500 for 1972. For the 340, the most quoted 1971 figure is 10,098; a Galen Govier count cited by owners gives 10,089 including export cars, with 7,981 sold in the United States. For 1972 autoevolution gives about 8,700.

The 1971 US cars split into 998 three-speeds, 2,051 four-speeds and 4,932 automatics in the Govier figures.

From Demon to Dart Sport 340 and 360

Christian groups complained to Chrysler about the name and the devil emblem, and Dodge replaced both after two seasons. For 1973 the fastback became the Dart Sport, with a restyled front end, new tail lamps and federal energy-absorbing bumpers, and the performance model became the Dart Sport 340. Wikipedia also notes the Convertriple option of 1973-1974, which combined a fold-down rear seat with a manual metal sunroof.

The 340 was dropped after 1973. For 1974 the Dart Sport 360 took over with a 5.9 L (360 cu in) V8 rated at 183 kW (245 hp, SAE net), and 3,951 were built that year. In 1976 the 360 became an option on the Dart Sport. Car and Driver measured a top speed of 196 km/h (121.6 mph) in its April 1976 test, 2.9 mph below the figure Wikipedia quotes for the Corvette. The Dart line, covered in the Dodge Dart hub, ended in 1976.

Demon 340 today: what to check

The VIN decides whether a car is a real Demon 340: 1972 cars in auction records begin LM29H, with H as the 340 engine code. Base Demons could look similar, because the Sizzler package of early 1971 added bonnet stripes, sport mirrors, a special steering wheel and Rallye wheels to the six-cylinder and 318 cars. Options such as disc brakes, the four-speed and the Sure Grip axle should be checked against the fender tag.

The Demon name has since returned on a very different car, the supercharged Challenger SRT Demon of 2018. The 1971-1972 compact is listed with the other Darts in the Dodge catalogue.