On Jan. 14, 1974, Dick Harvey walked into Len Derin Dodge in North Olmstead, Ohio, and placed an order for a new 1974 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye after seeing an advertisement for the Dodge model in the November 1973 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. Just 21 years old, Harvey eagerly anticipated getting behind the wheel of the Dart Sport Rallye, which would be his first new car.
The yellow-and-black car Harvey ordered was a visual match to the car advertised in Hot Rod Magazine with the headline: “Dart Sport Rallye—If you understand what happens when you couple a 2.94 rear end to a wide ratio 4-speed...you’re the one we’re after.”
Verbiage in the ad further sold the car by saying, “Dart Sport Rallye wasn’t made for those who buy on cubes alone. A super car with a super price, it is not. But boring, dull, or commonplace, it isn’t either. The power-to-weight-ratio works out to a shade over 20 pounds per horsepower. The 318 V8 is still the same tractable mill even your maiden aunt could learn to love, but coupled to a new wide ratio 4-speed, it shows a rather refreshing tendency to quickness. The low numeric rear end ratio offers a bonus in quieter super highway travel. Everything you need is here, the things you don’t, aren’t. If the list of what you get stirs your interest, hustle down to your nearby Dodoge Dealer’s. The car’s even a little better than it reads.”
The Dart Sport Rallye features listed in the ad included the 318-cid V-8 with a “special ratio Hurst-operated 4-speed;” a 2.94 rear end; power steering; Rallye suspension; Rallye wheels; E70 x14 raised-white-letter tires; Deluxe vinyl seat; “Tuff” steering wheel; and “special Dodge lettering on the rear quarter panels.”
When his Dart Sport Rallye arrived on April 12, 1974, Harvey made a beeline for Len Derin Dodge. Upon driving onto the dealership’s lot, Harvey caught sight of this Yellow Blaze ’74 Dodge Dart and said his initial thought was, Those skinny tires and hub caps must go. When he and the salesperson walked around the Dart for the first time, Harvey was stunned by the skinny factory tire and wheel combination and asked, “Are those 14-inch wheels, tires and hubcaps the ones we ordered?” After reviewing the dealer’s order form for his car, Harvey and the salesperson confirmed that, indeed, the Dart was built to his order. Harvey said his next thought was, Tomorrow they’re getting replaced with something that gives the car a meaner look and stance.
The following morning, Harvey made the trip to Conrads, a local tire shop. There, Conrads installed a pair of narrow 14-inch chrome Keystone Classic wheels with Goodyear radial tires on the front. On the rear went a pair of 15-inch, deep-dish chrome Keystone Classic wheels with wide Goodyear radial tires extending beyond the rear quarter panel wheel openings. This wheel-and-tire setup now gave the Dart the look and stance that Harvey desired, which was all the rage during the ’70s. The car now took on an aggressive look and go-fast stance.
Harvey said his wheel change was inspired by the Sox and Martin race team’s pro-stock race cars, which ran Keystone Classics. He said he somewhat idolized Ronnie Sox and the Sox and Martin MoPars and decided his new ’74 Dodge Dart should be similarly fitted with a set of Keystone Classics. After all, if the wheels and tires and the stance they provided were good enough for the red, white and blue Sox and Martin cars, they were good enough for his new Yellow Blaze Dart Sport Rallye.
The 1974 Dart Sport Rallye as-built
Chrysler Corp.’s Dodge Division produced Harvey’s Yellow Blaze 1974 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye with a black interior at the Dodge Main Assembly Plant in Hamtramck, Mich. During the ordering process, Harvey checked off just about every box on the dealer order form. Within the MoPar community, it’s now regarded as one of the most-optioned ’74 Dart Sports ever produced. The list of options is extensive but among the most notable options that Harvey checked is that Rallye Package. The car was additionally optioned with functional hood scoops and power disc brakes, but the list doesn’t end there. Harvey also selected the black split-back bench seat; sunroof; canopy vinyl roof; light package; tinted glass; day-night mirror; dual remote painted racing mirrors; rear window defogger; and three-speed windshield wipers with electric washers. The ’74 Dart Sport Rallye was further optioned with bumper guards; a radio; and the rear deck panel stripe and “Up & Over” stripe, as seen in the Hot Rod Magazine ad.
‘Day Two-ing’ a Dart Sport Rallye
From 1974 through 1978, Harvey drove his ’74 Dart, then parked it in his father’s garage when he moved to Cincinnati. Then, in 1975, Harvey’s younger brother, Don, came across a ’69 340-cid V-8 engine and convinced his older brother to let him build the engine, then the two of them could install it into Harvey’s Dart. About a week later, the engine was ready. The two brothers loaded it into the trunk of Harvey’s 1964 Chrysler Newport, then hauled it to their father’s garage in Westlake.
Harvey went all in with the 340 engine build. He’d previously rebuilt a 225-cid straight-six engine and a 383-cid big-block V-8 and was excited to get his hands on a small-block MoPar V-8 and seeing what it could do in his Dart Sport Rallye.
In June 1975, Harvey’s friend, Ron, owned a 1964-1/2 Barracuda with a tired 273-cid V-8 engine. The Harvey brothers decided to replace the 273 with the original 318 engine from Dick’s ’74 Dart Sport Rallye. They completed the installation at their grandpa’s barn in Westlake. A week later, the 340 engine built by the Harveys was ready. The brothers installed it into the ’74 Dart at their dad’s garage, also in Westlake. As Harvey explains it, their grandfather’s barn and father’s garage were located back-to-back and within walking distance of each other. Both engine swaps were completed using a come-along strap attached to the building rafters.
Harvey drove the Dart until 1978, then parked it in his father’s garage when he and his bride, Lynn, were married and relocated to Cincinnati. The couple had dated in the ’74 Dart Sport Rallye and Harvey’s prior 1968 Dodge Super Bee. Being newlyweds with new careers and plans to start a family, the ’74 Dart took a backseat due to its smaller size and not being what they considered a family car. And, in June 1984, they welcomed a son, Phillip.
However, the ’74 Dart Sport Rallye wasn’t parked for long. It only sat idle until 1979, when Harvey’s younger brother convinced him to turn it into a drag car. The ’74 Dart was raced locally from 1979-1990 with the younger Harvey doing most of the driving. However, Harvey got behind the wheel a time or two just to see what his Dart would do.
The Dart was raced hard and the 340 engine blew up in 1990. It was then replaced by a 440-cid V-8 that Harvey built. During the later part of the 1990 race season, it, too, succumbed to hard quarter-mile passes and blew. Harvey pulled the 440 and the transmission and brought the rolling body and chassis home where it sat for nearly 10 years. In 1999, Harvey and his wife relocated to West Chester, Ohio, and the now engine- and transmission-less ’74 Dart ended up in yet another garage.
From shop to shop
In 2003, the Dart was transported to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when a friend there offered to restore it. Not long after its arrival, the friend realized he was in over his head and the car sat. A year later, the restorer relocated to Milwaukee and the ’74 Dart was trailered to his new location where it was parked again. Harvey remained intent on seeing the Dart restored. However, another six years passed with no restoration work done to the car, so Harvey had it transported to his home in Ohio. There, it sat in the family garage for another decade or so.
During 2017, at an Indianapolis swap meet, Harvey approached The Finer Details booth where he met owner Ken Mosier. Harvey proceeded to share the story of his 1974 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye with Mosier. After hearing the story, Mosier agreed to pick up the car so that he could complete a rotisserie restoration of it, but he wouldn’t be ready for it for another year.
In the spring of 2018, Harvey and his wife purchased a new home and needed to move the Dart Sport Rallye once again. Acting on a hunch, Harvey called Mosier to see if he was ready for it. Mosier was now ready and made arrangements for someone to pick up the car. About a week later, the car was transported to Mosier’s shop for the complete restoration that Harvey had hoped for many years would finally happen. Mosier called Harvey to say that he found the Dart Sport Rallye to be extremely rough, “But I’m going to restore it,” he told Harvey.
In early 2019, Mosier called Harvey to say he had become ill. After receiving this news, Harvey wondered if this would alter Mosier’s ability to complete the restoration. Sadly, on Nov. 8, 2021, Mosier passed away.
Mosier’s wife, Allie, reached out to Jake and Sandy Poffenberger, current owners of The Finer Details in Danville, Ind., to see if they were interested in completing the 1974 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye restoration. It and two other automobiles were left unfinished in Mosier’s shop upon his passing.
The Poffenbergers agreed to take on the task of finishing the three automobiles. With Allie Mosier’s assistance, the Dart Sport Rallye was turned over to General Manager Justin Bliss and the rest of the Finer Details team. With help from Allie’s father, Keith Miner, as well as Bobbi Miner, the ’74 Dart Sport Rallye and all of its components were retrieved from the Miners’ building and transported to The Finer Details, where the restoration immediately resumed.
Among The Finer Details’ work was the installation of a specially prepared small-block 360-cid V-8 engine rated at 400 hp. The engine was backed with a Brewers Performance four-speed manual transmission, a 3.55 rear axle in the 8-3/4-inch housing and Wilwood four-piston power disc brakes to enhance performance, safety and overall handling characteristics.
Factory air conditioning was not checked off on the dealer order by Dick Harvey back in 1974. At his request, a Classic Auto Air air conditioning system specially designed for the ’74 Dodge Dart was added.
When studying the exterior of a factory-stock 1974 Dodge Dart, the first thing that usually catches the eye is the large plastic panel that fills the gap between the federally mandated safety bumpers and body of the car at both front and rear. The team at The Finer Details created custom bumper mounts and fabricated the bumpers to fit into the body curvatures with the goal of enhancing the overall appearance of the ’74 Dart. The finished look is clean and flows into the body. Gone is the gaudy factory “push-bar guardrail” look that was the norm during the period.
An end to the long resto road
With Bliss overseeing the restoration, the eye-catching Yellow Blaze 1974 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye’s seemingly improbable restoration journey was completed. The finally restored MoPar “day-viewed” on Nov. 18 at the 2023 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals (MCACN) where it was one of three MoPars showcased in The Finer Details’ display. At MCACN, the car earned a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award in the Super Street/Modified class on Sunday during the awards ceremony.
About a month after getting his 1974 Dodge Dart Sport Rallye back from the restoration shop, I checked in with Harvey to see how the bonding process was going with his old car. He said after the car was delivered to his home, he and his wife took it out for a 35-mile cruise and planned to hit the local back roads later that day.
“It’s like stepping back to the mid ’70s, when Lynn and I used to date in the Dart,” Harvey said. “We retraced some of our favorite drives. The excitement and joy this car brought me when new has been superseded due, in part, to the efforts of Allie Mosier, Justin Bliss and The Finer Details team. I’d like to express my gratitude and appreciation for allowing Lynn and I the opportunity to experience the youthful joy of driving this MoPar once again, feeling its new-found power while cruising for miles with the windows down, sunroof open and engine roaring.”
The Harveys look forward to the spring when their son, Phillip, and grandson, Miles, join them for their very first ride in the family’s Yellow Blaze 1974 Dodge Dart Sport.
Kindred Spirits
Occasionally, I come across something extra-special that takes me down memory lane and allows me to step back in time when I, too, was settling into my first car, a 1971 Dodge Charger. Much like the Harveys, I also replaced my Dodge’s factory wheel, tire and wheel cover combination with a set of aftermarket wheels (polished-aluminum Ansen wheels and Mickey Thompson wide-oval tires). This wheel-and-tire combo made my Charger resemble a Hot Wheels car from my youth with its skinny tires on the front and wide ovals on the back. Paired up, it gave the car attitude, and even though it only had a 318-cid small-block V-8 under the hood, the addition of the replacement wheels and tires made the car look fast. The “small front wheels and tires and big rear wheels and tires” combo was all the rage back in the ’70s and is likely derived from our youthful days of racing Hot Wheels cars and admiring their “go fast” drag racing stance, as well as watching drag racing during the Wide World of Sports’ weekly televised coverage of NHRA racing events from around the country. Al Rogers
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