The 340 Darts from what i read and was told could beat the 383 Darts all day long at the track. Those 340 engines had a good parts, good 2.02 X heads, high rise cast iron intake, forged crank, rods and pistons and free flowing cast iron exhaust manifolds, a hydraulic camshaft, windage tray etc. Well built engines.

But only had a horse power rating of 275....wink wink,lol!

Exactly, just like the 69 Camaro Z-28 302 engines, 290 horsepower. 340 Dart i think actually produced 340 horsepower. All for insurance reasons.

x2. In addition to the additional weight of the big block, the 383 Darts had some pretty restrictive exhaust manifolds.

I had a good buddy in High School 1979/80 had a 340/4SPD Dart, With the right Gears, Sticky Tires & Headers on the Street was Tough to beat from Red light to Red light... Hurt alot of Big Block Guys feelings. In Fact the other 2 Cars that gave him a Good Run were a 65 L79 4 spd Chevelle & a 70 LT1 Z28 automatic w/a Vega Torq converter ,4.56's

I only street raced the Swinger once and it was against my friend Gary's '69 Chevelle 396/350.I'd always beat him out of the hole but he'd eventually catch and pass me.

Cool story. Yes those 340 Darts set up right for traction were tough to beat. I am a Chevy guy thru and thru but the Dodge Dart Swinger 340 4 speed cars would be my second choice without a doubt. Years back my former neighbor growing up had one. I took a ride in that car and it was impressive. Again never thought of asking him if i could buy that car when he sold it. It was all stock too, not even headers. Kick myself to this day which i am sure we all have a story to tell we had a chance to buy these types of cars.