You're going to see a new car at the 2012 St. Louis Auto Show, coming next week to America's Center in downtown St. Louis. Okay, you're going to see hundreds of new cars, trucks, SUVs and more, but what I'm referring to is a totally new car that you're going to find at the Dodge boys booth. While the car may be totally new, the name has been resurrected from decades past. Chrysler marketing has brought back the Dart model name, one that, for many years, served the Dodge brand.

The first Dodge Dart appeared for model year 1960, riding a full-size, one-piece "unitized" body with an overall length of 208.6 inches. That's eight and a half inches longer than a 2012 Dodge Charger, just to put things in perspective. And this was considered a 'small" full-size car. The top-of-the-line Dodge Polara stretched the number another four inches and a 1960 Chrysler New-Yorker measured 220 inches in overall length. Chrysler marketing has brought back the Dart model name, one that served the Dodge brand well for many years.

One magazine ad from back in the day called consumers to action by saying that it was "Time you got acquainted with America's 1st Fine economy car." They went on to say that the Dart "Offers more solid comfort than cars costing barrels of money" and that the new economy Slant 6 engine "lies on its side to save money, and the zippy V-8 likes 'regular' gas best."

The Dart model line was further divided into three sub-series starting with the stripped-down, entry level Seneca, followed by the Pioneer and the "distinctively smart Phoenix, shown here in two-door hardtop configuration, dressed in Satin (white) over Deep Burgundy metallic— two of the seventeen colors on the Dodge palette for 1960.

Dart buyers were offered a host of safety, convenience and appearance options for the year including the $59 "Music Master Radio"— a new design featuring, not one, but TWO transistors, push-button tuning and a "larger, more powerful speaker!" Yes Tyler, that was "a" speaker, as in ONE. For a few bucks more, buyers of the upscale Pioneer and Phoenix models could opt for the "Astrophonic Radio" with one front and one rear speaker, offering "unequalled fidelity and tone." And yes, those were AM only radios... no FM band, no eight track or cassette option and definitely no CD or USB input!

Dart would remain a full-size model for only two years. Designers whacked six inches off the overall length for the 1962 models and another six for the 1963s— officially reducing the Dart to a compact car.

What will the new Dodge Dart for 2013 bring to the table?

I guess we'll all find out at the St. Louis Auto Show next week. (I hope they still offer that Music Master Radio.)

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The Fin Man's Take A Kid To A Car Show calendar for 2012 is already beginning to fill up. Check my web site at www.thefinman.com for more on the Dart and for calendar listings. Meanwhile, we'll see you at the St. Louis Auto Show and at our first vintage car show event of the year, the 51st Annual Easter Car Show held on the upper parking lot of the Muni Opera in Forest Park, hosted by the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri, on Easter Sunday.

This is one of the largest displays of antique, true classic and collectible cars and trucks in the midwest, and it's made even better by a huge hot rod and custom car show on the lower Muni Opera parking lot which the promoters, the St. Louis Street Rod Association, like to call the "Real Easter Show".

Trivia Question: The last of the original Dodge Darts was the 1976 model. It was replaced in 1977 by the Dodge Aspen.

And this tidbit from Wikipedia: The project planners proposed the name Dart, only to have executives demand an expensive research program which produced the name Zipp. This was promptly rejected in favor of Dart. The name found favor as the market had been recently introduced to a new military aircraft called the Convair F-106 Delta Dart, commonly known as the "Delta Dart", in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race during the early 1960s.