Keystone Kustoms Project: Patriot - 1976 Dodge Colt Carousel

1976 Dodge Colt Carousel, which was based on the GT. Imported for Dodge by Mitsubishi. This version of the car was a bright white with a denim blue top. The five stripe red, white, and blue vinyl stripe that flowed down the side of the car was carried to the interior as well.

The interior was mostly white vinyl. Sky blue carpet, dark blue trim and dash, with insets and seat panels from blue jean denim.

The car sported look-a-like Hemi rally wheels, and had a lot of styling cues from the Firebird, the Barracuda, and the Charger from the 1968 through 1972 era of muscle cars.

My parents purchased him in 1976 brand new off the lot at Highway Dodge in Phoenix, AZ, and drove him until living on dirt roads in Oklahoma started wearing him out.

Still less than 70,000 miles on the clock, he is getting ready for the fastest runs of his life, and that is saying something, as dad was not exactly gentle.

Patriot was never a drag car, but his strong points were cornering and overall road racing. This era of Dodge Colt (72-78) really did well in off road and combination rally, even taking a championship without too many modifications. Many are still being used for that purpose.

The Colt's main competition was the Toyota Celica GT, and the Datsun 510. Though dad loved dusting the Saab 9000s and definitely the Porsche 914s of the time.

Starting with the transplant. I am currently on the hunt for a low miles Dakota or Durango with the Magnum V-6, already with the 5-speed with it, so I do not have to do much machine work. The motor will undergo the obligatory cam, port/polish, headers, injector work, and ignition. The transmission will go with Lucas oil and a multi-plate clutch. Rear end will get redone with a Ford Trac-Loc preferably from a Lincoln Mark 8 or equivalent, so that it would be an independent suspension. I know many purists will dislike that statement, but while the old rear end works beautifully for the 1600 cc motor, but not for the drifting styled horsepower that Patriot will have when he rolls again under his own power.

Basic restyling, mostly for aerodynamic purposes. Basic 8 speaker sound system, possibly using my Arachnid Audio components.

It will not look much different than stock, but I am a fan of making big modifications and hiding them like Easter eggs.

Also, in future toying look for twin after muffler turbos with rear mounted intercoolers. Brake cooling will be a must. Redesigned interior that will sport my own seat designs based more on a Sparco dirt track seat than anything else on the market.

I am looking for an approximate 500-800 horses of "drive it it all day" power. Mated to the fact that the Trac-Loc will be out fitted with a fifth member that will either be hydraulically or actuator adjustable, so that I can go from super hook, sticky to drift king sideways, at the touch of a knob.

I removed the vinyl top several years ago to get at a rust spot. I halted the rust at that point but the car is still suffering. there is tree moss growing off of the paint. Yeah, I know sad, but I may rat rod it while it's built....

I need a front driver side fender and the driver door from where we were hit in a hit and run back before I could even drive.

The tires are shot, but they were very tiny very cheap 13 inch tires anyway, i will probably go with widened Dodge Rallys against my son's urgings, even though it's okay for him to have Chevy Rallys on his GMC Sierra.

I will add a picture as soon as I can!