1976 · Dodge · United States
The Performance Engine Doesn't Make It This Far
The final year of the approved Dart chronology; MuscleCarClub reports 13,642 Dart Sports of all engines, and Flory says the Dart Sport 360 was dropped.
United States · researched through 2026-09-23
This is the final year of this subject's approved chronology, and it is also the year the performance engine itself disappeared: Flory's own 1976 Dodge introduction text states plainly that the Dart Sport 360 was dropped for the year, so no Dart Sport 360 production figure, rating, or price exists to be found in any source, contemporary or retrospective. What survives instead is a whole-line Dart Sport total covering every engine, six-cylinder and V8 together, with no breakdown by displacement, transmission, or trim level found in any source consulted for the year.1
MuscleCarClub reports 13,642 Dart Sports for 1976 without naming its own source, and Flory's reference book independently prints the identical 13,642 under style number LL29; two separately published sources therefore agree exactly on the one production figure this record can offer for the year. Because the Dart Sport 360 no longer existed as a distinct line, this whole-line total is treated here as the closest thing to a performance-relevant count available for 1976, rather than a proxy for any specific high-output engine's own production. This record's own notes make that substitution explicit rather than silently presenting the whole-line figure as though it described a performance model in its own right.2,1
Base manufacturer's suggested retail price for the Dart Sport ran $3,258, and shipping weight is recorded at 2,990 lb, both from the same Flory table that supplies the 13,642 production figure; that table also prints a -1.18% change figure alongside the row, a comparison this record does not restate as an independently confirmed year-over-year fact since Flory's own text does not spell out which prior period the percentage measures. No total-Dart figure spanning every series and body style beyond the Dart Sport itself was captured from a named source for the year.1
One further claim was found but not tabulated: a forum thread gives 13,627 Dart Sports "including 360s" for 1976, a figure that differs from the agreed 13,642 by 15 units and cites no identified publication lineage of its own; since the Dart Sport 360 had already been dropped for the year per Flory, a claim that explicitly includes 360s in a 1976 count sits in tension with that discontinuation, so this record carries the 13,627 figure only as an unpublished lead rather than folding it into the production total.1
MuscleCarClub separately reports 8,937 Dart Swingers for 1976, a related but distinct Dart body style rather than the Dart Sport fastback this record covers, and this record does not merge that Swinger count into the Dart Sport figures above. Beyond production, base price, and the one shipping weight, no engine ratings, transmission choices, options, paint colors, interior trim, performance figures, or identification codes for 1976 survive in the sources consulted, leaving this record's remaining sections empty rather than filled in from a different model year or a different Dart body style's own data. As the last year in this subject's approved chronology, this record closes with that one whole-line production figure and a base price standing in place of a dedicated engine, options, or performance table, since the performance engine itself did not survive into the model year this record documents.2
Fact sheet · 1976 · United States
The numbers
1976 Dodge Dart Sport — The final year of the approved Dart chronology; MuscleCarClub reports 13,642 Dart Sports of all engines, and Flory says the Dart Sport 360 was dropped.
Coverage: Partial — researched sections are shown; missing ones are not yet sourced. Researched through 2026-09-23.
Every figure is labeled with how sure we are. Reported means a manufacturer, registry, or reference figure we cite but have not reconciled against factory records ourselves. Disputed means credible sources disagree and both are shown. Rows are separately scoped; don't add them together unless the note says they make up a total.
Key facts
Production
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dart Sport, all engines2 Dart Sport · 2-door coupe · not stated Includes six-cylinder and V8 cars; not a Dart Sport 360 count. A search result gives 13,627 'including 360s' without a lineage (see unpublishedLeads). | 13,642 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dart Sport (LL29), Flory1 Dart Sport · 2-door coupe · not stated Same figure as MuscleCarClub's; Flory is an independent printed source for it. | 13,642 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dart Sport, total production (all engines)2,1 Dart Sport · 2-door coupe · not stated By 1976 the Dart Sport 360 had been dropped (Flory), so unlike earlier years there is no separate high-performance engine line to add on top; this row and the two above already cover the entire 1976 Dart Sport line. | 13,642 | built, model-year | Reported |
Host-series context only.
No separate performance-engine total exists for 1976 because the Dart Sport 360 option had been dropped; the whole-line total above is the closest figure to a performance count this record can offer.
Prices when new
| Model | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Base MSRP, Dart Sport 2-door coupe (LL29)1 | $3,258 | base manufacturer's suggested retail price as tabulated by Flory, 1976 model year |
Prices are the nominal dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation.
Specifications
| Measure | Value | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping weight, Dart Sport1 | 2,990 lb | LL29 |
Same model year
Also in 1976
- AMC AMX No AMX was sold in the United States for 1976. The Javelin ended after 1974, and the badge returned on the 1977 Hornet.
- AMC Gremlin X and Spirit AMX The last year of the V8 Gremlin. The 304 was cancelled at midyear after 826 installations, and the X package moved to Custom models only.
- Buick Riviera The GS name gave way to an S/R package, fitted to 1,619 of 20,082 Rivieras.
- Chevrolet Chevelle and Malibu SS The final Laguna Type S-3 year; the 454 no longer appears on the compiled engine list.
- Chevrolet Chevy II and Nova Last Nova SS year in the source production table. Enthusiast-compiled production: 334,728 cars; Super Sport 7,416.
- Chevrolet El Camino SS Colonnade-era El Camino; Chevrolet's 1976 data pages define the RPO Z15 SS option for the El Camino Classic. Team Chevelle's production totals give 44,890 El Caminos built, 5,163 of them with SS equipment.
- Ford Maverick Grabber The Grabber was dropped and a Stallion paint-and-trim package took its place; no Stallion count was found.
- Ford Ranchero GT The Ranchero GT continued on the 1972-76 Ranchero; 4,942 GTs were built, per reference-site counts in the Standard Catalog lineage.
- Ford Thunderbird Sixth-generation personal-luxury Thunderbird; the record holds the production total and the luxury-group option prices only.
- Ford Torino The last Torino year: 193,096 built with no Sport model left, and Ford's 1,000 white-striped red 'Starsky and Hutch' Gran Torino replicas were the only performance-styled edition.
- Mercury Cougar Outside the muscle focus: 83,765 Cougars for 1976 per Wikipedia's table.
- Oldsmobile Cutlass, 4-4-2 and Hurst/Olds An appearance and handling option in this period; no Hurst/Olds was offered and no production figure was found.
- Plymouth Duster 340 and 360 The Duster's last year offered the 360 only with TorqueFlite and not in California, beside the new Feather Duster economy and Silver Duster decor packages; reference books disagree on production (26,688 or 34,681).
- Plymouth Road Runner The Road Runner became a Volare option package.
- Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am The first black-and-gold Trans Am, the last Trans Am 455, and a Firebird line past 110,000.
- Pontiac Grand Prix Quad headlamps and a 50th-anniversary year for Pontiac; the last Grand Prix 455.
- Pontiac Tempest and LeMans The 455 returns to the LeMans options list, a 260 V8 with a five-speed arrives for the Sport Coupe, and a Rally RTS Handling Package replaces the GT.