Classic Truck History Part 7: Dodge 1960-1980's

Dodge Trucks 1960s-1980s

When you’re number three, you try harder to get noticed, and that seemed to be the case with Dodge and its trucks. The company trailed in sales to General Motors and Ford, and during the 1960s through the 1980s, came out with interesting trucks to grab attention.

The year 1960 was a transitional one for Dodge. The “Forward Look” styling added to its cars and trucks for 1957 was winding down, in preparation for an all-new 1961 truck lineup.

That new truck was lower and wider, and with a squared-off grille and industrial-looking front bumper. There was a trim level called the Dart, also used on a Dodge car. That basic truck body style would last for a decade. For a while, the company made improvements whenever a new idea was worth implementing, rather than wait for the next model year.

One change came in the middle of the 1962 model year, when Dodge added a six-passenger crew cab. It wasn’t the first – International’s 1957 Travelette was – but Dodge beat Ford and GM with four doors, and was the industry’s first with an extended-cab in 1973. That model only had two doors, but there was an extra 18 inches between those and the box, along with small back windows. There were optional jump seats for two extra passengers, which stored at the side when not in use. Despite these innovations, Dodge wouldn’t add a four-door Quad Cab, with smaller rear passenger doors, until 1998.

The Power Wagon was still around in the 1960s. It had been created for the military during the Second World War and then sold to the public afterwards for heavy-duty use. A version with conventional pickup styling was added for 1957, but the military-style version, with its flat fenders and upright grille, would stick around for domestic sales until 1968. Dodge continued to build it until the late 1970s for overseas export.

Dodge added the compact A100 line in 1964, as a van, passenger wagon, or pickup truck. It competed against Chevrolet’s Corvair pickup, and Ford’s Econoline.

Dodge still built workhorses in the 1970s, but was also aiming at leisure-lifestyle buyers. For 1974 there was the new Ramcharger, a 4x4 truck-based sport-utility.

Then the company announced its “Adult Toys” trucks, outfitted with the custom touches that truck owners were buying aftermarket to dress them up. First came the Warlock, introduced in a very limited run in 1976. When it proved popular, it went into production for 1977. It came with 225-cubic-inch slant-six – the famous “Leaning Tower of Power” – or V8s up to a 440. The dress-up included gold spoked wheels, gold pinstriping, and oak boards atop the box.

For 1978, you could also get the Macho Power Wagon, Macho Ramcharger, and the Street Van. But all bowed down before the new Li’l Red Express Truck. It was based on a D150 pickup, which had a high enough weight rating that it didn’t require a catalytic converter. Its 360 V8 was beefed up to Police Interceptor standards, making 290 lb-ft of torque, with a heavy-duty 727 transmission and dual exhaust stacks. It was rated the fastest production vehicle in the country.

But fuel prices were high and thirsty vehicles weren’t selling, and the Warlock and L’il Red Express only lasted until 1979. That year, Dodge introduced the D50 – later named the Ram 50—which was a compact pickup built by Mitsubishi. It came with a 2.0-litre or 2.6-litre four-cylinder, and could carry up to 1,400 lbs. The following year, it could be optioned with a sliding rear window, and with a decidedly strange paint job with multi-colored vertical stripes at the wheel wells.

In 1982, Dodge added the new Rampage. Like Ford’s Ranchero and Chevrolet’s El Camino, the Rampage was a car with a pickup bed. Unlike those, it was front-wheel drive. It was based on the compact Dodge Charger 2.2, named for its 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine that made 84 horsepower.

The Rampage lasted three model years. The Ram 50 went another decade past that, but in 1987, it was joined by the Dakota, North America’s first midsize truck. It came in two wheelbase lengths with 6.5-foot or 8-foot bed, in 4x2 or 4x4, and with a four-cylinder or V6.

But why stop there? A couple of years later, Dodge sent a batch of Dakotas over to American Sunroof Company in Michigan, which chopped off the roofs and added convertible tops. Only about 3,700 were sold over a three-year span, and the Dakota Sport Convertible was quietly withdrawn. It was certainly an unusual way to round out the decade.

Here are some other interesting tidbits about Dodge’s trucks…

- When the A100 pickup came out in 1964, the Alexander Brothers, car customizers based in Detroit, thought it had potential. They approached designer Harry Bradley, who came up with the styling. Chrysler liked it enough to give them a truck. Called the Deora, the truck was finished for the 1967 show circuit. Bradley was now at Mattel, and the Deora became one of the first Hot Wheels cars when the toys were introduced in 1968.

- Dodge didn’t just make pickups. It had been building three-ton chassis since the late 1920s, and throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, made tractor-trailers, long-haul tilt-cab trucks, step-in delivery vans, school bus chassis, motorhomes, and heavy-tonnage trucks up to five axles. It got out of the commercial heavy-duty market in late 1975.

- In 1978, Dodge offered its first diesel in a light-duty pickup, a 243-cubic-inch inline six making 103 horsepower and 165 lb-ft of torque. The engine was made by Mitsubishi, and regulations prohibited its sale in California.

- The 1981 Ramcharger offered the Big Horn package, which included leather-look vinyl seats with fake lamb’s wool trim.

Many collectors are now paying attention to the 1960s trucks, especially since their low-and-wide stance is a natural for a lowered suspension. The military-style Power Wagons are popular as well. The Ramcharger hasn’t yet hit the same level of enthusiasm as Ford’s Bronco, making them more affordable.

The “Adult Toys” trucks are held in high esteem, especially the Li’l Red Express, and prepare to pay accordingly. The Ram 50 and Rampage trucks have their followers, along with a growing interest in early Dakotas. Parts for all Dodge trucks from this era are easy to find, and restoration or customization is relatively simple.

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