The 1978 - 1979 Dodge Li’l Red Truck was a sassy little performance numeral made possible by a regulative loophole .
When Dodge discovered that Environmental Protection Agency regulations take into account light hand truck of over 6,100 pound Gross Vehicle Weight to run with no smog gear at all , it set about creating what some regard the original muscle pickup .
Despite its small origin – a very basic Dodge D150 pickup arm with a narrow boxful and shorty 115 - inch wheelbase – the Dodge Li’l Red Truck was an telling software . For about $ 5,000 , a client got the mellow - line Adventurer cab in red or black , with bench or bucket buttocks .
From there , the buyer could personalise with supererogatory gauges , including a tach , various sound scheme , admit eight - track tape or CB , and a " Tuff " steering bicycle right out of the old Dodge Challenger R / T muscle machine .
The 1978 - 1979 Dodge Li’l Red Truck came only in Canyon Red fix off by bold gold decals on doors and tailgate , plus literal varnish oak tree planking on box seat sides , tailgate , and bed floor .
But the real killer was that distich of tall , 2.5 - column inch - wooden-headed chrome exhaust fumes pipe thump up through the gradation plate behind the cab . roll in perforated metal high temperature shield , they looked like they ’d been pinch from a Kenworth 18 - bicycler .
Those stacks lead flat to a 360 - three-dimensional - inch V-8 , tuned as if smogginess regs did n’t exist . fundamentally , it was the E58 police whole ( einsteinium for " Express , " hence the name on the doors ) , sans " Lean Burn " and emissions ironware but fortified with a loose - breathing Holley four - barrelcarburetor , duplicate - breather fresh - zephyr initiation , beefed - up internals , and intemperate - duty electrical .
death event : 225horsepowerand a thumping 295 lbs / ft of torque at 3200 revolutions per minute . Completing the public presentation picture were a three - stop number Leafletautomatic transmittance , 3.55:1 differential , stiff outflow and shocks , and LR60 - 15 white - letter radials on eight - inch wheels .
Most instance of the 1978 - 1979 Dodge Li’l Red Truck carry the optional slotted chrome rims , power guidance , andpower brakes .
carrying into action was quite proficient for a time when smogginess equipment had a stranglehold on horsepower . The 1978 - 1979 Dodge Li’l Red Truck did the standing quarter - mile in under 16 seconds , 0 - 100 mph in 20 seconds . Adding to its collection , output was just 2,188 for 1978 , and 5,118 for 1979 .
Collectible Pluses of the 1978-1979 Dodge Li’l Red Truck
Collectible Minuses of the 1978-1979 Dodge Li’l Red Truck
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