Collectible Classic: 1974-1980 Dodge Ramcharger - Automobile Magazine
Chrysler took its sweet time creating a product to compete in this category, introducing the Dodge Ramcharger and its badge-engineered sibling, the Plymouth Trail Duster, more than a decade after the Scout kick-started the segment. Dodge had launched an all-new pickup for 1972, and a record number of trucks were sold market-wide in 1973, so the Ramcharger was a logical next step. Unfortunately for Chrysler, consumers and the U. S. government started seriously caring about fuel economy when OPEC enacted an oil embargo in late 1973, so the Ramcharger never had the chance to live as freely as its rivals had in the years prior. (Even more ill-timed for Chrysler was the aggressive revamp of its higher-volume, full-size lineup for '74. ) Nevertheless, Dodge built more than 13,000 Ramchargers in each of its first six model years. The Ramcharger was ostensibly a base-model Dodge pickup that had nine inches chopped from the wheelbase and with the bulkhead and roof lopped off the cab. A rear bench seat was a popular option, but even the front passenger's seat wasn't standard equipment until 1976. Four Wheeler magazine drove a new Ramcharger from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1977 and. Source: www.automobilemag.com
