| When you write about one Malaise Era Dodge pickup, you might as well follow it up with another on the very next day. These days, crew cabs are nearly ubiquitous on big pickups, but the idea of a truck with a back seat in the cab was still something of a novelty in the middle 1970s, so this truck is an interesting truck history lesson. The idea of using a 3/4-ton pickup truck as a commuter to one's suburban office-cubicle job hadn't taken over the country in 1974, and so these trucks were made for hauling construction supplies and large sweaty dudes with hardhats and Thermoses full of bad coffee. Thus, luxury touches were minimal, and the space behind the front seat was intolerably cramped by 21st-century standards. Also intolerable by current standards would be a mere 180 horsepower— which is what you got out of this smog-strangled 360— for such a big vehicle. With a granny-gear 4-speed and a 4.10 gear out back (if we are to believe this truck's equipment-identification sticker), however, this '74 probably did just fine hauling cinder blocks around a job site. Those days are over for this truck. Next stop: The Crusher!
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com |
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