So I’m sitting in Five Guys with my son, scarfing down a cheeseburger, when I look out over his shoulder through the window and see this parked in front of the Game Stop. Wow! I about spit my cherry-vanilla Coke Zero out my nose.
Yeah, we were in one of those new suburban shopping centers designed like an idealized small-town downtown. They have all the same stores that used to be in malls, except they now all have outside entrances so they sprawl over a larger area, and you have to walk out in the weather to get to them. This is supposed to be better than an enclosed mall? I don’t get it. And I don’t get what brought this Ramcharger out to play. If I owned a truck like this, one that had clearly gotten a lot of TLC to stay looking this nice for this many years, I think I might wait to get it out until the weather was nicer and the roads weren’t salted.
Not that this truck is concours class. The paint on the front driver’s-side fender doesn’t exactly match the rest of the truck, the tailgate decal is a little scuffed, and I’m sure there are blemishes I didn’t notice. But still, when was the last time you saw a Ramcharger at all, let alone one that looked this good?
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Very nice. And the driver is doubly brave taking this out on such a sloppy day without windshield wipers.
I still have a minor flame burning for one of these.
Oh holy cow, you’re right! How did I not notice the missing wipers until you pointed it out?
My memory is that the day was dry, but the roads were wet from previous snow. But if this guy followed someone too closely, spray might hit the windshield.
Probably doesn’t matter much without washer sprayers, which I don’t see on it.
Sprayers on these are probably the thin metal spray tubes that are nestled down in the air intake grille at the base of the windshield.
You are correct about the nozzles, my ram is an 88, although I wonder if these have wiper problems, mine has an obvious rebuilt wiper motor and its pretty weak, especially in a light drizzle when the windshield is somewhat dry, the wiper motor labors heavily to clear the glass.
The Dodge vans had little hoses and nozzles attached to the wiper arms(actually a brilliant way to direct the spray) I’m wondering if the trucks and Ramchargers had something similar.
Love to see a 2WD Version like this one-they are pretty rare
My ’89 Beretta had that feature. Liked it a lot. Even distribution of fluid over the wipeable area.
Wow, that’s cool! I normally like a stock appearance, but that thing is crying out for a bigger set of tires and wheels, even though it looks like a 2WD version.
I think it’s a 2WD version too. I rather like the trim and tidy appearance these wheels and tires give. I’m kind of over the Giant Tired Truck look.
I may agree with that if it didn’t have those huge running boards and mudflaps. 🙂
I gotta say that I really don’t like that “2wd with hubcaps, whitewalls and aluminum running boards” style which seems common on Midwestern trucks with older owners. Probably very practical with slushy/dirty roads, but, dare I say it, seems to emasculate the trucks. Not that I’m a fan of over-tired brodozers either.
This style is VERY common in the Midwest, and in west TN where I grew up. It seems like the older guys who owned some of these needed or wanted something more than a ‘regular car’ like the Lincolns, Oldsmobiles, etc that youd usually expect a grampa to be rolling in, yet that style was more their bag than a full on beefy truck. So you get these ‘transitional’ looking rigs.
I always think of an “old man truck” as being an optioned-up regular cab longbed 2wd, but a similarly optioned 2-door SUV has to be a close second.
I like the idea. Kinda says “I used to be a farmer, but now I’m retired”.
The ‘Grandpa’s Pimp Truck’ look–just needs the old vertical, blue-tinted Deflecta-Shield for full effect.
I agree that it needs at least a little more tire. On those, the small wheel size makes the body look exaggeratedly big and heavy. And the whitewalls just seem all wrong.
There is one of these 2wd Ramchargers (what an awesome name, incidentally) floating around between the little towns of Westphalia and Freeburg just south of me. I suspect it once belonged to a coworker during my first tour in Jefferson City in the ’96 to ’98 era…same color, same location, on a rig that was never plentiful in the first place.
I drove a fleet grade 4wd ’87 back in the early ’90s. Tough as nails and it scoffed at abuse. If looking for a pre-1990 pickup, it would be a Dodge any day.
It would interesting to know how old these tires are. Whitewalls on anything are tough to find anymore, but perhaps it’s easier on these 15″ sizes.
White wall tires can be bought in Albuquerque, NM for $50 per tire extra. This was for my last car, a ’95 Olds 98 Regency Elite.
That’s quite a premium. Were they always that expensive?
I used to buy tires sized like this for my old ’70 C10, and had the opposite problem. They almost always came in white wall, so I would just get them installed black side out.
I hope this truck continues to get the care it has had over the years, and is just out for a little exercise.
Bought an ’82 Ramcharger brand new,,,had for six years, until our three boys got too big to fit comfortably in the back seat!
Granddad bought a loaded ’76 SE new. Asked for 2WD, since he was towing a travel trailer, but got 4WD anyway. He never removed the removable top.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if the feature Ramcharger had a slant-six? It’s a possibility, especially being 2WD.
The /6 was gone around ’86, replaced by the 3.9 V6. The crosshair grill and those hubcaps give this away as at least that new. I know the /6 was available on 1st gen ‘pop top’ R/Cs but Im thinking the 318 was standard after the 1981 refresh.
1987 was the last year of the 225 in the Ram pickups, but not sure it was still available in the Ramcharger.
Not according to the ’87 RC brochure. 318 Std.
http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/ChryslerTrucksVans/1987%20Trucks%20and%20Vans/1987%20Dodge%20Ramcharger%20Brochure/1987%20Dodge%20Ramcharger-05.html
Allpar shows ’87 as the last year for the 225 also. But I think any that DID exist were spillovers from ’86. The reason I think that is because the Dakota came out in ’87 with the 3.9 as the optional motor, replacing the 225 as the base in the Rams. FWIW, the 3.9 was only available on 2wd Rams, 4x4s were V-8 only up until recently when the Pentastar 3.6 came out. You can get a 4×4 3.6 Ram.
I occasionally see a Ramcharger parked at a gas station near me, but it’s in nowhere near as good condition as this one.
Even when new, these were sort of oddballs; back before the term “SUV” came into use, these types of vehicles were often generically called “blazers” or “broncos,” as if forgetting that the Ramcharger existed at all.
And I know what you mean about those outdoor shopping malls. I think the official name for them is “lifestyle center,” which makes me gag. And as perplexing as those things are in warm climates, it’s baffling to think about why they’re built in cold climates, where getting inside is a major benefit of a Mall. 20 years from now, I bet the “experts” who built these things will be saying they should be torn down and replaced by something else.
I live where we get the occasional -20F wind chill, and the nearby outdoor mall like this does not seem to make much sense on such days. During better weather though, I’ll give it a sense of vague novelty over the old enclosed malls with their predictable food courts and throngs of teens. Ours includes some more obscure chain restaurants along with a few local shops and restaurants. Overall, it does do very well, and the older enclosed malls have struggled to keep up. I wonder if there are some real savings in the design since you don’t have to build, heat, cool and maintain as much common indoor space. The concept may not last, but it seems to do well at this time.
Traditional malls are struggling with a spiral that keeps getting worse. Traffic goes down, stores leave, traffic goes down, stores leave, etc.
I think that the “lifestyle centers” are the analog to younger folks who have a desire to live in the city instead of out in the suburbs where their parents lived. And when they are in the burbs, they don’t want to shop where their parents shopped.
Kids go online to get “stuff” instead of hanging out at malls as in the 80’s. The allure is gone to go to them, so many are closing and getting torn down. The bigger malls still attract, but the B class ones are dying.
To be fair, I was a kid/teen during the tail end our mall’s heyday which I’d say lasted into the mid 00s, in 4 years hanging out there with friends, I all I got was a Zippo, once. That’s pretty much the extent of it as far as us wandering around as a group of consumers. Now they and I have gone there to buy things on separate occasions, but RARELY did it happen when we were all there together. It was really just a hangout.
Problem with enclosed shopping malls is their air quality sucks and you’re surrounded by people(not anymore though!). Flu shots were invented because of these places!
Interestingly, the most successful enclosed mall in my area, Woodfield in Schaumburg, HAD a competing enclosed mall right across the street throughout the 90s, but it was a complete flop( I thought it was cool though), but later it got heavily redeveloped into the “Streets of Woodfield”, an outdoor lifestyle center based on the heavily modified bones of the original mall. Both seem to be doing ok these days. I think having that choice is important to climates like ours, I have little to no desire to go to a “lifestyle center” on cold snowy days like today, nor do I want to be trapped inside a gloomy bunker in July.
Yeah, Woodfield is hanging in there, but others are dying off. Being by two Interstates helps though.
No doubt. That kind of proximity is helpful in general. The more convenient mall to me is Stratford Square about 10 miles south of there and it very much is on terminal decline, with the only roads flanking being little suburban ones, therefore it’s only patrons are from the area it imminently surrounds, who more and more prefer to shop elsewhere.
A mall in a good-sized town not 35 miles away from me just closed down–few tears were shed, since it had been on life support since about 2008, but along with it went the only cinema in that town!
I think there are a couple drivers for lifestyle centers:
– They discourage teenagers from congregating the way they do in malls, being annoying and bothering people while not spending much money
-They are easier for actual shopping, if you want to go to a specific store, pick up some stuff, and leave, without wandering through a giant mall. Especially if you are going to a store where you might buy something large/heavy – there’s one near me with a Staples I go to pretty regularly, and who wants to lug a case of paper through an enclosed mall
Around here there is one reason that it is being done and that is that for a number of cites that is all that they will allow to be built. With the nearest city they even try to make strip malls look this way. They require the building to be built right on the road and fill that side with fake windows or windows that the business proceeds to cover so that they have a “back room”. The parking and entrance is on the side away from the street. It makes for low traffic for the stores and many do not last and others have caught on to the fact that it is very very bad for business. One such strip mall sat completely empty for over a year before filling one of the 4 spaces.
In another city they did something similar with requiring the buildings to be built at the street. So unless you get real lucky you have to park in the garage which can be several blocks away from your destination. That one still has a number of spaces that have never had a tenant 4 or 5 years later and a number of the business that haven’t closed are up for sale.
Meanwhile the traditional mall not that far away still does booming business.
There is a certain simplicity to this design that became very appealing when these were sold along side K cars. Nothing is contrived, there are no plastic filler panels, no compromised trim bits trying to make the vehicle something it isn’t, and some visual heft alongside what would have barely counted as compact cars when the Ramcharger hit the market in 1974. The wheel covers (wheels?) on this are probably correct, but their ’80s modern look is a little out of sync with the almost 1960’s sensibility.
A coworker had one of these in the mid 1980s, after gas prices had leveled off and the economy had picked up. Still, the Achilles heel on these were Chrysler’s old tech drivetrains hampered with pollution controls. His had the 360 and it went through an astonishing amount of fuel to get anywhere. Eventually he decided it just wasn’t working for him and he moved on to something else.
Ours had the 318 & automatic…don’t recall gas mileage, but back then I guess I wasn’t too worried about it. The 318 seemed adequate and we did tow a 17 foot travel trailer with it, but the short wheelbase made it less than ideal as a tow vehicle. I know they were prone to rust especially in front of the rear wheels.
I read that in 1988, the 318 in the trucks and vans went to single point fuel injection with the 360 making a switch a year later. The Ramcharger lasted up until 1993 with the V8s getting the “Magnum” treatment.
Wow! Great find Jim!
Suburban shopping centers like this have been all they’ve been building for the last decade or so here in Massachusetts. Enclosed malls are largely a thing of the past, save for some long-established ones that have received major renovations in attempt to become more upscale.
Personally, I’m a fan of the “outdoor malls” as I can just go in and out of the stores I need to without getting stuck behind slow walkers and having to deal with crowds of often annoying people who occupy enclosed malls. Plus, cutting across parkinglots often result in some cool car finds.
As my grandmother would always say, “Go get some fresh air, it will do you some good” 🙂
I have experience only with this center, but parking is a problem. I usually end up having to park *behind* these buildings, making the walk stupid long in the weather to get to the store — no better than parking at an enclosed mall and walking inside. I dunno, YMMV, and you kids get off my lawn.
I think a major advantage of those fake downtown malls is that the developer doesn’t have to build the enclosed mall area. It’s all about the $$$. I’ll stick to living in an actual small town that has an actual downtown with actual non-chain stores.
This is a very nice Ramcharger, I can’t even recall the last time I saw one. About 15 years ago a co-worker bought one for towing his racing trailer, the short wheelbase made the whole rig wag down the highway so he sold it and bought a pickup.
The whitewalls, hubcaps and running boards make me cringe somewhat on this, could be a good application for some white Jackman rims.
Was there anybody else in that time frame that had a full rear lift gate (hatch) like the Ramcharger did?
I know Ford used a tailgate on the Bronco and on a Suburban you could get either a tailgate style or “ambulance doors” as they called the swinging doors divided in the middle. (Dang I miss ambulance doors on GM SUVs, they were so practical.)
Made of fiberglass to boot!
The International Traveler had a hatch instead of the tailgate and separate window that lifted up. It too was fiberglass so it weighed a ton and was near impossible to lift once the gas springs had leaked. It was also prone to cracking. Quite a few people have converted them to a tail gate and lift up window. Thankfully the way IH designed it there is a natural place to cut the hatch where it will meet a tail gate sourced from a Travel Top, Cab Top or Terra. The handle and mechanism from your basic canopy completes the set up.
Wow nice find! Takes me right back to my first job in HS as a grocery bagger. These werent as common as Broncos Suburbans and Blazers but they were around. Old school sports utilities and f/s pickups of this vintage often wore a similar beat down, “optioned by gramps” look in my area. The mid-south and apparently midwest older gentlemen had similar taste, I guess. Surprised this isnt wearing tutone paint.
As clean as this is, it’s OOZING potential. These all-steel 2nd gen R/Cs lend themselves to the muscle truck look, in 2wd form. I can see it stripped of badging/doodads and painted a solid color. A slight rake with fat tires out back to give it the right stance. Of course if it looks like it means business, then it has to walk the walk. A beefed up 360 would be the logical choice.
I think one big advantage to those outdoor malls is that you can see all the stores when driving by. I couldn’t tell you half the stores in my local mall.
Where I live we used to have canopies over downtown sidewalks to protect from rain, sun and snow. An 80’s idea I believe. Once those were ripped out downtown became a lot more vibrant.
Now if you’d found a Plymouth Trailduster…
Of the three similar full-size SUVs (back then, not even called SUVs yet, probably), this is probably the one I’d choose, even though the basic design dated back to the early ’70s. I wish Chrysler had been able to develop a Ramcharger from the 1994-up truck design.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a new enclosed shopping mall open up – you can thank the internet (maybe Jeff Bezos most of all) for that, among other things. Some are still doing well, with careful management and some luck – South Coast Plaza in Orange County is one, and Washington Square in suburban Portland seems to be doing OK. On the other hand, many are not – Lloyd Center in Portland is in a slump and not likely to ever return to being a major retail destination. (The company I work for is taking over part of the mall for office space, which isn’t a good sign for retail, though at least I can walk to the food court for lunch if I want.)
Souttof the border, there was a 90s era R/C. 2wd only, and i think the split quarter window looks wonky. Reminds me of an Explorer Sport morphed with a Durango:
These Mexican RC’s shared a rear hatch with the 96-00 Dodge Caravan.
There was also a ‘TrailCharger’ conversion. I thought Choo Choo or Centurion did them the first time I saw one, but it was some other outfit that is now out of biz. I like it better than the Mexi variant…very clean looking rigs. And some were 4wd!
My brother and wife had a ’79 Plymouth Trail Duster, got it as a left over ‘new car’ in spring 1980. Only had it 3 more years, the wiring shorted out and they just stopped making payments. [not a good idea, btw]
I watched them build Lloyd Center from my schoolroom window at the old Holiday School on 7th Ave. I watched them bulldoze block after block of houses and then start building. My mom said I would give her a progress report every day when I came home from school. Lloyd Center was the largest shopping mall in the world when it opened. It became a magical place at the holidays with it’s many live animal exhibits including goats, sheep, reindeer, ponies, donkeys, turkeys and other animals. They destroyed it when they enclosed it as the outdoor ambiance was part of the allure. The smell of Joe Browns carmelcorn, the tobacco smell from the Pipe Shop and the other smells from various restaurants made for a wondrous assault on the olfactory senses. If I close my eyes I can still sense it in my memory.
Still a few of them rolling around Northern Illinois (Dodge country is centered around the Belvedere plant) and Iowa in various states of decomposition. Not too many 2wd ones though.
Very nice .
I nearly bought a ’79 Plymouth Trailduster , CalTrans. bought loads of them heavily optioned tow package , AC , automatic , beefy suspension etc.and they were nice light duty trucks IMO .
Sadly too short a bed to carry any Motocycle so I never got one .
I did like the ’79 Dodge D-100 short bed heavily optioned fleet bed pickups though , I bought one and liked it so much I bought and sold quite a few at a tidy profit for several years , they’re all long gone now .
-Nate
When I was about 8 (1986) I saw one of these.
It was the first time I felt that feeling of “that is the coolest thing ever! I must own one!” It took me until 2010 to make that a reality.
Mine is rusty and dented, the interior is weathered and torn.
For me that does not matter one lick. My truck is Wicked. Every time I drive it it puts a smile on my face.
The sound of a tuned 360 through twin cherry bombs with an h pipe is heaven. I have people comment on how good it sounds every time I fire her up.
Mine runs on propane, which keeps costs down, and boosts performance if done correctly.
As a 4×4 it is almost unbeatable. This is where a rough body pays off!
I have had experienced off roaders going “are you sure?” Or “holy crap!!!” While I bashed through or up or over things that would stop most jeeps dead. Power and durability are very handy.
It would still be my daily if my wife hadn’t put her foot down and demanded I get something “safer” to cart our daughter around in.
I am not sure my silverado is safer, but it is not an argument you want to start. The chevy is better as a truck, and possibly cheaper to drive.
Still, were it up to me, RC all the way baby!
The convertible first generation of these looks amazing. I have come close to picking one up a few times, but condition or price always held me back. The post 1980 enclosed body is sort of cool, but no pulling the top off and heading down to the beach!
Me too! An open top R/C is one of my must-haves. And while Id prefer a jacked up 4×4, a 2wd muscle truck version would be nearly as awesome. I doubt Id even have a roof for it.
I like the design of these much better than the equivalent Broncos and Blazers.
We just got back from Mexico, where there are plenty still on the roads. Unlike the US, I suspect these were more popular south of the border than the other two. Oddly, I didn’t spot any of the newer Ramchargers (the kind that we never got in the US).
Ram Chargers turn up every now and then on the north Florida Craigslists, but you never seem to see them on the road. For that matter, you rarely see a pickup truck on the road that is more than 15 years old.
I’ve never driven one of these but did drive a couple of the 70s and 80s D100s while in the Navy. All had the slant 6 and “three on the tree” (we don’t need no stinking automatics) and were actually quite lively when unloaded/lightly loaded.
And my experience is that the plainer-looking/single color RCs are 2wd.
I’ve always liked this generation Dodge Ramcharger. What I’ve never understood, and therefore don’t like, is that it was never available with a diesel engine, not even a baby Cummins 4bt.
2WD Ram Chargers were virtually two door station wagons. Used to see a few in the 80s/90s driven by elderly men who saw them as a ‘new wagon’. White walls and hubcaps make them far from ‘off road’ trucks.
Our country is so fickle. In the late 60’s the new enclosed shopping malls were all the newest rage. No more dealing with inclement weather, all your shopping could be done under one roof, and you could even grab a bite to eat while there at your favorite restaurant. Now, those enclosed shopping malls are “out”. Give me a break. Yes, I have a very nice outdoor shopping center right near my house that has endured through the enclosed mall era for many years. Yet, when it is 15 degrees out and slushy or better yet 100 degrees and humid, I still prefer my enclosed mall. I like having the choice. Everything has good and bad points, right?
As far as the Ramcharger is concerned, I haven’t seen one that nice in years. For some reason I picture Dodge making a retro version of this vehicle. I bet it would sell well, too!
Agreed. There is one near me that started out as an open-air shopping center in 1959. Around 1969-70, during the era of “mall fever”, it was rebuilt into a modern mall with two department store anchors. Then, after going downhill for a decade, it was finally demolished and rebuilt as – an open air shopping center. Oops, I meant Lifestyle Center.
Crazy, isn’t it?
There is one that appears to be driven not very far from my house. I live in redneckville so see all sort of old stuff. Have had several acquaintances that drove them and they generally were pleased. They were all also 2wd with 318 or 225. Although I need 4wd, I drive it’s Japanese cousin today and I think this type vehicle makes a lot of sense. I think MoparRocker74 was exactly right about the demographic these appealed to. Describes me perfectly.
Nice find of a nice vehicle that should still be made in some iteration. Makes some sort of sense that the Durango is a descendent (although tarted up somewhat).
Neat! I really like the look of this truck. I could see myself driving something like this – if I lived in America.
Great looking truck. Always liked these, the Bronco and Blazer/early Tahoe (SWB)
IMHO, It’s a shame they got axed, and kind of odd that now every car maker builds a dozen SUVs/CUVs or whatever, but not one real hardcore no frills like that three.
BTW, nice to see that Bronco on Longmire…
Judging by the paint mismatch on the fender it’s likely this Ramcharger rammed something harder than itself at some point. In the early 90’s prior to the 94 redesign, Dodge only held 18% of the domestic truck market. The market for this type utility vehicle was also in decline. Of the big three,none more so than Ramcharger. 91 sales 5606, 93 sales, a mere 3900. The dealer I worked at sold 2 the final yr. I’m guessing that’s why we did’nt see a new Ram version of it. Maybe our subject vehicle, parked at Game Stop, is now driven by the grandson of the original owner. It’s definitely a grandpa mobile. Or perhaps grandpa was inside the store, walking around aimlessly twidleing his thumbs for an hour while his young grandson figures out how to blow his birthday cash. Been there,done that.
Nice example. Back when they were still in production, I recall reading a small blurb about these things in C/D, I think – where it was stated that Chrysler had polled owners of the Ramcharger/TrailDuster as to how often they took off their rear roof sections. As I recall, a very large percentage stated that they never removed their roof, a somewhat smaller number said that they took them off now and again – and, finally, there was a single-digit-sized group who were unaware that it was even removable.
Heads or tails?
The mismatched paint says this has been out of the weather for quite some time. It looks like the base model as my eyes cannot see if it has Royal SE anywhere on the logo. Two tone paint and reflective glass in the back were on most I saw when they were new. Even with the 318, mileage was single digits most days.
Had one of these, a ’73, orange and white, 2 wheel drive, with the slant 6. Traded it in on a new ’78 F-150.
My dad had one, a 1991 bought in 1998. Two toned blue paint with silver allow wheels. Gray interior. I learned to drive in it. Dad kept it for himself up until about 2008. Sold to my neighbor and then bought it back a while later and gave it to my brother. It was still a runner in 2013 at 260k. My brother got it impounded though and never got it out. Hellova vehicle.
I’ve always had a hankering for a Ram Charger. Two gentlemen at work when I was way younger had them. 1984’s maybe? One was 2wd and a city truck every option that he could buy. The other was 4×4 owned by a outdoorsman and it was a beast if there ever was one, jacked up heavy duty aftermarket springs and shocks A/T tires and a winch, he always went into the bush to hunt and fish and he needed something to get there and back. Wouldn’t do to get stuck in Northern Ontario bush in the fall, it’ll end badly.. Always brought him home so we could have our deer and moose eat feeds at work?. Me I was stuck driving the family station wagon my lot in life with kids!