The import lovers got theirs yesterday…Equal time!
Drive-by Outtake: And One For The Home Team…
– Posted on October 25, 2020
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Curbside Classics Archives
The import lovers got theirs yesterday…Equal time!
Hmmm, looks kind of Dodgy . . . .
It’s hard to tell, but I presume the pre-Sweptline is a pickup? I have been wanting to find a Town Wagon to write up, but other than catching a shot of one in traffic close to ten years ago, I have never come across another. With the others being Ramchargers and not pickups, you have to wonder.
I don’t recall for sure that it’s a pickup but the next time I’m around will try to verify, didn’t realize that a Town Wagon would be special. What I do recall is that the property was pretty clear about not wanting any trespassers (I did some create cropping to avoid the signage), so…
“Hmmm, looks kind of Dodgy…”
I see what you did there!
There was a promotional campaign some time in the Ramcharger’s production which rendered the optional A/C essentially free – probably in the form of a rebate on air-conditioned models, but I surely don’t remember the details.
The related TV commercial involved a number of people dancing around a Ramcharger, talk-singing about its various virtues. One of the lines was “This Ramcharger has a cooler inside!” (referring to the a/c).
I have no idea why I can still hear that line in my head.
The Ramcharger had a deluxe interior option with a console that was marketed as an ice chest. It had a removable insulated liner.
Looks more like a Town Wagon to me. I can sort of halfway see the second window. Also, that style of front end continued on Town Wagons into the mid ’60s after the pickups switched to the weird Exner eyebrow look in ’61; so a surviving Dodge with that front end has a better chance of being a Town Wagon.
My vote goes to Town Wagon as well, based on the other vehicles lounging about.
Maybe even a Town Wagon Power Wagon.
We are WAY over due for a Plymouth Trail Duster here….
Dodge had originally planned for the Town Wagon and Town Panel to adopt the new-for-’61 Exner truck styling, but due to low sales volume of these models and tooling expenses the idea was shelved. What Dodge did do was adapt the Town Wagon and Town Panel to the ’61 chassis, which had the engine relocated rearward and a longer wheelbase. Dodge stretched the hood and front fenders of the ’60 bodies to accommodate the new chassis,and I always thought the result was a bit proportionally challenged.