(first posted 2/17/2013) Chevrolet redefined the full-size SUV market in 1969 with their seminal K-5 Blazer. By shortening their full-size 4×4 pickup and giving it a removable hard top, they avoided all the extra cost that Ford essentially wasted with their compact gen-1 Bronco (CC here). The Blazer crushed the Bronco in sales, and Dodge quickly took notice. For 1974, Dodge created their own “Blazer”, an almost perfect facsimile of the real thing–and in doing so, charged ahead of Ford, which wouldn’t Blazerize the Bronco until 1978. All of which makes me speculate: Did this Ramcharger actually outsell the Bronco during those years? Quite possibly; if so, it was probably the only time in the modern era a Dodge truck ever outsold a Ford–and even if not, they still beat Ford to the big-boy SUV party.
I don’t know where to dig up those sales stats, but I’ll bet one of you does. Dodge executed the Blazer formula well enough, as eventually would Ford. In retrospect, it was an all-too obvious formula, and I’m somewhat surprised that Ford didn’t take this approach in the first place. Of course, there’s something to be said for the compact dimensions of the original Bronco in tight, off-road situations, but based on extra width alone, how often would a full-size SUV not make it through?
Yes, the entire steel upper-body was removable, as this picture shows. But only on the first-year 1974 models did the window frame come off along with the top.
If you look closely at the door frame in this picture, the joint where it has been cut, just behind the vent window, is apparent. That gave it a true convertible look, as seen two photos up.
Starting in 1975, the window frame remained intact, which gave this appearance. I suspect there were “issues” with the original approach.
It should be noted that the steel top was strictly optional on these early Ramchargers. One might assume the rather flimsy-looking soft top was standard, but even that might not be a safe bet. Get this: The Ramcharger came standard with only a driver’s seat! It was a one-passenger vehicle, unless one ponied up for the passenger-side stool. And of course, a rear seat was also optional.
Since our featured Ramcharger doesn’t have the 1974’s removable front-window frame, this is either a ’75 or ’76 (the ’77 got a new grille). Either way, these early Ramchargers aren’t exactly common anymore.
Speaking of rare, I haven’t seen a Plymouth Trail Duster version in years. This was as close as modern-era Plymouth came to offering a real truck, but despite the SUV boom by 1981 the Trail Duster had been swept into the dust heap of history. It just wasn’t going to happen…
So what did the Ramcharger (and TD) have going for them? Well, under the hood, some pretty stout power trains: everything from the 225 cubic inch (3.7-liter) slant six up to the big 440 V8. Most were powered by the 318 and 360 cubic inch versions of the LA engine. There was a choice of a Loadflite TF-727A, or a New Process NP-435 granny-gear four speed manual transmission, but in all cases power was transmitted full-time to all four wheels via a NP-203 transfer case.
Needless to say, when Ford’s full-size Bronco arrived in 1978, the Ramcharger was quickly relegated back to Dodge’s usual status of third-place wannabe. In 1981 the Ramcharger was updated with a fixed roof and large rear side windows. We’ve covered that second generation here. It soldiered along until 1993, by which time the whole genre had long since moved to more civilized four-door SUVs. The Ramcharger was by then a living relic of another time.
Another weekend, another snowstorm. Gimme the feature truck with a plow and a thermos full of Dunkin’. Don’t paint it or even wash it!
“Mr. Plow, that’s my name, that name again is Mr. Plow.”
Senor Plow!
Ha, that was from the days when the Simpsons were actually relevant.
I guess…to decide the merits of that truck, one needs to decide what it’s FOR.
If it’s for riding over jeep trails, to fish or fornicate or sleep with the stars…it’s all good. Dodge trucks were second to none in sheer brawn in those days.
If it was to plow snow or make it to work in white-outs…beware of the tinworm. Bad as Fords of that era rusted, the Dodges rusted FASTER! A seemingly-impossible feat.
The Fords were probably the best of the bunch (least worst?) – my dad had a ’79 GMC and I can attest that the Chevys rusted like it was an Olympic sport.
I know they’re still number three (four, behind Toyota?), but I think Dodge trucks are very cool-looking today and seem to me like great competition for the others.
2011 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn: (wallpaper)
Number three for sure. Dodge is well behind Ford and GM, but all three domestics play in the majors. Despite bringing out true “full size” products, Toyota and Nissan can’t seem to break out of the minors.
Separating fleet/commercial sales I would say that the Chevy Dodge Ford are fairly close in the consumer market. Chevy does a lot of fleet work especially conversions Ford does a lot of fleet work a bit less conversions and Dodge does very little commercial.
Dodge (technically) ended production of trucks, as of 2010 (I think) they became RAM trucks.
As a high schooler reading Popular Science, I recall reading the very interesting and humorous reason behind why the Ramcharger’s roof was welded in place, starting with the 1981 models:
http://bit.ly/XZmQFo
Given the size of the top, it doesn’t surprise me that five percent of owners never removed it. What does surprise me is that 12 percent didn’t even know it was removable!
That’s interesting, when you think about it. The Blazer’s removable lid was fiberglass, which would have the advantage of (relatively) light weight. And having taken a Jeep YJ glass top off…I can tell you, it’s not easy if you don’t have reliable help. To handle a STEEL top over twice the size…I can’t imagine it.
Still it seems, standing outside at least…that something was lost in ending the option of making it an open wagon as needs or wants require.
The thing is, and I have owned a K5, is that yeah, the top comes off, but its an all in choice, if you dont have a softtop or anything else, and it does take several people to do it, plus where do you put it once you have taken it off?
You plan. I had a brace and a sling I’d use with my YJ top; use a block setup, with two sets of ropes to hoist it up to the ceiling of the garage and park under it. Just be careful walking in the garage when the Jeep was out.
I expect the same could be done for a Blazer or Ramcharger top…with the Ramcharger, you’d need to be careful where you fastened the anchors for the pulley-blocks.
Or…there’s always sawhorses in the back yard…if you can find three friends to carry it back and later put it on again.
As for not having a soft top…not as big a deal as you’d think. IF you’ve prepped the interior…carpet has to go; bare metal or cut some indoor/outdoor patio carpet.
Have some tarp that fits over the seat, or seat and steering wheel. Best not to get ambitious and put a tarp over the whole rig; those tend to be windblown, damaging the paint and then blowing away when they’re needed most. Just wrap the seats; wrap the steering column, use some glued Velcro tabs and have a shield for the instrument panel (my Jeep’s panel was weatherproof) and you can leave it open however long you like.
Absent snow, of course.
Yeah, I know, but I still had carpet and cloth seats, It was a neat gimmick, but you never really did it, and you needed a few people to take it off and put it on, it was like having a boat, everyone wants to party, but no one wants to stay and clean up.
“you’d need to be careful where you fastened the anchors for the pulley-blocks.”
Reminds me of my grandfather who would hang the 20′ double deck stock crate from the roof trusses of his shed when he wanted to use the truck without it. He tried that once with a new shed and the folded steel roof purlin well, folded.
The old shed was built from welded pipe without any engineering calculations of the type that make things only as strong as they need to be, and he was used to things being over-built. As an example, when a semi trailer damaged the cattle grid at the entry to the property (which had been built before trucks that heavy were in use) he built a replacement from a couple of lengths of railway track!
Exactly. As I said earlier, it doesn’t surprise me that owners seldom took them off: Based on my experience with two vehicles I’ve previously owned, if the top can’t be stored in the vehicle once it’s removed, it tends to stay in place.
What’s really funny is that seven out of eight owners didn’t even know it could be removed. You’d have thought that between the salesman and the owner’s manual (both of which were less wordy in those days), more would have known about this feature.
I think it’s just that auto purchases are an emotionally-based decision and people have busy lives. So…they never really LOOK at their vehicles…SEE that…PERCEIVE that. Understand that hey, with two hours’ work, I can have an open-cab pickup truck! Get that lumber hauled, without needing to rent a U-Haul.
Why didn’t the salesman point it out? Probably a lot of them didn’t know themselves. I dont’ think too many auto salesmen are auto buffs; many of them are pure mercenaries.
Its not that really a huge selling point, the original 4-Runners did it too, and I hardly ever saw one of those with the roof off, and within a few years the feature was gone from all the 2 door suvs, the ones that were even still left in production.
My mother had a ’78 Blazer for a while, and my recollection is that the top got removed exactly twice.
The idea was to remove it in the spring and use the soft top in the rare occasions it rained or you needed a closed experience and install the top in the winter. People mostly built little stands to set them on.
Steel is the way to go it is lighter than Fiberglass. The Scout II Traveltop and Cabtop are steel while the Traveler and Terra tops are Fiberglass the steel tops are much lighter. Yes the Traveler’s top is longer but the increase in weight is more significant than the increase in length.
Actually JPT, I had an original 74 Trailduster as a teen. It had the full removable steel top on it. At that time I was 5’8″ and 125 lbs and used my back to lift the top and just walked off the gate with it. I had a buddy with a 72 K5 that had a fiberglass top. It took four men to get that top off his truck. I now have two 74’s and a 78. I love these rigs! They are and have always been bullet proof… but not rust proof. LOL
There was an option to order it from the factory with absolutely no top at all. Many companies were making soft tops at the time, and you would buy your own and install it.
For many years I have had an irrational desire to own one of these…Not any particular model year, just a Ramcharger…I suspect it would be a heart (and wallet) breaking experience and so-far have fought off the urge.
Lord, grant me strength!
Me too. I looked closely at a blue one in very good condition once, but talked myself out of it.
Portland St., Toronto, just north of Adelaide (and Jimmy’s Coffee) there is a Ramcharger, gently decaying, with Nova Scotia Personalized Plate “FREE”.
I suppose it gets moved from time to time and it made Streetview!
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=portland+street+toronto+map&hl=en&ll=43.646029,-79.400661&spn=0.009378,0.01929&hnear=Portland+St,+Toronto,+Ontario,+Canada&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=43.646103,-79.400705&panoid=VuD-7bZuzKatVMUWI0itCA&cbp=12,71.63,,0,13.01
Knew I had a picture
Thats a very old idea revivied, many years ago a mate had a car configured that way it was a 1928 Ford Roadster Utility great old bomb unpeel the roof and instant convertable no 4wd obviously but it was fairly competent off road with light weight and good ground clearance 21inch wheels helped there.
My Random Thoughts About This:
Man, I don’t know how it drives, but what a great looking rig. Not the red/white one, the blue one with the big ass wheels. Somehow, it just looks right.
Bet there’s alot of play in that steering wheel…
I only remember these as being govt issue – forest rangers mainly, in light green.
Plymouth made one of these??
As for removable tops, some guy who works in my neighborhood parks his 80 K5 Blazer convertible in front of my house. No roof. He just puts a tarp over it when it rains.
In the mid-eighties it seemed the US Government must have had a contract with Dodge for trucks, vans and SUV’s like this one for at our Coast Guard Station we had the Ramcharger to haul our trailerable small boats and the big van to carry station personnel as required. Being an owner of a 84 Bronco II at the time, I was struck with how great a contrast the build and materials quality of the Dodge was compared to my little Bronco. Just an air of cheapness inside and out. But it performed as required with not much downtime from what I recall.
Later, the USCG turned to Ford. In my later service, I noted that same feel of cheap quality sneeking into the Govt issue Ford vehicles, this being the Jacques Nasser era in Dearborn. Oh, and an unquenchable thirst for fuel….
Nevertheless, this Dodge Ramcharger looks great and it brings back feelings of nostalgia for a time when I was much younger and the hair was a lot more brown then gray! 🙂
Chrysler got much of the government bids at that time as a “distressed” producer. There might have been some requirement that they do so, also, tied into the loan-guarantee fiasco. Prior to that, American Motors used to get the bulk of the government money…I still remember, a downtown underground parking area I used in the early 1980s. Must have been the last Concords manufactured, twenty of them with U.S. GOVT license tags on them.
Don’t know why Ford got it later – lowest bid, maybe.
Most gov’t bids were low cost I don’t remember knowing about any built in requirements to use a particular brand other than the preferences of the agencies that used them. GM Ford Chrysler and AMC all bid on various fleet packages but some more than others. Ford did not do as much with passenger cars until the 1990s due to capacity, then GM came out with the 91 Caprice and many police began to prefer Crown Vics. AMC got a lot of bids simply due to price – AMC was willing to accept large numbers of lower margin fleet sales simply to keep the factories running.
I would not characterize the 1980 loan guarantees as a fiasco, whether you agreed with the premise of them or not, they worked better than expected and Chrysler paid them back famously early.
Typically Federal government fleet cars tend to be runout models, but the very first 2012 Ford Focus I ever saw in the metal had US Government plates and was driven by a military recruiter. Beta-testing the PowerShift transmission, maybe?
The US Government does not want to be accused of making “The Big” bigger. That’s why the Government used to purchase AMC or Chrysler vehicles.
There’s a Trailduster on eBay:
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=190796906291&index=0&nav=SEARCH&nid=55812827895
This, like the Blazer and later Bronco are not true SUVs. True SUVs have dedicated platforms and bodies that make them narrower than their pickup based distant cousins. It does make a huge difference in off-roadability.
The original Bronco and the Jeepster Comando were direct responses to the Scout’s popularity and followed pretty true to it’s mold.
Yes the original Blazer did sell well but it sold to people who liked the idea of going off road not to people who did use them as intended.
By your definitition, very few vehicles classed as SUV’s are actually SUV’s then. The K-5 Blazer and Ramcharger are still SUV’s, they just weren’t of the same formula as the Scout and Bronco. Just becuase there size made them less capable off-road, doesn’t mean they are not an SUV.
Yup there are very few true SUVs still being made. It is not my fault that both the mfgs and consumers call every pickup based station wagon a SUV.
So what are the K-5 Blazer, 78+ Bronco, and Ramcharger?
I think the majority still classify them as SUV’s regardless of what your take is on them.
What a breathtakingly-idiotic statement.
We try to discourage using such strong language here, but I’m afraid I have to agree with you.
If Ramchargers steer like the Power Wagon pickups I drove from that era, or really any power steering equipped Chrysler, it is pure slop. I still want one though.
Ford didn’t take this approach with the original Bronco because the original Bronco was meant to go head to head with International’s Scout, and Jeep’s CJ.
These are around. When I was in Ann Arbor MI beginning of last week, I saw a late 80s Ramcharger sitting in a parking lot (with a little bit of snow around) but it did not have a plow so it was transportation not working. It was black and in decent shape considering the climate.
I spotted an article from old Car & Driver writen in 2000 where the Ramcharger got a longer lifespan in Mexico ending around 2001. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/dodge-has-a-big-suv-but-south-of-the-border-only-mini-test-road-test
When I was in high school, I had a friend who had access to his dad’s Ramcharger. I don’t remember the year but his was a 360 V-8 with Torqueflight. As teenagers, we used to burn around logging roads at simply insane speeds. It’s amazing he never killed himself or me as a passenger for that matter. The Dodge withstood this Duke’s of Hazzard antics astonishingly well. If I recall, it was also permanent all wheel drive, which certainly would have helped keep in on the road.
The family also had a last year Dart Brougham two door, with 318, a really nice car. My buddy would do the same things with it as the Ramcharger. Equally amazing was how this car also survived him.
Later we both got fast motorcycles and got up to insane antics; once he hid our bikes in his girlfriend’s barn while the cops scoured the valley for us. We were going so fast they couldn’t ID the bikes!
My dad had a 75-ish Ramcharger that we drove to Mexico when it was new (from CO). I remember that when in Mex, it was such a new vehicle at that time, some local men just opened the doors and got in side it to have a look around. We were across a street wondering WTF. They did no harm, but it must have been a very new to them truck at the time. We drove our Ramcharger all over the west until the second gas crisis hit.
First, I cannot tell you the last time I saw one of these early Ramchargers, and second, it is stunning to see one with so little rust-through. These were not good against tinworm.
One of these with a 360 would be a lot of fun. A friend’s family had a 73 Dodge MaxiVan with the 360/Loadflite, and it was plenty fast. I would imagine this would be similar.
I still consider “Ramcharger” one of the great truck/SUV names. “Only at your Dodge Testosterone Store!”
Actually, you know, JP, every time I drive something from the 1970’s, I think back to when I first drove that type of vehicle. I find that they are not nearly as fast as I remember them to be!
True enough. But that’s because modern cars are so much faster than even the fast stuff from back in the day. New cars still are half the fun of the stuff from the past though, in my opinion.
A lot of the fun is in the novelty.
When I was a kid, when this Ram was new (and before that) I’d occasionally ride in friends’ old cars or trucks. Long story…but someone had a 1966 International; someone else had a 1963 Chevrolet panel truck. And we’d think, Geez, those are fun trucks! – and get in our middle-seventies transportation appliances.
Now, those same rigs…are the fun rides. And, you know what? I think, had a Time Machine been available…we’d have had a lot of fun with TODAY’s cars – especially with the power they have now.
A lot of the novelty is that the hardcore vehicles back then, whether a muscle car or sports car or a SUV, let you know they were hardcore by the methods which the manufacturers used to outfit them for heavy duty using the technology of the time. That meant stiff suspension, heavy steering and brakes, less sound deadening, notchy shifting, heavy clutches, short gearing, noisy exhausts and a neck snapping torque from engines only designed to move the full sizers. Everyday cars from that time period though, with typical medium sized engines and compliant suspensions, don’t feel all that different than driving anything made today on an uneventful journey from A to B, since they were tuned specifically for ride and quietness then just as now. What has changed is that modern everyday cars handle and accelerate like the old cars that fed back literally everything to you, to the point of getting beat up when you drove them hard, but due to modern suspension and chassis designs you get the best of both worlds instead, with only finger touch inputs for maneuvers that formerly required a fit human being to accomplish. But there’s something to be said for the old hardcore feel, as even the hardcore models today have the harshness consciously refined out almost as much a beige sedan, and many 3-400 horsepower cars consequently feel as though that they have 200-250 horsepower if you ignore what the speedometer and stopwatch is saying. Nostalgic? Perhaps, but some fun physical activities transcend time.
You make a very good point. The 73 Dodge van sure seemed fast after being used to my mother’s smog-strangulated 2 bbl 350-powered 74 Luxury LeMans sedan. It would probably feel quite ordinary today and would probably be smoked by my Kia Sedona.
I try not to think about the fact that a Kia Sedona would likely outrun most of my fleet 🙂
It is quite a lot of fun, actually. On the rare occasions that I get it away from Mrs. JPC, I can surprise a lot of people with it. Highway on-ramps that merge from two lanes to one are never a problem. 🙂
About 10 years ago, the guys at Grassroots Motorsport lined up a Honda Odyssey against a Porsche 356 and a Jaguar E-type. Time hasn’t been much kinder to classic sports car fans:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/soccer-moms-revenge/
Yes or the fact that a V6 Camry will pretty much beat most of the quicker Muscle cars in the 1/4 mile!
But I still love the old iron, and the new stuff doesn’t have the that monster low end torque…
Canucknucklehead is right. A modern Honda Accord is faster than a ’60’s Roadrunner. With a lot smaller engine!
Ramcharger production numbers vs the Ford Bronco:
1974
Rancharger: 15,810
Bronco: 18,876
1975
Ramcharger: 13,035
Bronco: 11,273
1976:
Ramcharger: 13,801
Bronco: 13,625
1977:
Ramcharger: 19.658
Bronco: 13,335
1978:
Ramcharger: 21,604
Bronco: 70,546
1979:
Ramcharger: 15,754
Bronco: 75,761
So for 1975,1976 and 1977, Dodge did indeed outsell Ford in the full size SUV market. After the new 1978 Bronco though, Ford easily outsold Dodge, and infact even outsold Chevy.
Just to put things in perspective and support my favorite brand here are the numbers for the Scout II from this time period.
1974 34,865
1975 31,866
1976 37,244
1977 39,884
1978 37,195
1979 44,434
No wonder I saw more Scouts back then than Ramchargers. Of course, 30% of the Scouts stayed in and around Fort Wayne, Indiana, which probably skewed my local sample. 🙂
The scan of the Dodge PR piece in the article suggests that the original Ramcharger first went on sale in March, 1974. If that’s accurate, the Ramcharger’s ’74 total was rung up in a much shorter time period than the Bronco’s, and the Ramcharger almost certainly outsold the Bronco during the portion of the ’74 model year in which both were available. As the 1978-79 Bronco and 1974-79 Scout figures illustrate, though, neither the Ramcharger nor the aging mid ’70s Bronco were big sellers as SUVs from that era go. Saying that one was the better seller of the two wasn’t saying much.
I’m surprised by the Scout figures Eric posted. I would have thought that Scout sales gradually wound down over the second half of the ’70s. Instead, it looks like the Scout was doing OK until the 1979 energy crisis. Did the energy crisis kill its sales, or create a crisis with IH’s overall business that made it no longer sustainable to have a small SUV operation?
CAFE, the EPA, and a lengthy strike is what led to IH shuttering the Scout Business Unit, despite the fact that the SBU was predicting sales of SUVs and their ilk to explode in the coming decade.
They had the SSV, Scout Supplemental Vehicle, a more direct competitor to the CJ, ready to start production for the 1981. Contracts were inked to offer the venerable Slant 6 as its expected main engine choice, and they were in negotiations to secure a emissions certified small “automotive V8” as the top engine choice. They were also planning on expanding the diesel line up to include the SD22T.
Anyone know how many of these things were 2wd vs 4wd?
If I had more acreage, owning a ’78-’79 Bronco, ’73-7 Blazer and Ramcharger/Trail Duster would be just too cool.
I do have the numbers, but on average there was something around 2000 2WD Ramchargers made per year, the majority were 4×4’s.
I agree with you on all of these fullsize SUV’s. Always liked all three from Ford, Dodge and GM. I have fond memories of a K-5 Blazer a buddy of mine had in College…
As I have mentioned before I had/have and 88 RC. I actually tried to buy a 76 with a 440 my senior year in high school. I was driving thru an industrial park with my 88 and saw a ramcharger with a plow on it in the woods behind a machine shop. I stopped took a look popped the hood saw the engine checked the VIN and confirmed it was a 440 not a 400. I went inside and asked about it and one of the guys inside said they used it as a plow truck but the tranny lost reverse and the owner might want to sell it. I offered 300 bucks and they guy thought the owner would take it but when I came back in the morning with the cash the owner decided it was worth a grand and I walked.
Above it was mentioned about the SUV being truck based. While it shared many parts with short bed reg cab Power rams the Ramcharger had it’s own frame with a shorter wheel base it was essentially all original from the doors back. The wheel base gave it excellent turning radius which was awesome in the woods or moving a trailer around a parking lot. Paul asked above if width was a limitation on the trail. I would say that it did, between the ramcharger my hilux and xj I would take a compact over the RC anytime in the woods but in the sand or in mud pits where squeezing between two trees was not a concern The RC was awesome. Mine was full of scratches down the sides from running through brush of course the RC could just plow through most of the small stuff.
A note on plowing with these, they were one of the better shortwheelbase plow trucks as the fuel tank and spare tire (mounted inside) were behind the rear axle they tended to be a little ass heavy, which mean as long as they had a small block the plow did a lot less to the wight distribution than you would think. In fact with a full tank of gas and no weight on the front end mine was one of worst vehicles for understeer I have ever seen. In the snow you could cut the wheel real hard and actually keep going straight in 2wd as the front would just act like skis a little unnerving until you got used to making smaller corrections on the wheel.
I have many stories involving my RC. But I will leave you with the one I think was the most entertaining. When I was 17 some friends and I decided to a little winter four wheeling down near the Farmington river in Windsor CT. (what is now part on a large area of industrial parks. ) we followed a steep trail down to a riverside campsite where we bullshitted around a camp fire for a little while before trying to head back out. The problem came in that the trail we had come down was fairly icy as the road was more like a channel cut into the ground instead of a crowned road. we had noticed the sliding coming down but we knew there was another older trail out that shouldn’t be filled with ice just some light snow. Well we wound our way to the other exit but found it blocked by a fallen tree. My other friend who drove down (I belive there was 5 of us between the 2 trucks) had a 88 Four runner and was a bit crazy and pulled out a chainsaw which sputtered than refused to start. Since we lacked any real tools or a handsaw we decided to make an attempt on the ice hill. I tried first but slipped hopelessly halfway up. My Buddy tried next and had the same issue. But as I mentioned my friend had little care for his own well being and kept making attempts until he somehow caught the edge of the road in just the right spot with just enough momentum to pull himself to the top. (by momentum he was doing at least 45mph on a 8′ wide icy trail in the woods with a berm on one side and a very steep hill with about 80′ to the bottom on the other) After his success I made a few more valiant attempts on the hill but 3.20 gearing and an emissions era V8 just don’t accelerate like you think they should. So after 5 or 6 attempts my friend says he wants to try. So I toss the keys over to him and hop in the passenger seat. This than turns into one of the most terrifying experiences in my life as he attempts to make the big dodge do what his several thousand pounds lighter toyota did. So after a full throttle start in the flat spot in the woods we Dodge numerous trees in S curve fashion trying to reach the hill at maximum velocity. We hit the hill running at what felt like highway speeds and he tried to climb the edge of the road for traction and just as we were about to crest the hill the engine revs and all 4 tires start spinning like mad. Any one with experience in ice driving can guess what happened next…………We started sliding backwards hit the brakes nope that doesn’t help. Still sliding backwards I’m guessing were sliding backwards at 15-20 mph now (not sure really it felt like 55) as I look in the rear view I see a stand of trees closing in on the tailgate. Just before we hit the trees the wheels grab bare dirt and the fact that were sitting in a bobsled track of a road actually helps the truck steer around the trees and too a stop. You would think this would have stopped after this but being 17 of course it didn’t and the same was tried with several drivers with the same results for about an hour.
In the end we piled in the four runner (which by the way was not equipped with the optional backseat) and headed home for the night. The next morning I calmly explained to my parents that the truck was stuck somewhere but not to worry I would have it back later in the afternoon. (given some of the things my siblings had done over the years this did not seem to phase them in the least) In the end another friend borrowed his Dads fairly new f-250 plow truck and a come along. I slowly drove the truck up the hill as far as could while still being able to stop than hooked the come-along to a tree and winched it up 10 feet at a time going from tree to tree until we got with in 50 feet of his dads truck and we could hook a tow chain up to drag the more RC over the hill.
I think this is the only time I ever got stuck with the truck that upset me every other stuck was well pretty obvious I was going to get stuck in hindsight. (and Think my ego was bruised when the toy-auto made it out but maybe that’s one of the reasons I bought one later. ) I’ll have to look but I have some pics of the truck in it’s glory days and some from a few years ago I will have to add to the site.
Cool story!
? Didja ever find any old photos ? .
.
My nit wit ex brother in law had a Plymouth in great shape, he neglected it to death ~ how the hell do you lose dash knobs, door handles and so on when you only drive it around town ?! .
-Nate
The comments reminded me of this picture which I took long ago as a photographer for my college newspaper. It fits both the hooning around stories and the comments about many of these Chrysler products going into government service under contracts. I took this photo after getting an anonymous tip from a college employee. It seems that on a snowy night two bored SUNY Purchase police officers were playing chicken on one of the huge parking lots and managed to have a head on collision. They totaled out both the Ramcharger and the AMC Matador. I think that Ramcharger was replaced by one of the Plymouth Traildusters. At the time NY State was getting a lot of AMC and Chrysler products in its fleets, including more Jeep J10 pickups than I have ever seen, probably from low bids…
Awesome shot, worthy of a caption contest. 🙂
I had a 77, the same color blue as the one above. Mine was a 318 / 2bbl / auto. It’s only weak point was, as said above, ice… but… the trick was/is skinny tires on these heavy rigs. I ran 33 x 10.5 x 15’s and could out-do the yota’s on any thing….
My friend also had a 92 or 93 RC, it was an all stock truck 360 fuel injected / auto. His boss, who had a K5 with a 383 stroker, lockers, custom drive-lines etc kept razzing him about his ‘K5 clone’… so they went trailer hitch to trailer hitch in the parking lot, separated only by a 10’ logging chain…. The RC pulled the K5 backwards with its tires smoking and its driver cussing!
Had a 77 ramcharger , great truck , came with a 360 , put in a 440 . Nothing could stop it , drove it hard for 14 years . Would buy another in a minute if I could find a rust free one under 5,000.00 . Paid 7,300.00 for mine in 77
Yours sounds just like one I bought in ‘06 in CA
Was a 360 that prior owner swapped for a 440.
Could it be the same? Root beer brown with stripes.
Any one know how the front passenger seat on a ’77 Ramcharger works. I think I’m missing some parts.
The early K5 Blazers had the same frameless look with the top off too, I guess Dodge thought they knew better
The K5s were “full convertible” until 1976. Even the first three years of the redesign (’73-’75) had a full lift-off top. The 1976 models brought the back-half top, partly in response to sealing issues around the doors and better roll-over strength. But also, so they had a B-pillar to anchor the new federally-mandated shoulder belts to.
My best friend’s dad had one of these back in the eighties. SUVs were really rare in Chicago back then so it was a treat to ride in. As a kid the dashboard seemed a mile long.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned that Dodge made a 2 wheel drive version in the 80’s, probably starting with the 81 update. Chevy also made a 2 wheel drive Blazer in the 80’s and 90’s. I went on some trips to Mexico in the 90’s and noted that those 2 wheel drive Blazers and Ramchargers were really popular down there. Dodge even made a version off the new 95 pickup that they never sold in the U.S.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=X%2bAZP8Ee&id=2ED503B3DDD75FE26F08A944B4CB8384FE3B62A2&q=dodge+ramcharger+mexico&simid=608017042236638687&selectedIndex=3&ajaxhist=0
Actually, the Blazer gained a 2WD variant in 1970. Oddly enough, it was still called a “K-5”, even though the “K” model designation meant 4WD. Of course, the model code in the VIN was still a “C”. I guess “C-5 Blazer” just doesn’t roll off the tongue like “K-5”.
Either that or the extra marginal sales weren’t worth casting up a new fender badge!
The fact that even the passenger seat was optional just blows me away.
I do find it interesting that Plymouth got a variant, when they had no other trucks save the Scamp (if you count that) and Arrow (and I don’t know why they had that one either).
Actually Plymouth was selling Vans at the same time ~ we had a 1979 Plymouth Voyager full size, 3/4 ton extended body Commuter van for many years ~ ex CalTrans with a 360 CID V8 .
A wonderful truck that refused to die .
-Nate
The Voyager was a passenger van with windows all-around and rear seats only, the cargo van only came from the Dodge boys.
In small, rural areas it wasn’t that uncommon to find a Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge Truck franchise, especially in Canada after the Fargo nameplate was phased out in 1972-3.
Another thrown together article by Paul on a vehicle he has no interest in. Why write these if you don’t care enough about the subject to do any research? My 2 cents: Keep to your biased reviews of European cars.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m going to demur.
Oh, and by the way, what exactly is missing from my research? It’s easy to make a comment like yours, but it would have a lot more weight and credibility if you’d point out what was missing, incorrect or biased.
Thanks, Paul, for writing the article!
These 2-door SUVs were always fascinating to me in the same way it has been fascinating to see the explosion in popularity of the “Jeep” when it finally offered a 2-door option (and the pickup has been a pretty good seller, too, though they offered something like that in the past). Something that big should have 2 doors, you’re not saving much by the slightly shorter wheelbase.
What’s really puzzling is how come Dodge didn’t come out with a 4-door Ramcharger, given their already-extant 4-door pickup.
typo, should have said “more than 2 doors”
Yep, the Ramcharger/Blazer was more appealing to most people. Ford had to go along. However, the 1st gen Bronco was aimed at the Jeep/Scout/Landcruiser demographic, it did very well considering. Those latter two fell by the wayside for varying reasons, but I’ll assume the public wanted…more. The Jeep has soldiered on to this day as a cult vehicle. Having driven a few, I cannot understand why anyone would want one as a daily driver; they stink IMO. But god bless ‘em, without the Jeep marque, Chrysler Corporation would surely have folded by now.
One thing, while the Ramcharger ended in 1993, largely due to the new gen pickup (why, oh why didn’t Dodge simply update the Ramcharger?); the 4 door craze hadn’t taken off, or really even started yet. In Chrysler’s infinite wisdom, they axed the Grand Wagoneer in 1991; never understood that move. As such, the new, vastly improved Suburban filled that vacuum. It’s extra length was it’s only drawback, thus the introduction of the fabulously successful Tahoe in 1995, essentially a 4 door full-size Blazer, the 2 door version having never gone out of production, which would cease in just a few years. Ford then rolled out the Expedition in 1997, ending the Bronco’s run. Dodge, about that time, introduced the perennial also-ran, the Durango.
Now granted, mentioning the Durango does make me realize that by 1993, yes, a 4 door SUV craze had taken hold; but it was in a different segment. Think Explorer, S-10 Blazer, Trooper II, Pathfinder, 4-runner, and other smaller models. But the full size segment didn’t even start until 1995. There were predecessors, such as the mentioned Grand Wagoneer, and of course the Travelall, but both were dead by 1993.
Actually a 2 door Ramcharger did come out in with the redesign, but only sold in Mexico and only in 2 wheel drive I believe.
My cousin briefly owned a Plymouth Trailduster from new, but it was a horrible ride on the highway and was shaking itself apart from that and poor assembly quality. He sold it in 6 months.
I remember in the early 80s a friend bought one. He was trying to explain to a group of us just what he bought. I knew the name and popped up with, it’s a Chrysler Blazer. He started stuttering and stammering and pointed at me, and said, yeah, Chrysler Blazer. Then everyone knew what he just bought.
Not a vehicle that interested me, but to my eyes they didn’t sell well at all, I saw very few of them on the road. Tons of Blazers, some Broncos but Scouts and Ramchargers were rare. Fully unscientific survey.
As Jon7190 noted above, there were 2wd variants.
My impression was that 2wd was standard, even in the 1970s.
As a kid, I was always surprised Ford didn’t have a Blazer/Ramcharger. After all, the Detroit three typically all had “their version” for most classes of car. Eventuallly, they did, the 1979 Bronco (autumn 1978 introduction)
As for sales, I did not even know what a pre-1978 Bronco was or looked like, since I never saw one anywhere in NY/NJ/PA or Greece (a few GIs did have Ramchargers!) in the 1970s or 1980s.
“Eventually, they did, the 1979 ”
The first full size, 2nd Generation, Bronco was a 1978 model, fall 1977 introduction. And was only sold for 2 years, then the next version was 1980 MY.
“I did not even know what a pre-1978 Bronco was or looked like…”
The 1977 model was the last of the 1st Generation, new for 1966 MY.