(first posted 5/2/2012) Starting in the early Sixties, trucks started to get fun. Off-roading, camping and other outdoor recreation really came into its own. International was first out of the gate with the ’61 Scout, followed by Ford in ’66 with the Bronco and Chevrolet with their K5 Blazer in 1969. Chrysler Corporation was late to the party, but the 1974 Dodge Ramcharger (and Plymouth Trail Duster sibling) was a worthy competitor.
While the Scout and Bronco had their own unique body, the Ramcharger was clearly based off of the all-new 1972 Dodge full-size pickup. That was not a bad thing, as the ’72 pickups were pretty sharp, no-nonsense vehicles.
The Ramcharger most closely resembled the contemporary Chevy Blazer, as it was pickup-based and included a lift off rear roof section. These trucks were pretty basic in standard form, with RWD, a 225 CID Slant Six and synchronized 3-speed manual transmission.
Early versions came with only the two bucket seats – even the rear bench was an option! Of course, like most 1970s American iron, you could load them up with all sorts of options – brush bars, 2 tone paint, deluxe interiors, A/C, tinted glass, and full-time four wheel drive.
Just like the interior, you had lots of options for power. Yes, the Slant Six was standard, but you had a full range of small- and big-block Mopar goodness on the table. You could start with a ‘cooking’ 318 or 360 V8s, but if you wanted lots of power and torque, the 400 and time-honored 440 V8s were also there for the taking. All it took was money.
Now, if you just wanted the SUV look, but planned to stay on city streets, you could get the two-wheel drive Ramcharger, and turn it into a burly Cordoba of sorts, with whitewalls, chrome wheels and all sorts of luxury goodies, as the ’77 above sports. Much like today, there were plenty of folks who liked the look, but couldn’t care less about taking their brand-new ride into the wilderness.
The Ramcharger continued from 1974 to 1980 with only minor changes, though a new grille with stacked quad headlights was added for the 1979 model year. In 1981, the Ramcharger and all full-size Dodge trucks got a mild facelift, with single rectangular lights and minor sheetmetal changes. The cool removable top was gone; all Ramchargers would have fixed roofs from here on out. Interestingly, a 1983 ad touted the RWD version as an economical way to tow your boat or trailer. Equipped with the 2 BBL 318 (5.2L) V8 and three-speed automatic, it achieved 20 mpg highway – not bad. By the early Eighties, Dodge was calling the RWD Ramcharger the Ramcharger Two – is that like a Mustang II or LTD II?
Continuous improvement was the watchword for the Ramcharger throughout the Eighties. A new grille was added for 1986, and clearcoat paint was a new feature. The 318 got fuel injection in 1988, producing 230 hp and 280 lb ft of torque. One year later, the 360 also received FI, good for 240 horses. By now the Ramcharger was available in base and LE versions, with the LE featuring high-back bucket seats with fold-down armrests, nicer upholstery and more chrome on the outside. The handsome ‘telephone dial’ alloy wheels shown on our featured Ramcharger were added in 1989, and in 1991 a smoother front end with more color-keyed trim was added. The Ramcharger would continue in this fashion through 1993 when production ended.
It was essentially replaced by the four-door 1998 Durango, though a 1994 Ram-based Ramcharger (shown above) was offered in Mexico only from 1999-2001. Too bad it wasn’t sold in the States.
I found this snowplow-equipped Ramcharger in West Davenport recently. While it’s obviously seen better days, I was drawn to it. You just don’t see these on the road any more. Judging from the alloy wheels it is either a 1989 or 1990 model.
While the exterior was rough, the interior was very presentable. It is clearly an LE, as it sports those very comfortable-looking high-back cloth buckets. Power windows too.
I think these trucks look really good in all-black. This photo from the 1987 brochure gives you an idea of how sleek this Ramcharger looked when new. Despite using essentially the same body since 1974, it still looked good.
Another neat feature of these trucks is that huge bay window above the rear fenders, added in 1981. I like how they tucked up into the roof. I have never driven or even sat in one of these, but all that glass should make for a very airy cabin, especially for rear seat passengers. If you like these full-size Dodge SUVs, I recommend watching the classic Chuck Norris movie, Lone Wolf McQuade. His ride is a supercharged police Ramcharger, and its feats during the course of the movie are second only to the Bluesmobile in my opinion.
Yes, Dodge was late to the party for the 1970s four-wheeler craze, but they more than made up for it with a production run that lasted from 1974-1993 and continues to this day in the current Durango lineup. And you have to love anything with Mopar V8 power!
Great article Tom! My father bought a GMC Jimmy in 1970. He is still to this day quite the outdoorsman. He drove that Jimmy for 12 years. It was a 4×4, 4 speed with a 307. Every year we hooked the travel trailer behind and set out for a new adventure while on vacation. Good times.
Lone Wolf McQuade was so bad that it was good. Even at 15 when I first saw it on HBO, I thought it was pretty lame, but then I still watched it over and over whenever it aired. In 1985 when I did my midshipman 3rd class cruise on the USS Nicholas, that was the movie that was played almost every night on ship.
I remember the scene where Lone Wolf and his Ramcharger were buried under ground. He pulled a beer out of the console, popped it open and poured it all over his head. He was then energised and drove that Ramcharger right out that hole to catch the bad guys!
Does it still run?
There’s an old Ramcharger of similar vintage near us in Toronto. It has a plow on the front as well, and looks like it just came out of the showroom. You don’t see them much anymore, but they were a great vehicle.
The company I work for had one, an ’83 or ’84 in light metallic blue, 2WD with the 318 and wholly inadequate street tires holding up what seemed like roller-skate wheels with the police-style dog-dish wheel covers. A simple, honest vehicle for all that and IIRC not at all a bad drive, although the wimpy rubber made it look a bit of a 98-pound weakling.
These, and the pickup-based Blazers and Broncoss of the same era, remain my mental image of a Sport Utility Vehicle. The whole concept of building a station wagon-like body off a short wheelbase pickup seems to have been lost, however, I guess in favor of the crewcab pickups that one sees everywhere, and which, for me, are the most compromised, and most boring, vehicles on the road.
I would say that these, the pickup based Broncos and Blazers are not Sport Utilities, to me the definition of a Sport Utility means that it MUST be built on it’s own purpose built platform, not use the big bulky pickup chassis and body parts. If you are going to make it out of a pickup platform then it is just a truck based wagon regardless of whether it has 2 or 4wd.
Your restrictive definition of an SUV does not match the popular definition. The vast majority would consider the Suburban, Yukon, Bronco, Blazer, Ramcharger, Hummer H2, Nissan Armada, Dodge Durango (on the Dakota platform), etc. etc. to be SUVs.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a sport-utility vehicle as: “a rugged automotive vehicle similar to a station wagon but built on a light-truck chassis”. Pickup trucks are light trucks.
If the “Sport” in Sport-utility vehicle is supposed to imply the sport of off-roading, I would concur that most SUVs are not really capable, but the SUV monicker was really just a marketing term from the onset.
I know that my restrictive definition does not meet today’s popular definition it meets the original definition. Of course back then they didn’t put the V on it as everyone knew they were vehicles they were just Sport Utilities. Look back at the early advertising IH and GM advertised the Travelall and Suburban as large station wagons that happened to have the option of 4wd.
I would say that the 2 door full size SUV is at least semi purpose built they can have a smaller wheelbase that a full size truck, and they have a unique body from the cowl back.
So, can you give us a short list of vehicles that meet your definition? There aren’t many vehicles out there that don’t share a platform with some other kind of vehicle.
1986-90 was my favorite period for this generation Dodge Truck/Ramcharger. Never cared for the flat 1991-93 grill.
There are a couple of Ramchargers left around my neighborhood, still driven regularly.
Heads or tails?
That’s who I thought of when I saw the hood ornament. Call it!
I’m going to watch that tonight. Great flick!
Hold still sir.
I saw one of the next-gen “Mexican” two-door Durangos in Detroit around ’08. Freaked me out. I assumed it was some kind of crazy unnecessary custom job.
How it made it to Detroit, I have no idea. Just one of the many bizarre automotive sightings I had in the area.
SE Michigan would be fantastic CC country. “Manufacturer” license plates are fairly common—Ann Arbor was teeming with supplier test mules.
One of the very few things I miss about the area!
I saw a Volkswagen Amarok pickup in central new York a few months ago. I have no idea where that came from
The 318 didn’t go to 230 hp when it first got fuel injection – that rating came in 1992 with the “Magnum” heads. It was 170 hp from ’88-’91.
A buddy and I took a 1977(?) Trail Duster for a 200-mile test-drive one Sunday afternoon in fall of 1977. It was in pretty good shape, but my friend didn’t buy it – I advised him of how much it would cost to feed it, and after filling the tank when we got back, he agreed. His brother was selling it for a friend.
My biggest concern with these and the Blazer was all that sideglass – it pretty much forced you to use the AC whenever it got warm, due to all the fixed glass.
I liked them, though, just the same. Quite comfortable.
The Blazer/Jimmy did have a sliding rear side window option for the hardtop, that was very nice, plus the roll down rear window and you could cruise comfortably, the Mopars never had sliders as far as I could recall.
No, the Mopars didn’t offer that option, as their glass wrapped into the roof. If they did, the wrapped style would open the floodgates, literally, when it rained!
I have always loved the look of the Ramcharger. I think they look great in two-tone paint like the red and white one towing the Airstream trailer above. I was at a swapmeet on Sunday and was drooling over a really nice one that was for sale, brought up from the south by the current owner. Wish that Dodge offered them with the Cummins diesel.
I also wonder why they didn’t make a Cummins version. I think the only reason people bought the 2wd was to tow with, and the Cummins would have made a great tow rig. Now, I come from country folk and I have a magnetic draw towards a top spec Ramcharger in immaculate condition. These are reliable trucks but have a habit of looking shabby in every part of the country. Where salt is king, they rust out. Where sun is king, the paint and headlining self destructs. If they have a hitch, they’ve probably lowered a boat into the water and have no rear chassis left. Regardless, they are far more classy looking than an OJ Bronco or a Blazer of the same era.
For a while, the Cummins was available in the half-tons. Not much point- the engine weighed a bit over 1000 pounds. The Cummins were dialed down quite a bit for the Dodge trucks, even the dual-wheel models. It was easy to “chip” them, then to twist up & toss Dodge parts out into the weeds. Cummins also had a 4-cylinder of the engine, but I never heard of Chrysler using them It would have been a lot more suited to half-& three-quarter-ton trucks than the 6. Maybe it was too rough?
The 4BT Cummins is a rough little paint-shaker that darns you to the inner circle of NVH heck. Its fine powering a wood chipper or package car but not really meant for general public consumption.
I didn’t think that the Cummins was available in anything less than the 3/4 ton pickups (called D250 to 1993, then RAM2500). Even then, there were problems with the frame developing stress cracks in some years. I believe the 1994 RAM2500 4×4 suffered from this, but not the RWD version.
Until they changed to the 24-valve Cummins in 1998.5, the Cummins had entirely mechanical fuel injection, so there was no computer to “chip”. On the 12-valve Cummins, you can modify or replace parts in the injection pump to increase power.
I loved these trucks when I was a kid in the ’70s. I was sure I was going to buy one as soon as I got a license and I was going to go camping every weekend. I had a stack of Ramcharger sales brochures that I drooled over.
My 7th grade science teacher had a K5 Blazer and I though he was the coolest teacher ever (He was). Never bought one but a friend had a ’78 Jimmy and we did go fishing at Potholes State Park once. For some reason we slept in it too. Guess he didn’t believe in tents. Just as well because the ground there was rocky and snaky.
I saw a gorgeous sky blue K5 drive by my work yesterday. It was obviously restored and much loved. They are not uncommon in Seattle.
Those seats are unbelievably comfortable . They’re practically identical to the seats from an L body.
Back around 95 I looked at a bunch of RCs. There was something mechanically wrong with every one I looked at that I couldn’t get over for the dough these people wanted.
I wound up with a loaded and amazingly cared for 84 Suburban 4×4.
If you think Ram Chargers are hard to find today try finding a Plymouth Trail Duster in the wild!
My brother and wife got a ’79 Plymouth Trail Duster new at a good price since it was Gas Crisis II. But, 2 years later,the whole electical system shorted out. Ended up leaving it at dealer where is was towed, and supposedly bank let them walk away from the loan. [My bro liked to embellish things, though]
I think that I would really like a Ramcharger. I still see them occasionally around here, but keep missing them for pictures. This was one of the few times that Chrysler actually beat Ford to a market. Of course, they were about 3 years behind the K5 Blazer, right on schedule.
It is also true that the bodies on these do not really age all that well, particularly in the midwest. All of the survivors seem to be either dark gray with dull paint or brown. Still, I would happily take one in a dark color with a 360.
Love these, and a friend has very rusty but mechanically sound 73 Dodge 7500 Camper Special 4×4 with the 360 and NP445 that is just dying to get its chassis underneath one of these…..
My college buddy (Dave, a gentleman of Polish ancestry from Cleveland, OH) grew up in a Mopar family, one of the few I knew in my area of the Midwest. Dave was so Mopar the couch in his dorm room was the removable bench seat out of an old Chrysler minivan.
The two vehicles from Momma Mopar that stick out in my mind from our college years… his mid 80s ex-police Diplomat and his 90 Ramcharger (got to remember our college years were from 95-99). His Diplomat was an ex-sheriff’s car with the lowly slant-6 and torqueflite along with a tight posi. Black with a tan vinyl interior.
His Ramcharger was black and grey two tone with a nice red pinstripe to separate the paint. For Dave to be able to afford it I know that resale values had to be pretty terrible on these. His had the 318 and 4×4 and Dave was more in love with that truck than he was with his girlfriend since high school, Lisa. (I’m sure that’s why they didn’t last, Lisa certainly wouldn’t tolerate a 4 wheeled mistress.)
I only rode in the Ramcharger a few times but to me it felt more luxurious than either the Blazers or Broncos I got a chance to be in in my youth.
I think this was my favorite of the Bronco, Blazer, Ramcharger triplets. Getting rid of it for the Durango was ok because the design had probably aged out. Down here out of the snow belt (east Texas) we still see plenty of them on the road.
One of my favorites. Anyone ever seen a Trailduster in the “wild” as they say here?
My uncle had one of these when I was a kid, and it didn’t have reverse. He used to have to park it on an angle. He sold it and he and my mom got matching 79 Dodge Magnums. We were a Mopar family, and my mom worked at a local auto auction. We had more than our fair share of Cordobas, Chargers, Coronets and even a Mirada.
At NJR
I had an acquaintance that was deep into RCs that had dug a Trail Duster “Sno Commander” out of someone’s yard a few years back.
It was a bit too far gone to save from the Sawzall though.
I drove a number a number of these in the mid-90’s. Fleet vehicles all. The sole 4×4 of the group was an ’87 with a 318. It would climb like a billy-goat. Being used in highway construction projects, they took a beating daily.
They were all very comfortable and those with Dodge-phobia didn’t mind them too bad.
I have an 88 318 TB EFI 4×4 Drove it from a senior in high school thru college and a few years after. Its currently parked behind my parents house in need of a radiator. Loved that thing great highway cruiser and went like stink off road even with open axles. awesome weight distribution gave it great traction offroad. Used to pull down 15mpg driving to college in Maine from CT. Plus it had a 35 gallon tank so you could go awhile between fill-ups. As to the rear windows and back seat, once back there the seat was like a mini couch as mentioned all that glass heated it up back there and the windows didn’t open, ma mopars solution was to add a small roof vent over the back seat with the front windows down this did give decent airflow back there. I have only seen one trail duster a late 70’s model a friend of boss in high school owned, his had the 360 removable top and was customized by one of the conversion van companies who added facing rear seats with a table between in the back along with shag carpet. Not sure what happened to that one.
Ghaa! Slow down guy!
You don’t hail from Lemont Il do you?
These were thick on the ground in the Midwest, where I grew up. Sturdy, drove well, but rusters. The story that I like best concerning Ramchargers was one that I read back in the day, in C/D, if I have the right magazine. It was a road test, which included all of the details surrounding the new model – including the fixed rear roof. The article explained that Chrysler had surveyed RC owners, and discovered that a decent percentage of them occasionally removed the roof, a slightly larger percentage never removed it, and there existed another small group that weren’t even aware that it came off. Thank you for the great piece, Tom.
I’ve driven both an 84 Ram D100 and an 84 Ramcharger. The Ramcharger was amazingly roomy, but the huge windows in the back did make it quite airy. The sight lines were comparable to the D100. The V8 was incredibly powerful, too.
I always laugh about it, too, because it was taken into the shop where my friend worked with running problems. Due to my experience with the D100, I said it was the carburetor. My friend’s boss didn’t believe me, and said it as fuel injected. That night, my friend told me his boss was impressed when they popped the hood and there was a carburetor. He had just been schooled by an 18 year old.
Nothing turns head still today, like a Ramcharger. Only took 8 years to make this one off / roadworthy again.
“Rustproofing” was not Chrysler’s strong suit in that era though. They’re rare ANYWHERE these days, but nowhere moreso than in the rustbelt. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh for 12 years now – I’ve seen three others in the South Hills, besides mine – in all that time.
I recently pulled a rare 2 wheel drive 1976 Plymouth Trailduster from its tomb, hidden from the world in a backyard shed in the Mississippi Delta. The 318 2 barrel will give way to a stroker 72 400 or a boxed frame Cummins. : )))))
Love that Mexican version, can’t understand why they didn’t offer it here. Perhaps they didn’t have the capacity with the success of the restyled Ram pickup.
I thought they also made a 4-door Ram “Suburban” south of the border, but I can’t find a pic…
I feel like a 4-door “Ramburban” could be made fairly easily (at least, as far as conversions go) by mating a Ramcharger rear end to a D250/350 crew cab. Kinda like how Centurion made the 4-door Bronco conversion.
Probably wouldn’t meet crash standards. Alsi, the market for 2 door SUVs was drying up.
My husband has a 1989 RamCharger Royal LE 4×4. He got it off a trade for his old mustang a couple of years ago. It runs like a champ! Needs a paint job but the interior is still great. He toys around the idea of selling it. It’s a great old truck, sure don’t make them like that anymore.
I remember the Dodge Ramcharger. I’ve never owned one, nor have I ridden in one, nor did anyone in my family. But I remember the vehicle, from the time I was a boy in the 70s until into the early 90s. My favourite version was the 1990-83 grille. The only thing I didn’t like was its lack of a diesel engine, either a Cummins, or whatever else was available. For a truck-based Sport Utility vehicle, particularly a 4wd version, a turbo-diesel engine should’ve been available for those who want their vehicles to have such an engine. Emissions be damned, it should be the customer’s decision what he/she wants for their vehicle.
I remember when they did away with the removable top–Dodge discovered most customers didn’t even know the top came off and those that did rarely did so.
I did see a Trail Duster in the wild a month or two ago, while running a errand. But when I run a errand within walking distance of the house, I rarely take my phone, so, sadly, no pictures.
While in the Navy, bought a used 85 in 1988 and shipped it to my next duty station in Keflavik, Iceland. Stripped down model, no carpet, crank windows, etc. But it did have 318 and 4wd with automatic hubs. Great vehicle for touring that beautiful country. Many fond memories. Sold it on base as I was leaving since it made no sense to use in grad school. Seeing a Ramcharger still brings a smile to my face.
Granddad bought a new Dodge Ramcharger in 1976, for towing his retirement trailer. He ordered rwd, received a 4wd. The dealer claimed it was the only rwd anyone had ever ordered. To kill some retirement hours, Gpa kitted it with a CB radio, amber lights and “Wide Load” signs for mobile home escort duty in AZ.