I just started work on a new kit: a Dodge Ramcharger that I thought was really cool. [I've nearly finished another kit, and it's down to the point were making the kit was "perform operation and wait" so I was getting a little restless.] You'll be hearing about that soon: meanwhile, I've been thrashing around the net looking for references for the Dodge.
The Dodge Ramcharger, like a lot of old Detroit trucks, was in production a very long time: its first model year was 1974 and it only ended production in 1994 in America, and was sold for two more years in Mexico and Canada. It had a single styling refresh in 1981, where it was made a bit more upscale, but remained the same basic vehicle for its entire production run. That 20 year stretch may sound crazy if you are familiar with the modern car industry's practice of releasing a new model every five years or so, but Detroit is nothing if not cost effective with their tooling; the Ramcharger had a rival in the K-Blazer, and the second generation of that stayed in production 20 years. The recent fuel spike and the 2008 economic catasterfuck saw the end of a lot of those legacy designs, but up until fairly recently Detroit was happy to sell designs older than I am, and I just yesterday saw a Camaro the same age as me, and discovered to my dismay it was plated as an antique.
While other sites can tell you the full story of the Ramcharger, the basics is that in the 1966, Ford began selling the Bronco. The 1960s Bronco is not what you might expect: it was fairly small, and built on its own platform, much closer to a Land Rover than a monster truck. This was to compete with Jeep and International Harvester, the latter which had a hit with its Jeep-like Scout. All these models were made for off-roading, with four-wheel drive as standard. GM responded to the Bronco's sales success with the Chevy Blazer/GMC Jimmy, forgoing the development of the bespoke Bronco platform and just shortening their pickup platform into a off-road SUV. This was a lot larger than the Bronco, but also cheaper, and 'more for less' has always been a winning sales formula in America - the K-Blazer was a big hit.
Dodge followed the formula of Chevy a few years later with the Dodge Ramcharger. The Ramcharger was a shorted version of the then-new D100 pickup platform, and Dodge had made a study of what made the SUV market tick. To wit: Options.
A dealer promotional film for the Dodge Ramcharger. These were shown to salespeople both to show off the new products advantages, and tell them about competing products. Remember! The shiny metal treatment on the bumpers is *standard* on Ramcharger, *optional* on Ford and Chevy!
In the 1970s, SUVs were still mostly about utility - the Ramcharger could be spec'd very bare-bones, with even the passenger front bucket seat being an extra option. That said, Dodge had a leg-up in its basics. Its four wheel drive system could be set and adjusted from the driver's seat, unlike the Chevy and Ford systems, which required physically turning the hubs on the wheels while the car was stopped and possibly already up to its axles in mud. As was the style of the time, you could get many engine and transmission combos, and choose your drivetrain as well: four wheel drive for actual off-roaders, and two wheel drive for people who liked the blocky look of the Ramcharger, but really wanted a 'burly Cordoba' to quote Paul Niedermyer. While the engine/transmission combos varied by era (and remember this is a big era we're talking about here), it seems regardless of engine you could get a manual or an automatic with it. As with other trucks at the time, the engine spec was extremely wide: varying from Chrysler's indestructible slant six to several large V-8s. That was definitely a good thing - the 5.2L V8 in the emission-strangled 1970s made about 120 hp, giving it about the same power my humble Honda Civic makes now. The curb weight of 1853 kg compared to 1134 kg makes me think the 5.2L in the 1970s was very pokey, even setting aside aerodynamics, which the designers of the 2- block Ramcharger pretty much did. 19.6 L per 100 km or 12 mpg in town mileage remind you why the 1970s fuel crisis was so onerous to so many people. Murilee Martin says 9 mpg in the real world, and he's a man who knows these things. While lots of engines would fit under that big square hood, it seems the vast majority of Ramchargers made use the 5.2 L (318 ci) and 5.9L (360 ci) V8s.
The oddest option by today's standards was that the first-gen Ramcharger came without a roof, with a canvas roof or a removable steel roof being the options. You could also get a sunroof in your removable steel roof. I can only speculate how heavy a entire roof made of steel and glass would have been; I think you'd need four stout friends if not some sort of winch in a garage to remove it safely. Still, a fullsize convertible SUV is a hell of a thing. The model is actually of the last year of this option, and includes the roll bars the Ramcharger had. - though it is molded as once-piece. I'm undecided if I'm going to hack the roof off; I want to detail the hell out this kit, so I think how my interior detail game goes will be the determining thing. The convertible roof was dropped for '81.
Another option was a insulated central console bin, which you could put ice into and thus keep your drinks cool. The other truly comedy option is that you could buy the first generation as a Plymouth - a "Trail Duster" that was otherwise a clone of the Dodge. Because Plymouth was perpetually hard luck, they got rid of their only truck in the 1981 refresh.
I was going to mock it but that *is* a swank color combo.
For when the falcon *can* hear the falconer, Dodge Plymouth!
Join the convoy, with Plymouth!
Things are also sort of strange when looking at paint. Customers could get their truck in one color or a choice of two-tones, and Dodge had mapped out what the acceptable color combos were, including interior colors.
METHODS OF ACCEPTABLE TWO-TONES
Oh, and "easily accessible fuse box" as another option from another era. The fuse box was ontop of the dash, behind a locking panel.
Front bench available. Dodge! Better than you'd expect!
The rainbow van has exactly the same wheels that my kit has.
This shows off the two-tone nicely - and has the same wheels as the kit.
I have no idea about what color my kit should be yet. I feel like I've seen Darth Vader's Bonneville too many times and that all black is thoroughly passe. I think I might go for a color combo I might have been likely to actually have seen.
Both of these ring a bell, especially the second one already rigged for snowplowing with insect-like stalk lights.
Dodge Ramchargers were popular in my neck of the woods, a phrase that is almost literal in this case. In addition to towing and off-roading, two perennially popular pursuits around here, the Ramcharger was sold with an option called a "sno commander" pack which made it easy to hook up a snowplow. In fact, thanks to the (necessarily) large gas tank being behind the rear axle, a fully-fueled Ramcharger had excellent weight balance with a snow plow, with even the lesser 2wd models being competent at it. Atlantic Canada is possibly the harshest environment in North America for cars, of course, and rust claimed the Ramchargers here two decades ago.
NOW MORE THAN EVER
Clearly though things were not what they were, as the 80s had the Ramcharger sharing brochures.
Chrysler Whorehouse Red no-charge option!
The Ramcharger's restyle gave it much larger rear windows and made it a bit more upscale in appearance; a brute in a suit. (It also gave it the one detail even kid me found really memorable: a large ram hood ornament.) The Ramcharger had actually outsold or nearly outsold the first-gen Bronco, a big succsess for Dodge, but Ford's new "big-block" version crushed it - Ford imitated the other Detroit makers and made the Bronco a short wheelbase SUV off of their full-sized truck line. Amusingly, this would have happened much sooner, but the first gas crisis put the design on hold; though its subsequent release was perfect timing for the new Bronco to experience the second gas crisis. The main mechanical issue with the Ramcharger was Chrysler's painfully slow abandonment of the carburetor, which lingered on with electric gizmos that were cheaper but not better than full EFI, which happened in the late 1980s. Mercifully, this slow march of progress saw engine power climb as well, and the EFI addition boosted the 5.9L engine to 290 hp, and even the old 5.2 L making ~220 hp. While Ramchargers in the wild didn't totally vanish, they are the domain nowadays of truck enthusiasts and off-roaders. The decline of the big truck was in part due to CAFE. CAFE made this sort of full-size guzzler unattractive to manufacturers, who's CAFE credits could be used much more profitably on luxury SUVs upmarket. It's rivals the Bronco and the K-blazer met their demise in the mid 90s as well, though the first generation Chevy Tahoe was available in a two-door version. Mexico actually got a Dodge Durango-based third generation Ramcharger, but like most truck based SUVs was eventually edged out of the market by the whorl of other, more modern car and truck based SUVs.
Much to my own surprise, TTAC is reporting that Dodge is mulling over the Ramcharger's return. The Bronco too is poised to return, but it seems the Bronco will be some off-road specialist like the Toyota FJ, and the Ramcharger would be a full-size SUV based off of the Ram with its DNA being a double helix of platform synergy and focused niche marketing.
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