1973 Dodge D-100 Adventurer Pickup

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

Dodge’s D-Series trucks of the 1970s are still on the roads in large numbers, since there’s always someone who needs a simple work truck and doesn’t care if that truck is 10 or 40 years old. Still, you can always find another sturdy (if thirsty) Detroit pickup if something expensive breaks, so this Adventurer is now Crusher-bound.

The Adventurer trim package got you some comfort and appearance upgrades, though shoppers for 2012 trucks would find this machine intolerably primitive.

Here’s the one-speaker sound system.

This vinyl bench seat was impervious to spills from any component of a typical fast-food meal, tall cans of Schlitz, and other substances likely to be found in a Dodge pickup cab.

Chances are that this 318 or 360 still has some miles left in it. Most do.










Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Jim Sutherland Jim Sutherland on Jul 29, 2012

    I always liked this era of Dodge pickups and owned a few over the years, including a Little Red Express version.

  • SuperACG SuperACG on Jul 31, 2012

    I would just LOVE to have one of these pre-1976 trucks. I'd drop a Cummins 4BT right in. No SMOG, decent MPG, and lots of torque! Doesn't need to be fast, the suspension couldn't handle it anyway!

    • And003 And003 on Aug 12, 2012

      Speaking for myself, I think I would put a 3G Hemi into this truck and convert it to 4WD with the equipment of today. :-)

  • Kwik_Shift Hyunkia'sis doing what they do best...subverting expectations of quality.
  • MaintenanceCosts People who don't use the parking brake when they walk away from the car deserve to have the car roll into a river.
  • 3-On-The-Tree I’m sure they are good vehicles but you can’t base that on who is buying them. Land Rovers, Bentley’ are bought by Robin Leaches’s “The Rich and Famous” but they have terrible reliability.
  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
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