Junkyard Find: 1987 Dodge Raider
The Dodge Raider was a transparently badge-engineered first-gen Mitsubishi Montero (known as the Pajero in much of the world), available in the United States for just the 1987-89 model years. The Montero wasn’t a big seller and its Raider sibling was a rare sight even in the late 1980s. I find the more obscure Chrysler-badged Mitsubishis fascinating, so I photograph every Raider I see in the junkyard.
We have seen a Ford product and a GM product in this series so far this week, so we’ll finish it up with a Chrysler(-badged) product.
Mitsubishis of this era weren’t known for longevity, but this one got well over 200,000 miles of use. This is a California truck, so there’s no rust.
I have long believed that the Montero/Raider inclinometer was one of the coolest gauges ever put in a motor vehicle. Naturally, I have a few of them in my collection of weird junkyard parts, and I will be installing one in my latest junkyard-parts boombox.
Under the hood, the 2.6-liter Mitsubishi Astron inline-four that went into everything from the Dodge Aries-K to the Mitsubishi Starion.
The first-gen Montero was license-built by Hyundai and sold as the Galloper. These Korean-market ads are among the greatest ever made for a small SUV.
The Japanese-market ad for the first-gen Pajero features a strange mix of macho imagery and schmaltzy music.
Dakar-proven!
Naturally, the American-market ads were far less interesting.
At home in the desert or on the hills of San Francisco (except when you blow the head gasket).
[Images: © 2016 Murilee Martin/The Truth About Cars]
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I have a 1987 Raider. Have really enjoyed this little brute. The Astron engine is not as much a deviant as many would report. With proper maintenance it will go a long way...mine currently has 182000 miles on it. Never anything worse than a blown head gasket at 135000 miles. It's the same base motor (G54B) as the one in my '86 Starion ESi-R, albeit the Starion variant came fuel injected, turbocharged and intercooled. I have since converted from TBI to MPI on the Starion (along with a host of other mods) and couldn't be happier with the motor.
What is the contact information for this salvage yard? I need some parts.