Rare Rides: A 1986 Dodge Ramcharger, All Kinds of Awesome

Dodge fielded a full-size, truck-based SUV for many years and called it Ramcharger. Eventually for Some Good Reasons, ChryCo abandoned the segment and let Ford and General Motors rake in the dough instead. Today we check out a beautiful truck from the later period of the Ramcharger’s run.

Hope you really like brown.

The Ramcharger entered production in 1974, as a development of Chrysler’s AD truck platform that debuted for 1972. The full-size, two-door SUV was in its heyday in the mid-Seventies, and demanded the first and only debut of a Plymouth SUV, a twin to Ramcharger called Trail Duster. Both SUVs utilized a wheelbase nine inches shorter than the D Series trucks on the AD platform.

Things were still settling in the first year of the Ramcharger. For that year only, all examples were equipped with four-wheel drive. The earliest trucks also had door pillars attached to the removable roof. The door design was changed halfway through the production year, and the earlier half doors were swapped for the standard doors of the D Series. Early trucks were also the most basic; through 1976 all seats beyond the driver’s were optional extras. Dodge dealers installed fabric and metal roofs on Ramchargers through 1980.

1981 saw the debut of the second generation Ramcharger and Trail Duster, as the SUVs followed a new D Series truck design. There was more available power equipment and fancier trim levels than the outgoing generation, but engine choices were more limited. Just two V8 engines were used in the second gen model, both familiar: the 318 (5.2L) and the 360 (5.9L). Transmissions included three-, four-, and five-speed manuals depending on the year, or a singular three-speed automatic. Throttle-body injection did not arrive until 1988 for the 318, and 1989 for the 360. Roofs of all second generation Ramchargers were welded in place, and made of steel. 1981 created a Rare Ride for Plymouth, as the Trail Duster was cancelled after a single gen two model year.

Gen two Ramchargers were slow to evolve, and only minimal changes occurred between 1981 and the end of the US line in 1993. Notably, the egg-crate grille was replaced by the more familiar Dodge crosshair design for model year 1986. One final grille changed arrived for 1991, which carried through to the end of US sales. Even though Dodge changed the truck game with the 1994 Ram 1500, it kept a Mexican-produced Ramcharger on sale in Mexico through 1996. And between 1999 and 2001, there was a two-door Ram-based Ramcharger sold only in the Mexican market.

Today’s Rare Ride is absolutely pristine and in high-trim Royale guise. It sold with no reserve at the end of August via Mecum and fetched $17,050.

[Images: seller]