Weekend Carblogging - The One That Got Away

I guess, sooner or later, there will come a time in a car guy's life where he says "Damn, I should have never sold xxxxxx."

Here's mine:

The 1979 Dodge Lil Red Express Truck:

Here's the original, made in 1978:

At the time the Li'l Red Express Truck was produced, government regulations had already choked the horsepower out of muscle cars, but light trucks were still relatively regulation free. This was the last year that light trucks were exempt from the pollution controls that had robbed the horsepower from performance vehicles. Dodge decided it was going to create one of North America's last factory "Hot Rods".

The Li'l Red Truck was pretty wild appearance wise, with chrome wheels mounted with fat tires, bright red paint, dual exhaust stacks and rakish stance. If you were looking for something that would have everyone looking at you, this was the truck.

Under the hood was a 360 cu. in. police engine without all the smog control and lean burning parts that had choked the horsepower out of passenger cars. A dual snorkel air cleaner inhaled fresh air to feed a large 850 cfm ThermoQuad carb. Along with the free flowing 2 1/2" chrome stacks located directly behind the cab, the special engine produced horsepower to its peak with a thunderous roar.

Thunderous roar indeed, especially after I installed headers and glass packs. Anyone who was stationed at Ft Campbell in 1983-84 knew my truck. Unfortunately, that included the MP's....

Damn, I should have never sold Lil Red.