Looking like a former Air Force truck, this 1972 Dodge W200 3/4-ton Crew Cab Utiline 4×4 is a body style that we don’t see a lot of here. Maybe with two fewer doors or a regular Sweptline box, but this combination is somewhat unusual. The seller has it posted here on Facebook Marketplace, it’s located in Neenah, Wisconsin, and they’re asking $6,000. Here is the original listing. (For the record, I realize that listing a “W-series” Dodge pickup as a 4×4 is redundant, as is listing a 200 as a 3/4-ton.)
It looks super solid, no? Yes. Dodge brought the Club Cab to customers in the early-1970s and it proved to be popular. Other truck manufacturers had their own versions and their own names for the extra room behind the front seat. For those customers who wanted the most inside passenger space, though, it would be the Crew Cab with four doors and room for six adults, if not more on a drive-in night…
This truck looks more solid than most from this era, without a lot of rust holes in the body that we can see and just mainly surface rust and a couple of dents. The last photo showed the rocker panels and they look solid as Sears, as nobody says anymore. The seller says that they’re listing this truck for a friend whose family had this Dodge pickup on their ranch in South Dakota. It sure looks like it would be a good farm or ranch truck, although, is that a long bed? I would think that most farmers and ranchers would want the most hauling capacity that they could get.
Even without a lot of visible rust on the body, it would take some work to bring the interior up to snuff. I’m not quite sure what that black boomerang-looking thing is on the transmission hump/tunnel, is that a big, jagged rust hole in the floor? That isn’t a manual transmission floor shifter, unfortunately, it’s for the 4WD transfer case. This truck has a column-shifted three-speed A727 automatic. Sadly, this is the only interior photo. I know, some things never change. Arguably, the most unique feature of this truck is the rear seating compartment and there isn’t even a photo showing it.
There is also no engine photo. I know, again. Popping the hood would have helped a lot here, do people just not care about engines or interiors when buying a vehicle online anymore? I’m guessing it’s a 318 V8 which is what the seller also thinks, or it could be a 360 – although, a 225 slant-six was also available. In any case, it isn’t currently running, but it “lot drove” six years ago. Hagerty’s at $11,200 for a #4 fair condition truck so at $6,000 this isn’t the worst value out there, but I’d sure want to get it for less than that, given the number of unknowns here. I really like this truck and would bring it back to the original spec, how about you?
1974? I could swear it’s either a ’72 or a ’73 by the grill. We had a ’73 W-300 on the ranch and it had a grill like this one. My dad bought a ’74 200 Club Cab which had the more egg-crate grill. All that aside, I saw a lot of trucks like this out west. Of course it could be that Malmstrom Air Force Base was right at capacity and if Dodge didn’t have the contract, it seemed that International did.
But they get used up and sold out into the community. Lots of former AF trucks on ranches in the foothills back in the day.
Now, saying that, I’m a little surprised to see this with an automatic instead of a manual transmission. I didn’t know that the Armed Forces were inclined to easier methods of shifting than that. However, after seeing so many people having problems operating a manual transmission these days, maybe it was cheaper than a 24 pack of replacement clutches per vehicle.
That jagged crater in the transmission tunnel: I saw similar holes in trucks that didn’t have a spec of rust on them. It seemed that the ’72 + models (till ’76 anyways) had a stress point in the floorpans. I worked on a few of these, including a ’77 model and they all had cracks radiating out to the cab mounts themselves. Interesting that our ’73 1-ton didn’t have a single problem other than being the roughest riding truck we ever had.
Yeah, I had a 72 with that grill and I thought it was a one year design.
I think you’re right, Geo! Thanks for the clarification, it does look like a ’72/’73 grille.
It’s easy to do, Barrett-Jackson has this one listed as a 1972:
https://barrettjacksoncdn.azureedge.net/staging/carlist/items/Fullsize/Cars/212082/212082_Front_3-4_Web.jpg
It’s a 72 , 73’s. had fuel tank underneath the cab.
I have to say that this has West Texas ranching written all over it. Or I could even see it on a southeast Texas or South Texas ranch helping herd the cattle or have that water tank in the bed or feed tank to divy out food to the livestock. They built these trucks to last and by the time I’m this truck’s age, it’ll still be working a ranch or a homestead in a small Texas town.
Doubt its a 6 w the autoloader Torqueflite. Suspect the 6 in a 4×4 would be w standard transmission.
Great truck, with 318 even better, can not kill that engine or the truck, he 4 of these . Power wagons, with plows, but after time here all rusted away. But kept running even after frames cracked in half. Big bed also a plus. Looks like split ring rims, which are horrid.
When I was in the AF Reserve these were used to transport flight crews and their gear to and from their aircraft. Only problem was the gear got soaked in the rain.
Would the floor of the box be wood? Is that why the sun is shing though it? Cool truck!
I bet that is a short box..
you can tell by the length of the bed steps….short box
Update: this one has been sold!
Driving our truck we called it the six pack , we had mostly 318 but some were 440 for chaseing U2 on The runway those were the days. The trucks where tuff and I still have a 318 Ram Charger A/C 4 over drive automatic take care AF retired Greg Stephens