One of the more significant let-downs of my adult life is seeing how the original Twister movie was corrupted by yet another cheap attempt to re-bottle up the magic that made the first iteration so great. It was a serious let-down for someone who was enthralled by what were then considered incredibly realistic special effects – certainly more than the garbage CGI we get today – and, of course, the generous helping of epic 90s vehicles. The Dodge Ram featured prominently in the film, and this ridiculously clean V10-equipped 1995 Dodge Ram 4×4 here on craigslist ushers in some very fond memories.
Of course, this is not the exact truck that the first film’s lead character Bill Paxton drove; he had an extended cab with the 5.9L V8. But the color scheme, wheels, and ride height are spot-on, owing to this truck being equipped with 4WD. The 8.0L V10 was a torque-monster, generating 300 b.h.p. and 450 lb.-ft. of torque. If you needed to tow a boat, or maybe your house, this was the truck for you. In my opinion, this was the golden age of Dodge (and Chrysler in general) when they proved they knew how to make any vehicle interesting, regardless of displacement or vehicle class.
Nowadays, the company seems determined to make hybrid economy cars no one wants and overly-powerful performance cars that lose a significant portion of their value the second they roll off the lot. Gone are the days of cab-forward design and midsize luxury sedans that are still striking if and when you’re fortunate enough to spot on. The interior of the Ram from this era was acceptable; this was a transition period before truck makers decided they had to get on the “soft touch” train along with their sedan and coupe counterparts. In many ways, the cabin of the Ram reminds you of how honest trucks used to be, when their towing capacity counted for 90 percent of its value, and not the quality of the interior materials.
The seller reports that this Ram was a special-order truck when new, and that seems likely. A single cab, long bed, V10-equipped rig was likely the last truck the farmer ordered new, equipped as he would want his dominant working rig to be equipped but never used as intended as old age and time settled in. We see a lot of time capsule trucks that are loaded to the hilt show up with low miles, and that exact scenario seems to be a common theme with rigs like these. The seller notes that it comes from the western U.S. so there’s not a lick of rust on it. This one is fairly hard to repeat, and likely won’t lose value any time soon. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for the find.
Too nice for a plow ❄️ 😌
Yup! The company was simply “Chrysler Corporation”….No Daimler, Stallantis, etc…
It is now called RAM. Deserves its own Mark. No Dodge need apply.
Another posting with no location. Even clicking on the craigslist link only says “south coast”. Is that too much to ask? All other posters give the location.
Looks like it’s in Seekonk,Mass.
With a V10,I’m sure it really sucks a
lot of gas,but has lots of torque.
You can always use the map feature on Craigslist. Just keep zooming out until the location makes sense.
Zoom out on the map and you will see it is in Rhode Island.
Nice rig! The dashboards on these were hard plastic that had a tendency to disintegrate like bumper fillers on ’80s GM cars, so the mileage is believable. The low mileage could be attributable to the single-digit fuel economy. I had a ’98 Ram 1500 with the 5.9 that only delivered 9 mpg city, 12 mpg highway. This beast would have trouble getting to double-digits under any circumstances.
@Darryl T – There’s a map on the CL ad, and if you zoom out, you can see that it’s located in Rhode Island, or at least the seller is located there.
So if the listing had said MA or RI I wouldn’t have even bothered reading the rest of it. At 75 I have neither the time nor patience to search it out. I’m checking out a car Friday that was listed as in Portland OR, 100 miles away. Had the location not been listed I would not have bothered. My question is, all other BF writers seem to be able to list the location. Few if any of Mr. Lavery’s articles do. It’s getting to the point where if I see his byline I just move on. Yes, I’m grumpy, I just got off the phone from arguing with a state agency (DOL). Long story, but I won.
Somebody’s got a case of the Mondays
I bet a V10 is an expensive parts orphan. A nice 360 would make more sense.
Interestingly Twister did come to mind as soon as i saw it so Jeff you’re spot on. This baby is a beauty. Goes to show that Chrysler knew how to make great cars back then. Ok whom ever buy’s this better be friends with the local gas pump jockey or he will become one. ;). I hope whom ever buy’s it will care for it and not put a plow or.abuse it
I can’t imagine someone is going to pay the asking price. This is not a performance truck, and it wasn’t the Cummins work truck. It was just a gas guzzling Ram, that wasn’t that good at towing a trailer. The front ends on these are really weak. No doubt the steering box is about shot with all the weight on the front (there is a outboard bearing fix for that) and the bushings on the track bar bar are probably about gone too.
The clearcoat just falls off the base coat and the interiors fall apart. I’ve had multiple trucks of this era. Its nice to see one that has been hardly used and probably garaged the whole time. These trucks are nice riding and comfortable. But you aren’t going to get 100k miles of use out of this without a bunch of problems.
Then it is a 5k truck. Collectors item, I don’t think so.
5000$ truck huh,well if I can get this one for that price I’ll take it!! And I’ll take 10 more! That’s funny.hard on gas,yeah,it’s called a truck.trucks are not gas misers.that v-10 is a great motor and will pull right alongside a5.9 everyday.this old girl is tough.people today are pansy’s.
Passes everything except a gas station. But who now can claim stored in a heated garage year round?
I’ve got a 1999 1500 ClubCab 2WD with the 5.2 V8. It gets 14 mpg. It’s a truck not an economy car. I bought it 12 years ago. Paid $5,000. The clear coat was starting to deteriorate even then.Now it’s mostly gone from the top half. But it has always done everything that I need a pickup truck to do. And it’s done a lot over the years. From towing to dump runs. All I have ever had to do is maintenance. Fortunately, I have been able to avoid the rust worm ever here in the Mid Atlantic. It sits in my driveway. No heated garage. The featured truck is a beauty mostly because it appears not to have done much work; spending a significant amount of time in its heated garage. Given the price of pickup trucks today loaded with stuff you really don’t need; I would choose this Dodge over a new Ram. GLWTS.
I got a1994 2500 Ram 2500 as a company truck, Bosses let me special order it. So I ordered the heavy package with grease fittings on everything,410 rear end,10 ply tires,5.9 engine. Got 285,000 miles out of it with nothing but regular service.