In the 1970s, trucks were designed and sold primarily to move stuff. Dodge got the notion there was a market for “adult toys” in the truck sector and came out with several promotions, the most famous being the Li’l Red Express which had a Police Interceptor motor that could really haul the mail. Another was the Warlock, but it was more about the show than go. The seller took in this ’79 Warlock II as part of a real estate transaction a few years ago and has decided against trying to restore it. So, it’s available from Des Moines, Iowa, and here on eBay where the bidding stands at just $2,025 for this project truck.
At various times between 1976 and 1979 you could go into your Dodge dealer and find literature on more or more of these “adult toys”. Besides the Express and Warlock, other entries included the Macho Power Wagon, Top Hand, and Palomino, along with the Adventurer. Some of these may have been region-specific, but I’m not sure about that. The Warlock showed up in 1976 and initially saw limited availability, but that improved from 1977 to 1979, though we can’t find any specific production numbers by year. Later editions were called Warlock II (why?) and you could get one from mild to wild with the base 225 cubic inch Slant Six, or V8s with displacements of 318, 360, 400, and 440 CI.
Initially, you could get a Warlock in any color as long as it was black. But the selection grew later to include bright options like green, yellow, or red. The seller’s truck has the preferred black and is a Power Wagon meaning it’s also a 4X4. He/she has had it for about five years and attempted to get it going but the fuel delivery system seems to be awry from a lot of sitting. It’s a two-owner vehicle that hasn’t had much action in the past 14 years. The odometer reads 127,000 miles, yet the motor was rebuilt at 80,000 and received some upgrades at the time (but which Chrysler V8 is it?).
The body is rough and there is rust in places, especially the floorboards. The interior is in bad shape, too. Some space parts are included in the sale and this truck could turn heads once again – after considerable sweat, toil, and dollars go into it. When was the last time you or any of your friends saw a Dodge Warlock?
Never understood how Chrysler got this name past the religious right. Of course, they were not nearly as potent in 79 as they would be past 1980.
Perhaps Chrysler just didn’t care. Demon, Swinger…and now they come back with the Demon once again while the religious right is at the height of its political power, so they still don’t care lol.
This truck is a pile. You put a lot of dough into it and you would find out, it wasn’t worth it. A better idea would be to take your money and go to crowded place. Then throw your money in the air. In other words give your money to perfect strangers. Same outcome.
They did have to rethink one of the names proposed for their Hi Impact purple for 1970 – “Statutory Grape” met with some resistance…
I’ve never heard of it, so maybe that’s how it slipped by. Apparently they didn’t sell very many of them. But then I’ve never been much of a Dodge fan. I do like the newer Dodge pickups, but they don’t carry this name.
It’s a miracle, two Dodge A.W.D. trucks, that don’t have “lockouts”.
Praise be!!!
Other “Warlock” trucks I have seen had the infamous 73/74 Roadrunner hood outlines ????
GARBAGE. Every time it rained you had to change a ballast resistor on the firewall. 360’s were slugs. Noting about these were any good. I owned one and almost had to give it away
Accidentally reported you while trying to reply. My uncle Howard tells a similar story, the only difference being waaay more profanity. This year year (maybe a 78?) truck turned him away from Dodge forever
Several rule breakers, and negative comments I see, clearly “personal attacks” should not be happening, yet religious folks clearly are being attacked, and at least 1 comment is political as well, lets keep it about the vehicle’s, shall we, this truck is pretty rough, but if frame is solid, can be saved, way less work than a unibody basket case, better to see this fixed, than rot away.
SOLD for $2,550.
That’s cheap, I’d say the truck probably had good enough “bones” to at least get functional on a budget, good luck to the buyer!
This looks like a 318 or 360 small block as distributor is in back. On Mopar Big Blocks the distributor s in front