We don’t see Plymouth 4x4s too often and I can only think of one other Trail Duster shown here, this sweet round-headlight example that Jeff showed us a year ago. This 1979 Plymouth Trail Duster Sport 4×4 can be found listed here on eBay in beautiful Gilbert, Arizona where, yes I should have moved decades ago. There is no reserve and the current bid price is $10,100 which is a screaming bargain.
It’s still hard to believe that Plymouth has been gone for almost two decades now, but the Trail Duster has been gone for four decades. They were made beginning in 1974 and they were almost exactly the same as Dodge’s Ramcharger (not Ram Charger?) and I may have mentioned it before, that my 1976 Ramcharger was the worst vehicle that I have ever personally ever owned, not counting my wife’s brand new 2011 Mini Cooper. We must both have gotten lemons because I don’t know if anyone else has had such bad luck with either model.
You can see how pristine this example looks. Other than a couple of dings here and there, mainly on the rocker panels, this is one great-looking 4×4. I would have a hard time not removing the top if I had one, especially in Arizona for the winter months. There’s just something cool about a truck with a Plymouth badge on it. This Trail Duster has been in storage for about four years but it apparently works great, according to the seller. Hagerty is at $16,300 for a #3 good condition Trail Duster and $27,700 for a #2 excellent condition example. This one has to be somewhere between those two numbers so this is a flipper’s delight if it sells for anything less than $16,000.
The good times continue inside as it looks almost like new in there. This Trail Duster has the “Sport” package which had nicer vinyl seats, some woodgrain trim, and other “fancy” features. These are replacement seats but the originals are included with the sale. The center console with cup holders may look out of place for 1979 when cupholders were like having a third eye on your forehead, but that was really a correct feature. There aren’t a ton of photos but the seller hits the highlights and one is the ultra-clean rear cargo compartment.
The engine is the optional 360 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 160 horsepower. The 4-barrel carburetor 360 had 175 horsepower but the VIN shows this one to be a 2-barrel 360. The big thing with my Ramcharger was the MPG, I was getting, believe it or not, 3 mpg because the choke linkage which ran through the intake was all full of carbon. Cleaning that out doubled my mileage to a whopping 6 mpg, ugh. I highly doubt if this great-looking truck has that problem. Have any of you owned a Trail Duster?
Scotty… Our Blazer, bought new off the dealer’s lot, ran like a top for 8 months until the bottom fell out of the right door. Big V8 ran like crazy but until we pulled the body off and derusted every panel in it we didn’t have anything worth driving. Chevrolet didn’t warrant rust at that time. As to my wife’s 2011 Mini Cooper S… this is still a child friendly site so no comment.
I forget how good looking these were. And in a time where I’m disgusted to see rotted out fourrunners just out of warranty. Fugly Nisfinity, Lexota and Hondcura fake 4wd turds on the roads. This is a breath of fresh air
I really can’t think of a reason why these weren’t more popular than they were, it had everything the Bronco and K5 had. Just shows, truck people are very loyal to their brand, and it would be a nice day in the Badger( or a rainy day in Colorado) before any of them “jumped ship” for another brand. I can attest to the dismal mileage, my full size Bronco got single digits, and that was a SIX CYLINDER, but it wasn’t about gas mileage. People were so enamoured by where these things could take you, the gas mileage was the tradeoff. A great find, and the last truck you’ll ever buy, just don’t run it in the salt, not even once.
My Father had one years ago, I hated the thing but hey, it was his to love. Had a 360 engine and the drive wheel on his was the right front. If you engaged the 4WD it caused the left rear to kick in. Not sure if that was by design or if his was broke? Biggest POS I ever remember him owning.
We had a 78 Ply Trail Duster. It only had the 318 (2-barrel, single EX), and had an auto trans, 4-wheel drive, power steering & brakes. No a/c, though. I remember my (long deceased dad) hated the thing, as the 318 just had no power. Dad said, “it was lazy”, but he got a really good deal on it. Had it until ’83 I think. Being we were in the Cleveland area, it developed some rust (not bad) in the rocker panels. Sold it to a guy who had the plowing kit installed.
Poor misunderstood Trail Dusters get no respect.
bought a 86 ramcharger new, was one of the best vehicles i ever owned. i recently found a mint 87 2wd. parts are hard to come by because “cash for clunkers” took an awful lot of them off the road. the difference in technology is amazing from then till now. my hood weighs more than a compact car.
My dad had a 77 ram charger with a posi front and back… It was a go anywhere beast.
I had a all red 77 Plymouth Trail Duster with a 318/727 trans AWD dana front and rear axles. The AC worked also…It was a beast! Put 36″ tires on it and went off road. It was unstoppable! The trans cooler from the factory was the size of the radiator. It had the transfer case shifter on the floor which you can select the set up you wanted. Had it for couple of years with over 300,000 miles on it. Gave it to my brother-in-law for his construction business. I really do miss that truck! 🐻🇺🇸
Wow, similar histories for our trucks. The only thing that kinda sucked was having to lock the hubs. Always seemed to be in the mud when it had to be done and of course I had to do it since I was the child.
We too had huge tires and she was lifted. My parents had to do some calculations to get the right MPG’s because of the tires. Important when we were traveling to MN and were dirt poor. I miss her terribly. I have such great memories. Nice to know I am not alone. This one went for $22,500.00. I wish I had disposable income.
I own an 85 Ramcharger and my sons nicknamed it the BEAST!!!!!!!!
No stopping that tank.
I love this,and would buy it,I’ve always wanted a ramcharger, but a much more rare Plymouth would be very cool…how about 1 of each, lol,awe darn it,just one problem, not enough disposable income laying around!
Working for Chrysler in 1978 as an Expediter for Car Assembly Operations Group Production Control I ordered a Plymouth TrailDuster 4 wheel drive in the light blue color with blue vinyl interior. This made a great vehicle for traveling to suppliers. I put 8000 miles on it and turned it into the lynch Road Marshalling Center and got a replacement Chrysler Newport Custom four-door sedan. The Chrysler was not as much fun to drive as the Trailduster.
We had a 78 Trail Duster back in the early 80’s. Betsy was a beast. Absolutely awesome. Blizzard in northern VA in 83 and my Mom drove around “rescuing” people. 3 feet of snow and Betsy was pulling cars our like nothing….. even trotted up an unplowed road (before the storm ended so no, not through 3 feet. She was lifted but only 6 inches). We sold Betsy to a friend that did some construction and she was at 200,000 miles the last we saw of her.. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance…..
As far as the MINI. I have a 2012 Countryman All4 S and I LOVE her. You had to have had the N14 engine which is notorious for issues…HORRIBLE. Timing chain, coking and fuel pump were the most common issues. You were unlucky.. Both the Trail Duster and MINI have been awesome to me.
There are a couple years of Mini’s that are well known for being absolute POS’s. I forget which years though. I believe Mini’s since 2015 up thru now are quite good vehicle’s…
As I read this writeup by author it annoyed me that author mentioned “flipper” as that just encourages that in our classic car hobby.
Go back a decade or more and by all means you had some classic car dealers back then but back then most buyers found and bought classic cars for themselves to enjoy and cherish and hopefully not lose money when the day came when they decided at some point to sell it to next person to enjoy. That is what made our hobby so enjoyable as you could afford the hobby and know it was filled with good people who treated each other fairly.
Back then buying a classic was not to make a profit from buy buying low and reselling high. Low interest rates and online marketplaces plus some reality shows have encouraged anyone to be a “flipper”. And that unfortunately has raised the prices of classic cars. I guess the thing now is to at least complete with the “flipper” when buying so as to not have to pay what the flipper will eventually inflate the price to once tgey turn around to sell the vehicle.
But now there are also deep pocketed flippers (you can easily find them online by seeing their elaborate websites, vast inventories, multiple highend locations, and high asking prices) who will buy high and will then sell even higher to casual or first time uneducated customers, or sell to deep pocketed buyers who want something and want it now regardless of price, or sell to those to whom money came to them easily (inheritance, trustfunds, corporate buyouts or bonuses, fame via sports/entertainment/online presence, stock market or commodities windfalls, online gambling or sports betting, cybercurrency speculation, and recently throw in stimulus checks) and they buy a high priced classic.
Great writeup, Erik, I see I’m not alone. History has always had it’s “flash in the pans” to make money, and I feel, the classic car hobby is one such “flash”. Right now, like you say, older people, for whatever reason, have cash to burn, flippers are merely cashing in on what’s hot. It, like most fads, won’t last, as history has shown, they run their course, and fall flat. Too bad by the next time this foolishness “falls flat”, most of us will be pushing daisies.
I’ve had a bunch of Dodge trucks of this era and while they were not fuel misers they would go absolutely anywhere I wanted them to. Mine were 3/4 tons with 8′ Meyers plows with spring stacks that seemed 10″ tall. Those big ass plows wouldn’t even squat the front suspensions. They were real trucks and they were dead reliable. I would plow my gas station lot four times and a few customers drives and use 40 gallons of gas. Other than one transmission overhaul I did nothing to them but maintenance and ALOT of fuel
My ’75 Trailduster with a 440, in a tailwind, might get 8mpg. That’s why there’s a 5 gallon jerry can on the spare tire rack.
Where do I start? Had a ‘79 Plymouth Trailduster, 360, 2 bbl, maroon. As I remember, had all the heavy duty gear: transmission cooler, skid plates on the gas tank, can’t remember all of it. 12 MPG on the highway, considerably less in town. Like the original narrative, the worst vehicle I’ve ever owned. Handled terribly, even by truck standards. After multiple corporate transfers in my job and approx 75,000 miles, sold it to a guy who drove it til the doors fell off. Believe it or not, have occasionally had dreams about that thing. Nightmares. Now that this one has appeared in BF, probably have them again. How Chrysler engineers could design and build vehicles like this, I’ll never know.
Auction update: this 4×4 sold for $22,100.
I have had several of these trucks , 2wd 4×4 sm blocks BB as well . gas mileage is awe-full but they would just go anywhere . Some of the best trucks 4 plowing snow . best thing to do is do the cummins swap either 4bt or 6bt mileage goes to 30 depending on trans configuration and best thing it’s all bolt in .