A lot of us would be happy breaking even on a vintage vehicle. We dream about buying an old truck, car, motorcycle, snowmobile, whatever, working on it for a while, maybe fixing it up a bit, and selling it for more than we have into it. That isn’t the case with this 1963 Dodge D200 Sweptline pickup posted here on craigslist in Denver, Colorado. The seller is asking $5,450 or best offer; just what they have into it. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mike F. for the tip!
The first-generation D-Series by Dodge was made for the 1961 model year until the 1965 model year. The quad headlight design was unique to this generation, although the 1965 model year had a mix of early quad headlight trucks and redesigned two-headlight trucks. I prefer the two-headlight face, but that’s just a personal preference. It’s like choosing a favorite child, there is no wrong answer for the number of headlights on an early Dodge truck for me.
The seller says – and they refer to this story as “lore” – that the original owner bought this pickup in Denver and used it as a farm truck. That could explain why it appears to be in such nice condition. I don’t see any big rust issues or really any body rust at all, other than surface rust. They go on to say that two brothers who recently owned the truck and drove it from Denver to Minneapolis and back (if I had a nickel for every time I’ve made that drive), and that’s all they know about its history. The D200 is a 3/4-ton truck, so more than most of us would need, but perfect for a farm truck.
They recently bought it and changed the fuel filter, fuel pump, most of the gas line, the spark plugs, and then drove it a half-dozen times, changed the oil, and now it’s for sale for what they bought it for. This is it for interior photos other than one showing the speedometer and odometer, with 09296.0 miles, which I’m assuming is 109,296, but we don’t know for sure. One very cool thing is that it has a four-speed manual, an $85 option. One not-so-cool thing is that the gas pedal is missing. Let’s see a show of hands for those who have driven a vehicle, sometimes for months or years, without a gas pedal. Me, too.
The engine is Dodge’s 318-cu.in. OHV V8, which had 200 horsepower and 286 lb-ft of torque when new. It rolls through that New Process four-speed manual transmission to the rear wheels, and the seller has some bad news: they think it needs a valve job on three cylinders. Also, a comical-sounding issue but I know it isn’t in real life when it happens, but the horn beeps when the left turn signal is on. Thankfully nobody uses turn signals anymore… Any thoughts on this D200 Dodge?
Trucking right along, there, Scotty G.!!
Definitely a better deal than the Chevy Apache earlier today though with a little bit of upkeep to make it a daily driver-the gas pedal and left turn signal issue fix is easy peasy but when you’ve got the heads off to do that vale job what else is needing attention? Does it matter at this price? I don’t think so either!
Pretty clean old beast. Not the best road trip machine and, gasp, no cup holders. In my 20’s, however, I’d have taken it on the road anyway…..with the obligatory tool box for those unexpected repairs. Plus, that was in the 55mph days when I wouldn’t have been tempted to run 80mph anyway.
There’s definitely room under that hood to pop the heads off for a valve job, or just yank the whole thing out for a full overhaul.
Nice truck, nice price! If you can do the work yourself, pull the engine, rings bearings, do the heads, clutch while you’re at it, 1k maybe? It’ll be around long enough to bury you off the back!
This looks like a great old Dodge. I always thought this was a great body style. 318 and a 4 speed ( once the 318 is sorted) will be very reliable. I appreciate the realistic price too. I’m with Scotty I don’t see any real rust issues either, it just looks like a solid old truck. I usually like them cleaned up and painted, but this one you could actually almost getting away with just leaving it be. I love the end with the turn signal and horn being somehow comically connected. Well, like he said who uses turn signals anyways. Where I live, they day people don’t use their turn signals…. Because it will give away their next move…
Great write up Scotty, I enjoyed it.
Now that last sentence in the text made me laugh. The one about they don’t use signals anymore anyway. It pisses me off here in NE Philadelphia at the nearest light, enough room for left turns or straight and right turns. But if some car is over to the left, will they turn with no signal or use at the last minute, or will they go straight ahead? No way to know! If the left signal is ON, then I can line up to the right of them and go ahead or turn right when the light changes. And this is often with a line of cars and trucks leaving the Wawa, not much room. You may be correct that they don’t use signals so no one will know their moves. Or don’t care, or just lazy? How is this for a rant? By the way, I really like this Dodge truck. It reminds me of a faded Tonka toy that was left out in the sand box. Didn’t they make these?
Nice find Mike F..
Of course I would find a 383 or 440 it looks to have a/c!
Of course I would find a 383 or 440 it looks to good to go slow with that 4 speed !
Break even? How does that work?
I can’t grasp that idea.
I almost always lose money.
I never passed one of these old dodges in the wrecking yard without grabbing the third member out of the axle. 3.91 and 4.10 sure grips galore.
How come deals like this are never in MY neck of the woods ?
That is sharp!
Whoops-a-daisy, the seller has deleted the ad. Which one of you bought this truck?
Someone lucky got a deal. They’ll probably go through it and flip it, unfortunately.
Trucks like this don’t exist around me, or many areas for that matter. This would buy you a ten year old rusty Corolla with 150k around me. I need to move.
Somebody got a cool truck. I used to think the front ends were so ugly, now I think their uniqueness make them pretty cool.
$800 truck for the longest time, now looks like a bargain at $5500. Sheesh!