When a pickup makes it past five decades of use, chances are it’s been through several owners and possibly undergone a significant restoration at some point during this period. But this 1971 Dodge D100 here on eBay breaks the mold on that theory, as it was purchased new by a family in Lynchburg, Virginia to originally function as a work hauler for a local family business and has remained under their care in this same geographic location all these years, accumulating fewer than 70k miles in the process, so if you’re looking for a less common early seventies truck this one’s probably worth checking out. So far, bidding has reached only $3,055 without the reserve met, or you can buy it right now for $20,000.
The original driver has now passed the truck down to his son, and while the Dodge has mainly seen short-distance weekend travel over its most recent history the truck’s been sitting under this carport completely unused for the past 2 years, so a new battery will be a necessity and the seller also recommends a tuneup. But the 318 is said to have been well maintained and things under the hood appear to still be in good working order, so considering the low mileage I’m guessing there’s probably some good life left to be had in the future from this small V8.
No specifics are mentioned regarding if this is 100% of the original orange paint remaining outside, but enough scuffing and fading are present along the body to indicate the truck may still be wearing at least partly a factory-applied finish, but for its age and the fact that this one’s no stranger to hauling, the exterior still looks pretty good overall. The bed is showing a fair amount of surface rust, but as far as the metal here actually being compromised I’m only seeing just a few small holes unless the area with water standing is hiding more.
Even though it’s kind of basic inside, most of the interior components are nicely preserved with the instruments and even the dash pad appearing younger than their age along with a decent condition bench seat, especially for a truck that worked hard for so many years. I’m a fan of this one plus liking that the pickup’s been in the same family for more than 50 years, and with all things considered the $20k price tag doesn’t sound all that unreasonable if you’re a Sweptline fan. What are your thoughts here?
What a cool truck. Hub caps look to be off a ’66 Newport.
I can say without too much reservation, most of us would like to see trucks like this again new. Do we really want that? I mean, new trucks, while not my flavor, are just these machines of wizardry, that makes this like a Model T. Don’t get me wrong, in 1971, this was all that was needed and worked, and worked well. Somewhere along the line, we lost that, and trucks became the new staple of transportation. Obviously, these didn’t cut it. Fact is, I bet modern RAM owners have no idea what a “Dodge” pickup was, or care. “Oh yeah, gramps had a Dodge on the farm”, and that was true. For some reason, rural farm folks catered to Dodge, when Studebaker and IH were no longer around. Ford and Chevy were for “city slickers”, a Dodge was a farm truck. As family farms disappeared, many farmers got “regular” jobs, but kept the Dodge. From a time time when a truck was just that, a truck. Great find.
I think that a lot of us really do want that – and part of that was why trucks became so much in favor, long before they were folded into the same set of safety and fuel regulations that passenger cars are in. The true truck boom paralleled the first round of CAFE standards and the disappearance of the conventional station wagon.
Trucks have become more “carlike” in the last 30 years, but trucks really oriented to appeal to car-buyers – the Rampage, El Camino, Ranchero, and VW Caddy – didn’t sell. No, IMHO, for a variety of reasons, car designs have become far divergent from car buyers’ wants, and trucks, even modern ones, are much closer.
Do buyers want to go back in time? I know I do; I have proof in the driveway. I suddenly needed a new rig, this past summer, and a 23-year-old Toyota Tacoma appeared in my area – lower mileage, stored in a garage. Former owner was an old gent. He had bought it new, and it showed – standard cab, bench seat, no options other than air conditioning, and a spray-on bedliner.
And I take joy every day that I don’t have to deal with electronic warnings, codes, electronic door locks that won’t open the passenger side, standing outside, when the ignition is on.
A truck like what’s shown here, is too valuable to collectors, and two awkward in practice to use as a daily driver; but I understand the appeal.
The beauty of a truck of this vintage is anyone can work on the engine/drive train. Points, plugs, condenser, wires are all simple and easy peasy for the owner to deal with. No computers to hook up to, no diagnostic crud to deal with.
Won’t be any points, Chrysler was electronic ignition, remember?
Think ‘72 was the first year for electronic ignition in Chrysler products so this one should still be points and condenser.
1972 Chrysler electronic ignition was available as an option only , it was only standard on 340 cars. 1973 was the first year that all models had it standard. It wouldn’t be hard to change it over .
Don’t know where you are located Howard, but in the Deep South, from the 1970s on, I have seen more Ford and Chevy trucks on farms than Dodges.
Very true Gil…back in the day, with Ford and GM building 10 trucks to every Dodge built, no surprise too many aren’t around…
I can guarantee you that many young people still call them Dodge.
I see it all the time on YouTube comments and when I talked to a 19 year old lady about trucks, she pointed out strongly that she is, “A Dodge girl”. She loves the old D/W series.
For some reason, rural farm folks gravitated to Dodge because Dodge catered to their needs.
$20K for a $3K truck, that quite a return on something that wasn’t an investment to begin with, not bad, about the return on savings bonds. Lol
Neat ‘ol Dodge. To go along with Howard. I’d like to see a newly manufactured basic pickup truck with a bed knee high, below the waist anyway. I’d appreciate an 8’ bed too.
It doesn’t need a touch screen, navigation, proximity sensors, etc.
Oh, automatic temperature control, rear view camera(s), maybe.
Sounds like the Ram 1500 Classic, basically a 16 year old truck still in production that you can buy today. I’ve had 2 of them, a 19 and a 23. Very basic, affordable trucks.
You must’ve been on the board, Bruce-the Classic was supposed to go away this year but it’s been continued for another year though without the EcoDiesel..
If you are going to ask $20,000 spend the money on a new battery and tuning it up yourself. If I were a potential buyer I wouldn’t take the sellers word it just needed a tuneup, that would be foolish. If something really is an easy and inexpensive fix, why didn’t they do it themselves, any offer should reflect worse case scenario.
Steve R
With a little effort a good detail guy could get that single stage paint to come around. I bet people would be surprised how good it could look.
Seller has now relisted the truck with a new BIN of $13,000. That may be a price point where it will entice a serious buyer to act.
Steve R
Nice truck. I’m a Dodge fan. But I’m not seeing a $20K vehicle here. With two days left to bid; $5,100 is what has been offered so far. If it doubles before the end then the seller should happily accept the offer IMO. This vehicle is a four hour drive from my house. I can’t drive it back. Heck I can’t even try and start it unless I bring my own battery. And my Spidey senses tell me that I’d better plan on flipping out a bunch more Benjamins to make this puppy a reliable driver. Too bad for me I guess that the asking price is more than twice what I would pay; because if it was about 10K I’d be heading out to give this a look see with a trailer hooked up to my 1999 Dodge Ram.
This truck is not recently for sale I’ve seen it up for sale before but maybe it’s got resale now . 20k ? Hmmm not for me but yep it’s a cool truck .
Back in the day, my brother and I would drive around the Pennsylvania countryside looking for cheap old cars to buy, and there were lots of them – you’d find them parked in a field along the road or on somebody’s front yard with a For Sale sign in the window. I can’t tell you how many times we were told: “All it needs is a battery”!
I agree With Steve R, if a simple battery and tune up is all it needs, do it yourself. After having been sitting for 2 years, I would check very closely before I made an offer, and would still not be willing to pay 20K.
I’m surprised we all didn’t recognize this truck from August of 2023, just 4 months ago…….
https://barnfinds.com/one-family-owned-1971-dodge-d100-sweptline/
Just ready to print that……..
That’s okay, I don’t mind a reposting. Due to the high influx of submissions, they go by pretty fast. As “members”, we get to see the postings before regular viewers, a definite perk,( plus no ads) btw, to be honest, I don’t remember this, but I am pushing 70.
As an earlier poster pointed out, if it needs a battery and tune-up, and you want $20k for it, maybe you should demonstrate to potential buyers that it’s worth something like $20k and put a battery in it and get it tuned, running and ensure that the brakes, steering and suspension are road worthy.. Between the rust in the bed and the good indication that the cab floor mounts are less than 100%, for me the likelihood that this truck will sell for $20k in my lifetime is poor.
‘For that price it should be perfect, Dodges we’re always behind the other two until the last few years, of course they’re no longer Dodges.
No mention about documentation, which seems unusual for a one-family-owned vehicle. Other than the rust issues, the only debit about this truck is that its a long bed. Not as coveted as GM or Ford trucks of this year but values are rising, hence the seller’s rather optimistic BIN price.
I’m from Lynchburg, VA. This truck was probably sold new at John P. Hughes Motor Co. They were the Dodge dealer here for decades. The dealership still exists as a used car shop.