Chrysler got into the small pickup business for a time in the 1980s, building a sort of El Camino on the same Chrysler L platform as the Omni/Horizon subcompacts. The little trucks weren’t huge sellers and the company moved on after three years and about 40,000 units. This 1984 Rampage, the Dodge edition, seems in nice overall condition with only 44,000 miles. It’s rated as a half-ton, so it should be suitable for any lighter-duty job. Located in Puyallup, Washington, this two-owner Mopar is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $5,000. Thanks to Lee for this interesting tip!
Instead of going with a Japanese import from Mitsubishi, Chrysler elected to produce this truck on their own. From 1982 to 1984, the Dodge Rampage was offered along with its Plymouth version the Scamp (which was only sold for one year). The pickups used unibody construction, borrowing its suspension from the front-wheel-drive Omni/Horizon and the front clip from the sporty Charger/024. Their primary competition was the Volkswagen Rabbit Sportruck and Subaru BRAT.
This little truck is powered by its original 2.2-liter engine with an automatic transmission. If it had a 5-speed, it would be peppier when carrying a load, so I wouldn’t expect this thing to chirp the tires. It’s carbureted as fuel injection wasn’t yet a common choice. Physically, the truck looks to have held up well and not been a workhorse. The body and paint are fine, and we’re told there is no rust, thanks in part to being stored indoors a lot. (I don’t believe the girl in one of the pictures comes with the Dodge).
The simple passenger compartment is also clean, and everything works – including the radio. There are no creature comforts like air conditioning as this pickup wasn’t built to be as luxurious as the Chevy El Camino could be. Based on the seller’s description, this should be a turnkey machine you could use right away rather than having to spend weeks getting it ready. Have any of our readers ever own one of these?
Looks like a fun little truck!
I had one of these. 5-speed manual. Fun truck to drive but it had a habit of breaking clutch cables. Kept a spare in it at all times. Grey with the Prospector package. Not sure what that added as it had no AC or power anything. I did replace the rear window with a slider to get some air in it. I was a broke sailor in Norfolk, Va, Got me to work and back…
These were peppy with the 5-speed and people loved the size.
A mini-hauler. I’m not sure if they did not sell well OR
Chrysler just did not make many, thinking that they wouldn’t sell many.
Chrysler thought the same thing when they first introduced the
PT Cruisers. It was to be a replacement for the Omni/Horizon.
I used to drive one in the Army (Ft. Hood) circa. 1983-85. It handled great and hauled well, too. A wonderful little vehicle.
My first car. An ’82. I think it last about five New England coastal winters.
It did handle quite well and reasonably quick around town.
Only after my family switched to Hondas did I realize how crappy that 4 speed transmission in the Dodge really was.
Re: “Instead of going with a Japanese import from Mitsubishi, Chrysler elected to produce this truck on their own” — actually, they did both. The Dodge D-50 (’79-80) and Ram 50 (’81-94) and Plymouth Arrow pickup (’79-82) were a rebadged Mitsubishi conventional body-on-frame compact pickup.
As for the Rampage, my dad had an ’83 for several years, handled all the light hauling duty he needed as a homeowner and volunteer church groundskeeper, meanwhile serving as a stylish, sporty and economical work commuter and household second vehicle. His looked especially sharp in black with red pinstripes, machined-face turbine-style alloy wheels, bright alloy bed rails, and a black vinyl tonneau cover over the bed.
Ford Maverick
…with actual flair
Oh wow! Does the chrome “Club” come in the deal?
Had a hankerin’ for one of these for a spell. A trucking friend had a Scamp. A camper cap was available, and greatly increased covered space, a problem with all the “El Camino” or “Ute” types. I think there was a brief infatuation with Australia in the 80s, where Utes are common, it just never took off here. I read, F.I. wasn’t available until 1986. Nothing wrong with a carburetor, I can hear it now, “Set the choke? What the hell is that?” Great find.
Not a fan of the carbureted engines in these. I owned an ’84 Horizon and that engine never ran right. Idled roughly all the time and often stalled at stoplights no matter how many times it was tuned.
Carb isolator was cracked or maybe an egr problem
I still have an 83 and used to own a 82. The 4 speed was the best and great in snow and mud. The 83 that I have is the open top that is featured on BF with a search. It runs descent and actually has two anti-flex bars welded to cover flexing. Great Arizona desert vehicle. And yes the gas milage is still over 30 mpg and can carry over 1/2 ton of anything.
We had a Scamp, and it served us very well. 4-speed manual. It did eventually rust out (Midwestern winters), but while we had it we loved it, and it was relatively trouble-free. We drove from central Iowa to Olathe, Kansas in a driving snowstorm, and it performed amazingly well.
I have one – picked it up from the original owner with all maintenance records. Not a whole lot of power, but runs pretty good and gets great mileage!
I had one of these when they were still fairly common. It had automatic and A/C. I still miss it; my wife thought it was ugly.
Gone……
I remember a Chrysler Executive being quoted as saying “Once you’ve sold one to all the pool boys, the market is pretty saturated”
A mechanic I worked with back in the 80’s took one of these and dropped the engine and transaxle from a rear ended Daytona Turbo Z
Fun little trucklet
I don’t have a Facebook account so I am not able to access the add to buy it
I bought an 83 with a 5 speed new. Peppy, fun to drive.
I towed a 14′ Bayliner with it back then. No problem. Chrysler quality wasn’t the best back then, the rattles and noise bothered me, seems like every 10k it got worse. I averaged close to 40mpg empty. It did everything I wanted it to do.
Sold it to a young girl as her first car, she loved it and put over 100k on it, just replacing the clutch.
Facecrook is a discriminatory place to market a car. Some haven’t joined the Cult.
Never heard it called Facecrook before, but it fits.
I think of it as Wastebook, and there’s Instascam.
🤣🤣😂
My wife’s step mom bought one of those new the first year they came out (84?). It would flood easily and refused to start when the temperature got well below freezing, which happens pretty regularly in Wisconsin! The only way to get it started after it flooded was to let it sit until it warmed up some. Junk!
I agree with the low temperature problems. But I ran one for 10 years living in Washington State and Florida with minimal problems.
Flooded carb? Hold the gas pedal to floor and turn it over till it starts up.
To avoid flooding it…on cold starts push the gas pedal to the floor 3 times. Then start. Warm starts…dont touch the gas till after it is running.
Works on GMs anyway.
I bought a new Dodge in a burgundy w/automatic & A/C. Carried a wooden fold-up ladder for roofing estimating. It needed another 20-30 HP, but since I prefer small vehicles, was good. However, it came with a defect. It would quickly wear out one side of a front disc brake pad. It was probably an easy fix, but after 2 or 3 times, I traded it in on a small ’87 Ranger long-cab with automatic V6 – which I kept much longer.
Hmm… stuck caliper
Im amazed these tiny car/trucks were ligit half ton pick ups when compared to S10s Rangers and Dakotas looking much more stout with so much more hauling power ie v6 4.3 being only quarter ton . Impressive capacity for an omni