Dodge has brought the Rampage name back from the dead with a new unibody pickup that is proving to be everything customers ever wanted in a small truck. The problem is that the new Rampage is being sold only in South America.  At least for now.  Rumors are swirling that it will be coming to the United States soon to battle the Ford Maverick.  Despite the current lack of Rampages on your local dealer’s lot, you can still buy a very nice example of the previous generation of Dodge’s mini truck.  This 1984 Dodge Rampage for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Loda, Illinois, is a very presentable driver-level truck.  Bathed in Inferno Orange paint, the Rampage you see here is being offered at a bargain price of $5,000, rather than the likely $50,000+ price of the newer version, which we are unable to obtain at this writing.  Would you be willing to settle for this example until Dodge comes to its senses and offers the new truck here?  Thanks to Lothar…of the Hill People for the tip!

There is no shortage of positive attributes to the cars and trucks being sold today.  Cars today are safer, faster, and far more fuel-efficient than those of the eighties.  The problem is that there was far more variety in the decade of MTV.  Customers were offered a wide range of body styles for every niche application imaginable.  Car buyers could pick up a little econobox with a four-speed manual and no air conditioning or a luxury car with pillowed seats and a padded vinyl top.  On the truck side of the lot, you could pick from a small quarter-ton single-cab pickup with mag wheels and some insane stripes down the side or a big dually with an extended cab and a thumping big block resting under the hood.  It was the best of times and the worst of times.  And, looking back, it was a good time.

Automakers seemed willing to chase niche markets back in the eighties.  We already had compact pickups and full-sized trucks.  However. Volkswagen and the Chrysler Corporation thought that there was room in the marketplace for subcompact front-wheel-drive pickups based on automobiles that were already in production.  Volkswagen went first in 1979 with a Rabbit-based pickup that lasted until 1984.  Chrysler, which found itself in deep financial trouble in the early eighties due to its poor timing when making just about any choice, began punching out Omni-based Rampages in 1982.  A Plymouth version named the Scamp came along in 1983 as a single-year offering.  By 1984, the company felt that sales weren’t meeting expectations, and the little pickups were cancelled.  Around 40,000 of these distinctive little trucks made it into the hands of customers.

Today, seeing a vintage Dodge Rampage or Plymouth Scamp is a rarity.  Just 37,401 Rampages were made in the three years they were produced.  Even rarer is the Scamp.  Its single-year production was a minuscule 3,564 trucks built.  When you get past the low production numbers, you also have to take into account that these little haulers were crafted from Chrysler’s most modestly priced automobile line.  The L-Platform was the basis for such awesome vehicles as the Omni GLH and the Shelby Charger.  It was also the underpinnings for hundreds of thousands of very pedestrian vehicles that were not remembered for their longevity.

The truck you see here is a reasonably nice example of this seldom-seen Mopar market experiment.  Its ad states that this Inferno Orange painted example is a 1984 model.  Strangely, it wears the nose of an earlier truck.  In 1984, the Rampage, along with the Charger on which this truck was based, benefited from a styling update that gave it a four-headlight front end.  Paint charts also show no record of Inferno Orange being a Dodge color in 1983 or 1984.  The earliest reference dates back to 2008.  Perhaps this truck has seen some body work in the past, but this has not been disclosed by the seller.  We do hear that the factory air conditioning does not currently function.  The seller tells us that there is “…no freon available north of Mexico.”  While this piece of bad news may be disconcerting, potential buyers will find solace in knowing that the truck hails from Nevada and is advertised as “RUST FREE.”

In the ad, the seller goes on to tell us that this distinctive little truck gets 22 MPG and has been outfitted with updated brakes, tires, and shocks.  Inside, we can see that the dash is perfect, but the aftermarket radio works “sometimes.”  Peace-themed floor mats and seat covers have been added to enhance the eighties aftermarket theme.  The buyer will benefit from an extra set of paint-matched wheels and a rubber bed mat that has been cut to fit.  The truck starts, runs, rides, and stops great, aside from the choke sticking.

Perhaps the saddest part of this ad is the reason for the sale itself.  The seller was the recipient of a knee surgery that went poorly.  This lack of mobility makes it difficult to enter and exit a smaller vehicle such as this Rampage.  The good news is that the funds from the sale will get the seller started on another project.  While there are some questions about this truck, it is very presentable, and the $5,000 asking price is in line with what good examples are selling for.  It will also surely be a pittance when compared to the projected asking price of a new Rampage.

What do you see as some of the advantages of a pickup the size of this Rampage?  Should Dodge busy itself with making another subcompact truck with front wheel drive, or is bigger better when it comes to trucks?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.