Estate sales can be incredibly sad places. Someone has just passed on to another place and family and friends are sad and there’s confusion and sometimes disagreement as to how to clear out the things that they loved and owned. The seller found this 1984 Dodge Rampage at an estate sale and they couldn’t pass it up. It can be found here on eBay in Massillon, Ohio with an unmet opening bid of $1,000.
I have only been to a couple of estate sales and I think I ended up buying a lamp and I can’t even remember anything else. I’d remember buying an ’84 Rampage. They were made for the 1982 to 1984 model years and the Plymouth Scamp joined the family in 1983.
This one is loaded with something in the back, I’m not sure if that’s also estate sale merch or what’s going on there. I would have taken that stuff out and cleaned this little hauler up before taking photos but that’s just me. Apparently, 11,732 examples of the Dodge Rampage were sold in the final year of 1984 and the seller mentions that this is 1 of 69 left in the U.S., but that seems like a fairly low number to me. We’ve seen quite a few of them over the years here at Barn Finds.
There isn’t a photo showing the dashboard so I’m expecting the worst there, but maybe they just didn’t have a chance to get a photo of that area. The seats are a no-brainer to fix but there are other things inside that’ll need work. Missing bits that are hopefully stuffed in a box or hiding under a seat or somewhere.
The engine should be Chrysler’s 2.2L inline-four with 96 hp. The seller says that after sleeping for 18 years, it started right up! The biggest worry that I’d have with this Rampage would be rust. There is a lot of rust, a lot. I’m not sure if this car is a restoration candidate given other nice ones for not much money that we have seen over the last few years and the amount of rust, but I hope that it can somehow be saved. Thoughts?
1st paragraph, boy howdy, got that right. Going through my late parents estate cost us thousands in lawyer fees. Something for you folks that had/have parents with lousy bookkeeping might want to take note of.
Again, same old thing, these have to be nice for any appeal today, and nice ones do come along. The vehicle itself was a good idea, remains the only all-American built front drive pickup, and had something the other car/pickups lacked, front drive and great gas mileage. $1,000 bucks and no bids doesn’t look good. Parts for $500 maybe?
Typical flipper! He’s my idle!
You have to read the ebay ad to get the joke.
Speaking of the ebay ad, there is a decent number of pics, but almost no description. Because the seller (flipper) doesn’t know anything about the vehicle. Probably bought it for something like fifty bucks. It certainly looks the part of a vehicle which has lived in snowy northeast Ohio.
These don’t bring a lot of money, even a pristine example. Considering the extensive rust, this is a parts car and not worth $1,000; maybe a couple of hundred if you can find somebody who is looking for Rampage parts. My guess is there aren’t too many of them.
The guy up the road from me has five of them, none running. No rust, but still just sitting out in a field. He says they are for sale, but he never seems to want to sell one. He has a lot of stuff like that, stuff slowly rotting into the ground. Horrible eyesore for most people, but a few of us appreciate the view, though we would prefer not to watch them slowly fade away. When he dies someday (maybe sometime soon, he smokes like he is on fire and coughs like he is about to lose a lung) what is left will not be a blessing to his survivors, just a call at great expense for someone to haul stuff away. There will be nothing left of value. The neighbors will be relieved, but wouldn’t it be better if some of these cars (he has at least 2 dozen) went to loving homes were they could be cherished and brought back to life? I know, it is his right, but I will never understand the hoarders mindset.
These were poorly built cars to begin with; I don’t see why this would be worth anything more than scrap.
Good for parts only, these cars are known under side rust problems
I agree with the author about the rust. LOTS of rust. I had an 84 Turismo, sent it the scrap yard with about 140,000 miles on it. Tow guy was impressed, as these were cheap throw away cars that would only last to 75,000 miles or so.
Pathetic thing with my car is the engine and trans were still solid, just not the unibody. Mine lost the floor pans under the drivers seat and the rear passenger seats, the spare tire bottom was long gone, the only thing holding the tire in was a 2×4 strapped onto it. The fuel tank had a billion pinpoints allowing fuel to seep thru, and the frame rails were quite rusty. From what I can see from the pictures provided, this car has ti worm in all the same spots. Parts car only, then scrap…
Great vehicle if you need to haul some cotton balls or packing peanuts
I used one to pick up a self powered lift with a quarter of it hanging off the tailgate. That thing had to weigh at least 700lbs.
The bed sat so low it pushed a shock into the exhaust pipe and left a dent in it.
Only if I get the stuff in the truck bed. Gotta be worth something unlike that truck.
Im a huge fan of the 1978 to 1986 el caminos and i do like these as well because they are even more rare than said el caminos. That said what people dont realize here is this with patience and work and paint could be a good radwood show mini truck or even convert it to a battery powered truck or pro street.
ya’ll don’t know what your talking about . i hauled 1000ld. of mulch in mine