In the latter half of the 1970s, Dodge produced a series of pickup trucks in the “adult toys” category. Depending on the model, they were treated to cosmetic, performance, or a combination of both upgrades. Best remembered is the Li’l Red Express with its police engine. Another was the Warlock like this 1976 edition (most were painted black, this one red). From a barn in Davis, South Dakota, it’s a non-running project that’s available here on eBay; the current bid is $2,501 with an unmet reserve.
Though most Warlock production didn’t get underway until the 1977 model year, some Warlocks were built over the Summer of 1976. The seller believes this Dodge is one of the earliest assembled, possibly the first, though that’s unconfirmed. It’s a short wheelbase, “step-side” with four-wheel-drive. Considered a “trick truck”, Dodge’s goal was to sell trucks like these to younger buyers. Takers were treated to goodies like gold wheels and wide tires, bucket seats, and a roll bar in the bed. The seller suggests this pickup is one of just 20 made, though we don’t know the source.
Unlike the later Li’l Red Express, this Warlock is no barn burner. It has a 318 cubic-inch V8 and an automatic transmission. Neither appears to have been functional in some time. The mileage is 116,000, which means the truck may have simply gotten tired before it was parked. A full restoration is needed, and fortunately rust doesn’t seem to be a major culprit. When brought back to its former glory, it should be worth more than an ordinary “Ram” from this era, but less than a LRE with its unrestricted 360 engine.
There is nothing in the VIN that identifies a Warlock. It was basically a D-100 or W-100 with what was called the Warlock package which included bucket seats with a center console, carpeting, special steering wheel, gold pin stripes in and out, wood side boards in the bed stake pockets, gold painted rims with chrome style center caps, Goodyear polyglass raised white letter tires, and a rear chrome bumper. The bed was wood and was painted the body color. They did not come with a roll bar. How do I know? I bought a 1976 Dodge Warlock brand new off the show room floor when I was 16. I still have it. The 4×4’s were uncommon. They came in black, red, or green. This one is pretty rough. I hope they get what they think it’s worth.
I would love to see pictures of your truck if you could post some!
I am not a member so I can’t post pictures here. I do have some but not an extensive collection. Wouldn’t be that difficult tho. I’d just have to pull it out of the garage. I could send it another way but don’t no where to send it.
I owned a white ’76 PLYMOUTH variant of this truck and like this one, mine had a dogie automatic with an anemic V8, 4WD, short bed, big tires and wheels, oh yeah, and really crappy brakes. It was terribly unreliable and left me walking more times than I care to count. I took it to several tranny shops for repair where it was left to languish in the lot waiting for someone patient enough to want to work on it. I converted it back to a top loaded 4 speed and sold it to a fellow who used his “teeth money” to pay for it. A story for another day.
There was no Plymouth version of this truck. What you may have had was a Dodge W100 that was mistakenly equipped with a Plymouth grille that was intended for a Trail Duster, which was the only truck-based product that Dodge shared with Plymouth in the United States at that time.
Canadian?
No, Nelson C, there were no Plymouth pickup trucks in Canada in the late ’70s, either, nor anywhere else in the world to my knowledge. Unlike in the States, Chrysler of Canada did give their Chrysler-Plymouth dealers a full line of badge-engineered Dodge trucks to sell, but the brand name on them was Fargo, not Plymouth.
built in Windsor Ontario at Chrysler plant 1,I worked at Kelsey Hayes back in 1977 that was just down the road. Every day i would drive by plant 1 and the new Dodge little red express were lined up ready for shipping ,among them were sprinkled with the black warlocks.it was a cool site (wish i had a cell phone like today and able to take pix.
I’m no expert but weren’t the Warlocks 2WD muscle trucks? Like, fastest production vehicle in 1977 type muscle? Interesting find…
No, the Warlock was strictly an appearance package on a base D100 or W100. The Little Red Express Truck was a muscle truck. It came with the 360 4 bbl. police engine as standard equipment, in addition to all of the appearance goodies.
Warlock could be had 2 or 4 wheel drive. I’ve seen green, black and orange. Slant 6 all the way to the 440. Supposedly one was built in a very dark blue. No verification though.