Chevy had the stylized pickup market cornered with their Cameo pickup and the Dodge boys wanted in on that market, even though it was a relatively tiny one. This 1958 Dodge Sweptside is the result of their experiment. This super cool and rare pickup is listed on eBay with a current bid of $8,400 and there is no reserve. This truck is located in New Haven, Indiana. Thanks to Peter R. for sending in this sweet Sweptside!
Sigh, so many vehicles, so little time and money. I keep fantasizing about people like the LeMays in Tacoma with several thousand vehicles and I wonder what industry I could have/should have gotten into a few decades ago to be able to buy and restore every one that catches my eye. This Sweptside would be a no-brainer. I think that it’s the king of cool for pickups, although I’m guessing that 90% of you would prefer a Chevy Cameo. The Sweptside was made from 1957 to 1959.
The seller says that this “is the extremely RARE Canadian version….alternate paint scheme…baby moon rims instead of the grandma grocery getters the us models got.” There are no hard numbers on how many of these pickups were made, unfortunately. They were almost more handmade than assembly-line-made so the production was low. The box sides are literally modified side panels from a Dodge Suburban wagon combined with a custom cab pickup and the result is pretty eye-catching. Some (me) would say even more so than the Chevy Cameo just because of their rarity.
This truck looks rough upon first glance but then there’s a photo like the interior one shown above and it looks pretty nice. The seat even looks good although obviously it’s a seat cover. There is some heavy surface rust on the floors and the seller mentions “Has the usual rust. Rear edge of front fenders…..rear quarters etc etc….I have the replacement quarters for the truck rear.” The box and/or bed looks pretty solid with the usual surface rust as you would expect. I’m not sure if the wood floor can be refinished but I’m guessing that in almost every ownership scenario it would be replaced. These weren’t really work trucks, although they could be used as such. They were as close to Sunday-go-to-meetin’ trucks as there were in this era.
The seller has the engine listed as a 318 but I’m fairly certain that it’s a 315 cubic-inch V8 which would have had just over 200 hp. The Sweptside pickups were available with power steering and power brakes but I don’t see either on this example unless I missed seeing them under the hood? Dodge offered the Sweptside pickup until 1959 and they don’t come up for sale too often. Hagerty lists a #4 fair condition Sweptside as being worth $14,400 and a #2 excellent example as being worth $41.600! So, if you had to pick one, present value notwithstanding: would you rather have a Dodge Sweptside or Chevy Cameo?
Well being a fan of the Mopar brands, and a Canadian I’d take this over the cameo. I’ve never seen one before and I think if you were to roll up on a cars and coffee night in this ( restored of course ) you’d be the only one with one. Obviously the folks at dodge back in the day put the side panels off of a wagon onto a step side box, which was a quick and cheep way to put this together. I think that this truck is a bit of an ugly duck but that is a big part of its charm.
I agree- the box modification looks more like a backyard job than something a manufacturer would do. The Cameo works better for me.
Ugly truckling.
Or, Trucking Fugly, however, I love it.
Have you ever dreamed of what you would do if you won the lottery. Mine is always the same help out family members and friends and then go around saving/restoring cool cars ! This would definitely be on the list. Maybe not the prettiest (obviously why a lot were not sold) but certainly unique and cool in its own way for sure !! I dream of all of the different shops I would use depending on what look I was after. Original, custom, restomod, etc… Hmmmmm
I’ve seen a few of these over the years. They’re OK but they sometimes gave me the impression that they were quickly assembled from left over station wagon fenders and put on the market to compete with the Chevy Cameo and the International Golden Anniversary truck. They definitely looked better with the ’58-’59 series than they did with the ’57. That said I wouldn’t turn a Chevy, Binder or one of these down. This would be a nice project to have….
You know, I always thought that too, my friend. It’s like, the Cameo came out, which I feel, is a much cleaner design, and the big-wigs at Chrysler panicked, thinking this would be the new wave of trucks, and slapped this together. Sadly, they were all wrong. Very few went for the Cameo, and even less with these. Unlike the ’54 Chevy, this could handle everything a modern truck would do, only with class. Super find, here.
Now, and this may be an unfair comparison, but wouldn’t you rather spend a 1/3 of what that ’34 Harley costs for this cool truck? That’s America ( I suppose)
Here’s a Binder version.
I bid on a Golden Anniversary like this a couple of months ago in Montana. They are much more attractive than this Dodge……..as is the Chevy.
The guy that restored this found it in a farmer’s boneyard. He latched onto it and really turned it around.
Nice!!! The one year only “A” series ( 50 year anniversary) was my favorite Binder.
Yes it’s a Poly 318….sure looks like the one at the swap meet in Dallas a few weeks back….wounder why he didn’t post the replacement quarters….that would tell allot.
Until today I had only seen these on TV or in the magazines. I was at Hot August Nights Spring Fever Revival today in downtown Reno where I saw one in the flesh. It was a ’59 and it was Hemi powered. I don’t know if the motor was original or not but the whole thing was nice. The owner had display signage with production figures for each year. The total for all years was 1200 and change. My brain being a few years older than this truck can’t remember exactly, and not being a smart phone user I didn’t take a pic or video of my every waking moment or I’d have snapped a shot of those numbers.
Seamless blending of the station wagon rear fenders wasn’t on the designers to do list, but still a cool truck.
Neither for me, thanks, but I’ll take a ‘57 F100 Flareside if you’re offering.
I remember thinking how goofy these Dodge trucks looked back when they were new. Six decades on and my opinion hasn’t changed… ;-)
There was one, I am not certain which year, but I believe it was a 57, in my neighbourhood when I was a kid. It was Red and White with all the options, and at the time it seemed pretty enough to me, but you have to remember those were the first years that they dressed up trucks.
I admit I am biased, because I have owned a 55 Cameo for almost 50 years, so I like the cameo better. I would still like to have this truck because it is so unique. If it had an old style hemi in it, that would make me even happier.
I hope it gets driven after it is restored, so the owner will have to answer 10,000 times, “no, its original”, just like I have had to do.
They also made one under the Fargo, as well as the Desoto brand name. Fargo’s were very common in Canada when I was a kid.
Bob S
They should have named it the Hodgepodge Dodge 😝
I’ve never seen one before, nice truck…although the Binder version posted by @geomechs looks more thought out, in terms of its box and side trim.
Thanks to Barn Finds once again for my vehicular enrichment.
I also remember these when new. I grew up in the rust belt, and these rusted very quickly. I always thought that Dodge ran out of inspiration when they hung the work truck tailgate on their “Halo” truck. The dash also shows minimal effort.
These remind me of the later Studebaker pickups with the Dodge bed which kinda fit.
I knew I saw one one of these somewhere recently, but I had to dig through youtube to find it:
https://youtu. be/EepSZOd2B38?t=1075
This one is even rarer, as it is a Canadian model badged as a Fargo.
It does appear to be nearly identical however. even though it is a 59.
Given the choice between the two, I think the Dodge is in better shape. Either one would be quite a chore to restore, but with the price of old, rare, pickup trucks being stupidly high (thanks BJ), I am quite sure both will be restored.
I think this would be a great project for Coldwarmotors.
A side note, if you are into 50’s and 60’s mopars, love a good fabrication video, and the canadian sense of humor, check him out on YT. He is currently putting a ’72 citroen SM back into daily driver status. That car is endlessly fascinating.
Oops:
https://youtu.be/EepSZOd2B38?t=1075
Quarter panels were off of a car to make the sweptside style
Yeah I saw a few of these as a youngster in Northern California. I thought they looked goofy then, almost cartoonish something you’d expect Goofy to be driving. The tailgate just doesn’t go with the rest of the vehicle. A neighbor had one with the 392 hemi automatic. He got laughed at so much he traded it on a 60 Dodge with wide long bed.
The Chevy looks way better to me. However I do find this homely truck interesting I would imagine tha it would be very difficult to find body panels for this truck…..and it looks like it may need a few!
Cartoonish means perfect for me…love it as a great awkward production vehicle. I’ve seen so many cameos that I don’t care.
I am sorry to have missed this truck in Reno yesterday. I live in the Reno area and rarely miss any of the car shows. However I was at the Dixon California British car show instead. I would have liked to see the twin truck in person. Yes weird and different. But because it is (and I never really liked the Cameos) I would pick the Dodge. However, seeing one up close and personal my change my mind just because of the uncompleted look.
The Binder is way cool!
Sweptsides are better looking than Cameos (imho), but probably not better trucks. This swept sold for $11,200 on eBay today which is not a good deal. You will have another $40K at least in it. If someone gave it to you, you would have 40+ in it. Most will prefer a different color scheme and the automatic push button transmission. They are going up but you can still get exactly what you want in a private sale for around 50.
Here is a rear shot of my 57 Golden Jubilee that makes it so memorable. Those are 54 Buick tail lights and reflectors that IH used!
Around 1965 I was about 14 and worked for a neighbor farmer (Canada) …. he had bought a used 1957 Fargo Sweptside and I got to drive it a lot …. it was a very tight solid truck , had no miles on it and he said he got a good deal on it because everyone called it a girl-truck (it was pink and white). He was a bit of a junk collector , never threw anything out , and never sold his old vehicles. A few years ago he had an auction sale (mostly old machinery relics) . I was there for a while but did not look for the Sweptside …. his relics were spread over 10 acres and not easy to look around. I just found out how rare they are and regret not buying it.
Arnie M. Manitoba Canada
ps: for a minute I thought the Canadian one in the above picture was it but the one I drove had the 6 cyl engine