Every once in a while, a US auto manufacturer produces a truly unique vehicle. It may be appeal to only a niche part of the market but I think the 1978-1978 Dodge Lil’ Red Express pick up is one of those unique vehicles. This example is a 1979 model and is located in Afton, Tennessee. There is only one day left in the auction and the truck has a Buy It Now Price of $21,500. The truck is listed here on eBay and also has a Make An Offer option. The seller describes this truck as a survivor with just over 86,000 miles. However, the engine and transmission have been rebuilt so I would consider this a driver.
The Lil’ Red Express was equipped with a Dodge 360 cubic inch V8 that was rated at 225 horsepower. This was supposedly a modified police interceptor engine that was equipped with a 4 barrel carburetor and backed by an automatic transmission. Vehicles with a gross weight over 6,000 lbs were not required to be equipped with a catalytic converter so the Lil’ Red Express in 1978 was a free breathing machine. However, in 1979, a catalytic converter was required. Exhaust was channeled through true dual exhaust and included a cross over pipe exiting through two chrome exhaust stacks. These were functional and looked great but the truck was said not to be too healthy for livestock when pulling a trailer.
The interior on this truck is worn but not too bad. The truck was pretty much all business and was declared by Car and Driver to be the fastest American Made vehicle from 0 to 100. However, this was based on a prototype and not a true production model. Quarter mile times just a tad slower than the the 1978 and 1979 W72 equipped Trans Am but this was a lighter vehicle equipped with a 220 horsepower 400 cubic inch V8, 4 speed and 3:23 rear end. The seller states that at some point the slotted chrome rims were replaced with what looks like police wheels and hub cabs. The original wheels come with the sale of the truck.
Dodge produced 7,036 Lil’ Red Express trucks over the 2 year production run. Most people consider the 1978 model more desirable because only 2,188 were produced and the truck did not have a catalytic converter. This truck also looks like it has a replacement hood which should be red instead of black.
Nice truck, and, yeah, fast. But I have to disagree with your assessment of the exhaust pipes. I always thought they looked stupid, and still do. Of course, that is an opinion, and you know what people say about opinions…
It must have been fun back in the day in big state run inspection buildings – to watch the guy with the long exhaust probe try to stick it into 1 of those exhaust stacks. lol
Say what you want but a friend had The Warlock and it was one BIG POS. Every time it rained hard you had to replace the resister on the fire wall. Drank Gas. Drove like a log wagon. LOOKED PRETTY.
Of course …Your hatred of anything Mopar still shows
I remember these from when they come out. They don’t look any less ridiculous 40 years later. Silly truck
I concur.
Reminds me of an adult’s Tonka truck.
More bad photos!! Ends soon.
A wealthy car-guy friend brought an immaculate one to the local cruise night. When I asked him about it, he said he named it “Big Mistake”……
Turned out he paid market value for it, in very good condition, and decided to “fix it up”, and use it as a driver. Well, he is a fairly fussy guy, and decided to make it perfect. He ended up with over $120,000 into it by the time it was done. Now he says “it is too nice to drive”, but will lose too much to sell it.
You’d think that after he put $50,000 he
might decide to cut his losses & sell it.
You’ve got to give it to Dodge for thinking outside the box. These wild packages helped pave the way for what would become the sport truck craze of the 90s and they really did a lot to show that a truck could be for more than just farm work. Sure, the Gentleman Jim GMC was in the mix too, but it still looked a little too western/work truck, this though, regardless of if you loved it or hated it, you noticed it. Unfortunately, for as flashy as this was, along with all the other special packages Dodge did, underneath it’s still a Dodge and so it comes with all those random gremlins. I’ve got an 89 Ram, which is essentially a refreshed version of this D/W truck, and even 10 years later, you still had those strange, frustrating, and costly gremlins that like to pop up and bite you at the worst time. Oh, and by then you had the mystery of Chrysler EFI systems as an extra bonus! As Cam W. mentioned above with his friend, sure, you can fix those issues, but it quickly becomes less of a fun truck to ride around in and instead turns into a terrible investment you’ll never get even half your cash out of if you decide to sell. Oh well, I still love my 89, if nothing else in that it’s different and has most folks scratching their heads as to why what looks like a GM SquareBody has Dodge Ram written all over it.
Always liked those trucks, but 10K new was too rich for me. However, did buy a ’79 in 1988 for $2500 and kept it for 33 years. The only silly part was that Ramcharger rear bumper they used, they could have gone over to Ford and got their narrower step side bumper. Afterall they used GM’s steering box. Otherwise they did a decent job of dipping into the parts box for much of it. Mine was the same as the one pictured.
The first thing I did was convert it to propane (dual fuel),to cut the fuel bill in half. Sold it this past spring with 350K kilometers on it. It was well past its BB date.
Loved it the first time I saw it. Still do. …….Jim.
4 barrel carb 360 , 727 w 3.55 .
Didnt get much more powerful from the factories in 79 ? Cool trucks.
These are cool trucks, but this one is overpriced, and there are far better examples out there for not a lot more. Seems like too much altered to be called a true survivor.
Over priced? Probably. But that is an original example, cannot see any alterations from those pictures. I would take issue with the 86K mileage, though. Maybe 186K or 286K, that is a five digit odometer. The engine and transmission would not need an overhaul at 86. Take a look at the interior passenger door shot, That is woodgrain trim all worn off on that upper strip. Needs a lot of in/out action to do that.
No alterations? Even with the bad pictures I’m seeing non-original black hood, dash tach, and radio. Probably more. Looks like the pieces that attach air induction hoses to air cleaner missing.
True, but nothing major that cannot be easily corrected. Not a bird bath hood, and he says the original wheels are part of it. Still basically original for a 40+ year old truck.
I get what you’re saying, but original means original. It’s original once. Calling it “basically” original isn’t the same thing. Bird bath hood?
1972-78 hood.
That is correct. Just didn’t understand the comment of ” Not a bird bath hood” since the truck is a 1979 and wouldn’t have had the 1972-’78 hood which it doesn’t have.