This might look like an ordinary ’78 Dodge pickup, but it’s a bit of a sleeper because under the hood is a factory installed 440 V8. This truck is 1 of 74 built this way in 1978. This beauty has been restored and kept in a climate controlled facility, only taken out for the occasional car show. Find it here on eBay in Allison Park, Pennsylvania with bidding up to 7,975 at time of writing with reserve not met.
This truck is beautiful, the color combination is great and the paint quality looks good. The chrome and trim are like new. The bed cover is nice, but if it were mine I would probably remove it. The Adventurer package is not uncommon to find on this generation truck, it was an appearance package with some trim and interior differences from a standard D150. The truck had a full restoration around 2001, 71K miles are showing on the odometer.
The interior looks perfect. The seat, carpet, and dash are all like new. The woodgrain on the door panels and the dash is part of the Adventurer package. This is a gentleman’s muscle truck for the buyer that was not into the flash of the Warlock or Li’l Red Express. Documentation shows only 74 D150’s built with the 440 option in 1978.
Under the hood is where it gets really interesting, the 440 looks like it belongs there and the engine bay is very neat and tidy. It is not specified if the engine was overhauled during the restoration, but the intake and valve covers have been changed at some point. I believe this was the last year of the 440 and it produced somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 HP. This is a very unique truck, it would be a perfect tow rig for a Mopar enthusiast to haul a car to the show. I am curious where the price will end up on this one.
It’s a lovely thing!
A 40 year old Dodge Truck and it’s no rusted out!
Would be lucky to get a current Dodge Truck to last 4 months before rust starts to show up.
So I take it you don’t like dodge trucks ?
edh, I assume you have some bias here. I would love, if I had the 8-9K, to have this truck. It will not start to rust in 6 months. My wife has a 2015 Charger and has about 45k miles on it. It has som recalls, but there has been zero*** problems with it. You push the button on the dash and it goes, and it has (I think) 304 HP for the V-6. Argh, I know we have biases but, this is a great truck.
And I have a 2013 Charger with 114,000 on it. Still runs great, zero rust as would be expected for a newer car.
Only problem was a dead alternator that got replaced via recall, and the fact that it like to eat the rear treads of the 20″ wheels. And that’s with the V6.
Oh H#LL Naw! There’s rust somewhere (Bondo) and even if it didn’t have any rust (and I doubt that) it would rust within four months if you daily drive it. (Junk + Rust = Mopar).
That truck is bad ace !
“Gentlemen’s muscle truck”… a great description for this one. I’m of an age where that notion appeals to me, as subtlety is greatly undervalued in today’s society.
Nice!!! Nicely optioned too, 440, AC, tilt and cruise control!
these are cool trucks no doubt. that turning radius tho, wow.
You can probably use that 440 to steer the back end.
I’m betting it has a better turning radius than the new ram beside it, it’s only a regular cab 8ft bed that’s not a long truck at all really, it’s probably shorter than the new ram beside it.
well, with a 440 i guess u can make it pretty dang short lol
I think Dodge finally turned a corner with this truck. Dodge pickups always belonged to the stone mason or the painter, and had dented fenders and paint blotches, but this truck, it seemed, Dodge joined the ranks of fancy pickups. Didn’t see many like this, especially in this condition. Some old man’s baby, for sure. Nice truck.
Heck, I have a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500, 4wd, with about 160,000 km, ie 100,000 miles on it.
Bought it a few years ago from a farmer, who drove it every week, not very far, but every week.
This is Ontario, where we salt the roads non stop.
Original Paint, No Rust, all this talk of rusty Dodge trucks is nonsense.
Any vehicle will rust, and yes older cars and trucks seem to be built better but corrosion resistance has came a long way since then, but comments that a Dodge rusts faster or more than any other vehicle is nonsense i agree! I’m on my third Ram and have had no issues rust or otherwise with them!
I really like my 94 Cummins 5 speed toughest truck I’ve ever had besides my 64 f250( ok not really) but this 440 must be sweet, a totally different animal than my current ride. My old man had the 6 banger on the column, we used to ride to work, the death wobble was so bad it used to wake me up, head pounding agains pass glass window.
I see rusty Dodges all the time here in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. But I also see many rusted Chevy’s, Ford’s, Nissan’s, and Toyota’s. In places where salt is used extensively, rust doesn’t discriminate. The key is to keep them clean. I drove an 74 Dodge until 1987, an 86 Dodge until 2000, and a 99 Dodge until 2013, never had rust on any of them. I like this truck but the gas mileage would break me.
My 1994 Dakota is pushing 275,000 miles with the old 318 based motor and a fresh trannie – with no rust thru…..
What about your dog? You left out information on the dog!! Never mind the Chevy and the Dakota. Sheesh. 😊
Great truck in nice shape. Pre-Cummins trucks are not common. 440 drivetrain is a survivor!
This is the Adventurer SE edition, the top of the line model in that era,looks like it has most everything offered that year,it has a buy it now price of $15,000 though, whether it goes for that much is anyone’s guess.
great truck bring back a lot of memories I had a1978 Ramcharger quadra-trac 440 rayjay Turbo full roll cage removable roof sounded like a jet going down the street if I Got 5 miles to the gallon I was lucky Lol
I would love to talk to the current owner! I am the one who restored this truck! I knew the original owner , who sold it to his son, which is who I bought it from while working at the Dealer where it was sold!