30 years is a long time, longer than a few hundred thousand Barn Finds readers have been alive, even. That’s how long this 1964 Dodge A100 Pickup has been off of the road; three decades. This truck can be found here on eBay with a buy it now price of $7,500. They didn’t include a make-offer button but I’m pretty sure that a person could still make an offer. It’s located in San Bernadino, California.
I love the look of these cab-forward pickups. The jury is still out on whether they’re as stable or as easy to drive – or even more important if they’re as easy to stop as a regular pickup. There were some shenanigans back in this era with some “fake news” and with taking off counter-weights in order to show how unstable they were in quick stopping maneuvers. Have any of you had any experience driving, or stopping, one of these trucks?
This truck has to be in much better condition than if it hadn’t been stored since 1988, but the seller says that there are a few “very small rust spots on the left and right side of the bed where the dirt collects in the bed pocket-a few small pinholes in the floor-very clean dry undercarriage.” 1964 was the first year for the Dodge A100 pickup and they made them until 1970.
The interior looks pretty solid and complete, for the most part. You can see that the engine cover is off and with some pin holes in the floors, there will be some rust work to take care of.
There are no engine photos, as in close up photos, but this one sort of shows the position and a couple of the components, along with a tub full of parts. This would be either a 170 or 225 cubic-inch slant-six, the only engine available in 1964, and in either case, it isn’t running. Hopefully, it will be again someday. Given the pretty solid condition of this one, and the obvious mechanical work that will need to be done, what is it worth?
I like those, but I’ve never driven one. I’m curious if anyone can share details about engine noise and handling.
Does anyone else think that those holes around the “Dodge” script on the front might be from a spare tire mount?
Cool rig.
The Dodge decoder still didn’t determine if it is a 170 or 225 /6, but it was built in Warren Michigan.
The quickest way to tell would be the length of the small water pump inlet hose.
If it’s about an inch or so, it’s a 170.
If it longer than that, it’s a 225.
http://www.t137.com/registry/help/decode.php
most likely a 225, see those more oftern than the 170s, especially in these.
A left front head onner probably wouldn’t be too healthy in one of those.
30 years is not a long time when your 59 and seven eights.Lots of young users of this site,good to see. Is this style of pickup still as hot as it was a few years ago? Asking seems high with engine parts in a box.
I’ve driven a friend’s 1961 Ford Econoline pickup . Had a newer 302 v8. Loose manual steering and manual drum brakes. It was a bear to drive, yet fun.
I helped a friend move to NYC in
1984 in his 64 Econoline 170. Yeah,
loose steering, tricky to drive. Drove
it back to DC on old roads about
50 mph, except for a new stretch of
Jersey 295 where I chanced 55, lol.
These cab over pickups had limited appeal. City contractor rigs, mostly, not good for long distances. They were miserable to drive and work on. Hard to steer, all the weight was on the king pins, yep, straight axle, unless you has PS, which few had, so-so brakes, rough ride, noisy, cramped, but as with most cab overs, you could get around pretty easy.
And I read, it was GM that conducted tests with these ( and Fords) by putting ballast weight in the front and doing “stoppies” saying the Corvair was much more stable, and in most ways, they were.
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ford-Econoline-braking-tip.png
The “back up pickup” and “Little Red Wagon” was always a favorite.
https://youtu.be/CRlmLcQr22M
Yeah, general motors has always been good at bashing the competition, their phoney stunts have been going on for years. Some things never change
7500 hahahahahaha drop the 7
Really clean example of one of these,most were beat to death long ago.
I agree with Rube’s comments,except that noise and some comforts can be easily added or fixed,if one was to drive longer distances.Too bad its not running,
which for that price…it probably should be.!Looks very solid,and would
make a great “Deora” styled custom,although It’s so clean looking,i’d hate to
do much to it.Very nice ol’ Dodge….I luv it…!
In high school and college, I drove a delivery route for a company that had a couple of the A100 vans. They weren’t bad to drive around town. They had a lot of miles on them by the mid-70s, so probably weren’t as tight as they should’ve been. Straight-axles were new to me and I can remember a couple of incidents of front wheel shimmy at speed that definitely got my attention! Changing an engine in one of these is a bear! We used to slip a big hoist in through the side cargo doors and lift it up between the seats. The only other memory I have was that the A100s were driver favorites during busy seasons when we worked 12 hr days, because you could keep a pizza warm on that engine box while you were doing your route!
Nice find, but I wonder if the seller’s pricing is realistic for a non-runner..?
A Hyper-Pak 225 would make it a nice cruiser.
I own a 1962 Ford Econoline pickup (ePup) which is very similar. It is in the third year of restomod project, but I did drive it as stock for a while. With all the weight up front, the back end hops around A LOT . . . unnervingly and mine topped out at about 65-70 MPH. Brakes are not great, but neither is the acceleration. Curiously, the driving position is really comfortable and the large 16-1/2 inch wheel wasn’t hard to turn, especially at speed. Turning radius is tight. I will say these draw a lot of attention when you are out and about. I had follks chase me down to ask about it more than once.
I don’t think the asking price is out of line. When you consider that you are getting a pretty straight and solid truck, you would save a small fortune on bodywork alone. I wouldn’t care about the engine, as that would have to go anyway. This would make a nice restored.
I used to drive a Ford and a Dodge frequently. They are noisy — something that could be taken care of today to a large extent with the new soundproofing materials. In the 70s, not so much; you just didn’t plan on conversation if you had a passenger. And if you had two passengers one of them got to sit on the engine cover.
I recall that these wallowed a lot on turns and expansion joints on a concrete road could set up some interesting front to rear pitching, especially empty or lightly loaded. Brakes … weren’t great, but that’s what you had and you were used to them.
With all that, I’d love to have one someday. This Dodge looks like it’s probably one of the best unrestored ones around.
Dad had the econoline version some where in the mid 60s. I would have been around 5-8 at the time.
I remember riding on the engine cover(what seat belt!!!) It was warm, and the sounds and smell of gas and dads cig. wonderful simple times! Scary to think what could have been, but nobody thought of the what ifs then.
Still good memory’s.
the FC170 also did nose dives when breaking while goin down hill.
vintage-vans.com
on line has lotsa help on these, the ford’n che**y as well.
I like it, always wanted one, why? I don’t know. But, I like it and I always wanted one.
i owned and drove one of these (mine was a van) for 10 years (on and off). finally had to give it away, no one would buy it. it’s slant six was unstoppable, but the 3 on the tree would jam constantly, the wiring was all dried out and would ground out and short out all the time, pain in the ass, BUT I LOVED IT! it was a ball to drive. it felt very different than anything else. hard to describe. but it was slow, top heavy… but it stopped just fine even with all drum brakes.