Pickups have been the best selling light vehicle in the US since 1977. But that didn’t just happen overnight; like so many automotive (and other) trends, it started in California. Over a million were already plying the suburban streets and freeways in the Golden State by 1964, as folks embraced a more casual lifestyle vehicle that could haul campers, bikes, and surf boards along with the lumber and nursery plants for weekend projects. Californians didn’t give a hoot about the downscale workman’s truck image had back East; they embraced it as much for its versatility as well as being the cool new thing. Ironically, Californians have largely moved on, and pickups now are outsold by the Tesla Model Y and other crossovers.
The trend to more “civilian” pickups started already in the mid ’50s, with the 1955 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier, and soon all the makes started offering somewhat more appealing interior options along with the swept-side beds. But nobody was yet catering to Americans’ growing taste for performance until the 1964 Dodge Custom Sports Special. Not only did it have bucket seats and the biggest and most powerful base V8, but it also was available with a bonkers-crazy option of a 360 and 365 hp 413 and 426 V8s.
The “Palomino” D100 Sport Truck that M/T tested was not one of those wild 413/426 trucks; actually only some 50 of those were ever built, but they did generate a lot of excitement, which was of course their mission in life. The tested truck had the 202 hp 318 V8, which still made the truck very lively, considerably more so than what either of Ford’s (170 hp 292) or Chevy’s (160 hp 283) V8 offerings in 1964.
The racing stripes are so 1964, and do look a bit off on this pickup. The interior borrowed the bucket seats and console from the Dodge Dart.
Acceleration was “pleasantly alarming” although this limited review did not include actual timed runs. Pickups, with their light rear ends, could easily feel “alarming” with even such a mild V8, thanks to wheelspin and their relatively light weight. M/T actually said that traction was good, and that “acceleration seemed on par with a very light sedan equipped with a healthy V8“. Tracking and cornering got surprisingly high marks, being “on par with sports cars“. Wow! And a ride almost as good as passenger cars, despite the solid axles suspended on leaf springs front and rear. The tester must have really fallen for it.
Maybe he was basking in the fact that “the pickup draws attention everywhere“. He states that its stripes, louvered hood and tire-screeching starts aren’t for the faint-hearted. It was deemed fun to drive, and I get that. I actually used to find my ’66 F100 fun to drive back in the day when it was more youthful. Pickups really were a bit like overgrown sports cars, with their stiffer suspension and manual steering, slow as it was. The tested trucks 3.91:1 rear axle ratio undoubtedly enhanced the experience and tire screeching.
As to the wild 413 and 426 powered trucks, it started with San Diegan Dick Boynton swapping in a 413 Max Wedge engine in a short wheelbase 1963 D100 to race in the Factory Experimental class.
That led to others doing the same thing and Dodge soon got wind of it and decided to make a limited run of them. It wasn’t easy and cheap, as there had to be quite a bit of strengthening and other modifications.
The 413 was replaced by the larger 426 Wedge, although it should be pointed out that these factory truck did not have the all-out race versions of these engines, but the somewhat milder street version with a single four-barrel carb. Still 360 or 365 hp and 470 ft.lbs of torque made these a class of one.
Here’s the interior of a rare survivor. The factory trucks all came with the A727 LoadFlite (TorqueFlite) automatic, but then that unit gave away nothing to a manual at the time. The 1/4 mile could be done in 16 seconds or less, and 0-60 was under 8 seconds. Given all the handwork involved, it’s not surprising that the 413/426 option cost a whopping $1,235, or almost two thirds of the price of a base D100. Don’t even ask what one is worth today.
Ford responded in 1965 with its Ranger package, also with bucket seats (from the Mustang) and console. But no hairy engines.
Related CC reading:
CC Outtake: 1962 – 1964 Dodge D100 Pickup – A Familiar And Distinctive Face from The Past
Automotive History Capsule: 1965-1966 Ford F-Series Ranger – A Bit Too Far Ahead Of Its Time
These trucks, specifically the big block drag racing versions, were just a bit ahead of my time. I spent a lot of time reading Hot Rod at the grocery store magazine rack, and in the late Sixties went to Fremont and Half Moon Bay drag strips several times with a friend and his dad, but I don’t recall any pickup drag cars except some older Willys gassers. Nothing in the Superstock or Factory Experimental (FX) classes. Though I do have distinct memories of seeing a Ford Thunderbolt (big block Fairlane) at Fremont which was an SS or FX class racer. Thanks for the post!
Great read. I never knew this was the beginning!!
My wife was dating a young man before we met, but her parents raised cane because he drove an F100 truck!!
We married in 84 and our first truck was in 98!
She currently drives a 2018 GMC Sierra! While her mom only passed away in July, she fully approved. Her dad said he never realized he had raised a farm girl!!
Thanks for the article
I didn’t know the seats were from the Dart GT. I always assumed they were from the A-series trucks and vans. I love CC.
Ironically, the van seats were used in factory lightweight drag cars.
I love reading about these category-busting trucks of the 60’s.
That 202 horsepower figure is a mystery to me – every 2 bbl 318 I ever read about, whether a late 50’s wide block or a 60’s LA got a factory rating of 230 horsepower. Was the truck version actually different with lower horsepower, or was this a misprint (in the magazine or in the factory spec sheet)? Or maybe the 202 was an actual horsepower number – I always figured that the 230 figure most likely came from the advertising department.
.The truck 318 has 8:1 compression. The car version is 9:1.
The truck 413 stayed in production for years after the car 413.
And I strongly suspect there were other minor differences in tuning.
This was common with truck versions; Chevrolet never offered a 160 hp version of the 283 in cars.
I once had a stock ’66 Chevy camper special with a really sweet 327 coupled with an automatic transmission. Smooth ride for a pickup truck with coil springs all around. Regrettably it became a victim of floodwaters one winter.
D100s of this era, would have looked significantly cleaner/modern without that late ’50s-style upper bodyside extruded crease. Even, if it remained horizontal. Rather, than ascending down the length of the cargo box. With the kickup near the rear. Dated the exterior. As did the shape of the curved upper rear-edge door window frames. A strong ’50s look.
Can see why the Palomino name went away. More masculine names increasingly appeared to define the branding of pickup trucks.
“Rather, than descending down the length of the cargo box.”
The movement to trucks becoming the top seller in late seventies is a fascinating observation of how auto culture shifted in the US, mainly as it applied to non-professional towing.
For decades, if a married guy with a family wanted to tow a trailer, boat, etc., they got a station wagon with a big engine. But that all changed with CAFE in the seventies and, specifically, the 1977 GM downsizing of their auto line-up. When that happened, the biggest engine that could be had in a full-size Chevy station wagon was a 350.
It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that that’s the same year when pickups began their assault on the sales charts. A big-block V8 in a pickup was no longer pointless overkill like the 413/426 1964 Dodge Palomino, particularly with the advent of the extended cab that made the pickup a viable, everyday driver.
CAFE didn’t take effect until MY1978, though, and I’m pretty sure that the percentage of trucks sold with big engines (larger than 350 cid) was relatively modest throughout the ’70s and early ’80s. Then as now, a lot of people bought trucks, SUVs, or Jeep Wranglers as lifestyle accessories, with performance or utility a secondary consideration.
I knew lots of young urban (well, suburban really) guys in California the late Seventies and early Eighties who had pickups. But all of them had small Japanese pickups.
The Exner styled Dodge pickups were always an all time favorite truck of mine to begin with, combining them with a 413 or 426 wedge? Sign me up! Modern muscle trucks sacrifice their truckiness one way or another, either being lowered and shod in low profile rubber with low hanging body enhancements(Lightning, the gas powered ones) or built into a trophy truck wannabee(Raptor/TRX). This is just an honest longbed pickup with a potent mill. I even like the electrical tape stripes
These are among my favorite light trucks of all time, but I would be the first to admit the styling is incongruous at best, particularly these early versions. In late 1965 Dodge significantly lengthened the wheelbase on the 8′ bed models to give better weight distribution with the large slide-in campers that were in vouge at the time. The cargo box was redesigned with double wall construction and a much wider tailgate that had a proper single-handle latching system rather than hooks and chains. Kind of a mystery to me why Dodge didn’t eliminate the Exner-esque upper side body crease ‘dip’ while they were at it. I agree with Daniel M., it really dated the truck. These trucks were somewhat contemporary styling-wise until 1967 when both GM and Ford both came out with very handsome and purposeful looking light trucks. After that they looked as though they were from another planet. Even compared to those ‘other’ light trucks, IH and Jeep.
Typo: In the second-to-last paragraph, you have “vace away” when I think you meant “gave away.”
I can only guess the manufacturers didn’t believe there was a market for sports/muscle trucks, because Chevy and Ford develop their large motors for heavy trucks that used the same cab as their light duty trucks, which would suggest that the large motors would drop right in to the “civilian” pickups. For example the Chevy 348/409 was developed primarily for heavy duty trucks and then also offered in full-size passenger cars, so I expect it could have been put into c-10 and c-20 Chevy pickups, but I don’t think a big block was offered by Chevy in their pickups until the 396 in 1967 redesign.
For example the Chevy 348/409 was developed primarily for heavy duty trucks and then also offered in full-size passenger cars,
With the exception of the Ford Super Duty V8 (401,477, 534), essentially all Big Three engines were designed to be used in both cars and trucks, but the needs of the much larger car market took priority. The Chevy 348 was created for the pressing need for a larger engine for the significantly larger and heavier 1958 models, since at that time their biggest V8 was the 283, significantly smaller than the biggest V8s in the competition.
The medium and HD truck versions of all of these engines were given certain heavy duty components and tuned to the corresponding needs. But there’s nothing about the 348 or the other Big Three gas truck engines to suggest that they were ever “primarily” designed for heavy duty trucks (except the Super Duty).
I like the looks of a long bed pick up. This model reminds me of late ’50’s car design, with a short hood and cabin, and a long tail. The bucket seat interior is nice, but all standard cab trucks had the same problem for me, the seat back is up against the rear of the cab. This restricted seat position, even though back then, reclining seats weren’t the norm even in cars.
It wasn’t until the “King Cab” type models arrived, I think that Dodge was first, that enlarged the cab just enough to make it really useful.
Here’s an ad.