1986 Dodge Truck D150 Pickup Sweptline Short Bed 2wd 4 Speed Ac on 2040-cars

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1968 Dodge D200 'Lowliner' adds low-down diesel torque to a lowrider

When Mopar does a custom classic car, it's always spectacular, whether it's a Dodge muscle car like the 1,000-horsepower Super Charger or the monster Jeep Five-Quarter off-road pickup. For SEMA this year, Mopar skipped another Dodge sports coupe in favor of a 1968 Dodge D200 pickup truck done up as a lowrider, but with a twist. Or more accurately, with lots of twist. Under the gorgeous candy red metallic body is a 5.9-liter 24-valve Cummins turbodiesel straight-six. It makes an estimated 325 horsepower and 610 pound-feet of torque, and it's paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Representatives from Chrysler estimated the weight of the engine and transmission alone at 1,100 pounds. The diesel engine's power goes to the rear wheels, which are 22 inches in diameter and 11 inches wide with fat 325-mm tires. The front wheels are a tad narrower at 9.5 inches. 1968 Dodge D200 View 7 Photos As cool as the powertrain is, the exterior and the interior of the truck can't be ignored. This generation of Dodge pickup is already intriguing with its distinct character line with a little kink at the end and ribbed and louvered hood. These unique styling cues are accented now that Dodge removed various other details from the body such as the door handles, metallic trim and such. The bumpers were also reshaped to better fit the contours of the body, and the front wheels were pushed forward to reduce the long overhang of the stock truck. The bumpers, grille, and "smoothie" style alloy wheels were also painted in a solid cream color rather than chrome, which both accents the deep red body and gives the truck a more workmanlike feel, as low-trim cars typically had painted trim instead of chrome or stainless steel. The red paint also features subtle Cummins logos on the fenders and Dodge block lettering on the tailgate. The interior continues the simple and classy theme. The original bench seat remains, but with saddle brown leather upholstery. Leather trim has been added throughout, and exposed metal parts have been painted in the same color as the exterior. Simple gray cloth floor mats cover the bottom of the cab, and the instrument panel uses new Mopar gauges in a machine-turned metal housing. The original steering wheel remains, but a custom shifter with red Cummins shift knob sticks through the floor.

Is your new-car warranty good at the race track?

We've all heard the horror stories. Your buddy knows a girl that was dating a guy whose best friend's brother once broke his brand-new, recently purchased performance car while making runs at a drag strip or laps at a track day, and the manufacturer wouldn't cover the repair under warranty. True story? Urban legend? Complete crap? Yes, no, maybe. One thing's for sure: Automotive warranties have always come with caveats. In 1908, an ad in the Trenton Evening Times clearly stated: "All Ford Cars Guaranteed for One Year." Although it changed over time, by 1925 the Ford New Car Guarantee only covered 90 days on material and 30 days on labor, and it clearly stated that that there was "No guarantee whatever on Fan Belts, Glass, Bulbs, Wiring, Transmission, Bands, Hose Connections, Commutator Shells, Rollers, Spark Plugs or Gaskets." Whether or not Ol' Henry would pay to fix your Model T if you broke it shaving a tenth off your lap time at the local board track seems to be lost to history. We're guessing no. But what about today? Do new-car warranties in 2017 cover cars when they are driven on race tracks? We researched the warranties of 14 auto brands to find out, and the answer is yes, no, maybe, depending on the brand, in some cases the model, and whether or not your car is modified from stock. Acura has been out of the high-performance car game for a number of years, but jumps back into the party in 2017 with its hybrid-powered $173,000 NSX supercar. And Acura's warranty, as well as Honda's, clearly states that it does not cover "the use of the vehicle in competition or racing events." View 33 Photos So we asked Sage Marie, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Honda and Acura. "If the car is stock, the warranty covers it on a track just as it does on the street. No question," he told us. "However, if the car is modified, say with slick tires or other components that would put higher stresses on the vehicle's parts and systems, then we would have to investigate the circumstances further." Marie went on to say the same would be true for any Acura model or Honda vehicle, including the new 2017 Honda Civic Si. This became a common theme. Chevrolet actually started this practice with the fifth-generation Camaro on the high-performance ZL1 and Z/28 models.

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Dodge Ram 50

Chrysler began selling Dodge-badged Mitsubishis way back in the 1971 model year, when the Mitsubishi Colt Galant became known here as the Dodge Colt. Later in the decade, a Plymouth Arrow-badged version of the Mitsubishi Triton small pickup appeared here, along with a Dodge version known as the D-50 and — a few years later — the Ram 50. Once Mitsubishi began selling the same trucks here as Mighty Maxes, starting in the 1983 model year, the Ram 50 didn't seem quite so specialÂ… and then the Dakota made its debut for the 1987 model year. Still, when the Triton went to its second generation that same year, Chrysler continued selling it as the Ram 50. Here's one of those second-generation trucks, found in a Denver-area self-service yard last month. At this point, GM had long since stopped selling Isuzu Fasters with Chevrolet LUV emblems, as had Ford with the Courier-badged Mazda Proceed (after developing the all-American S-10 and Ranger, respectively). The decision-makers at Chrysler, however, calculated that the Ram 50 could grab some sales from Dodge truck shoppers who felt that the Dakota was too big for their needs; as a result, the Ram 50 stayed on sale here through 1994. The last Mighty Maxes rolled out of American Mitsubishi showrooms in 1996. The 6G72 V6 engine became available in four-wheel-drive Ram 50s a few years after this truck was built, but in 1987 all Ram 50s came with either the 2.0-liter 4G63 Sirius or 2.6-liter Astron four-banger. This truck has the base Sirius, rated at 92 horsepower. Remember when new trucks came with double-digit horsepower ratings? Most American-market small pickups still had manual transmissions during the middle 1980s, though that would change in a hurry with the dawn of the 1990s and the drop in slushbox prices. This one has the base five-speed. Just barely 100,000 miles on the clock, very unusual for a junkyard pickup of this age (especially one with a thick coat of brush-applied white house paint on the tailgate). Maybe the speedometer cable broke 25 years ago. You don't see many rear-wheel-drive pickups with roll bars. You'll find one in every car. You'll see. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Dodge Ram 50 Commercial 1987 Those other Japanese imports hallucinated the Ram 50 in alarming ways. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.