there's one like that by me
not a little red truck but same body
Yeah, but (for those who don't know) here's the difference:
Despite its humble origin -- a very basic Dodge D150 pickup with a narrow box and shorty 115-inch wheelbase -- the Dodge Li'l Red Truck was an impressive package. For about $5,000, a customer got the high-line Adventurer cab in red or black, with bench or bucket seats.
From there, the buyer could personalize with extra gauges, including a tachometer, various sound systems, including eight-track tape or CB, and a "Tuff" steering wheel right out of the old Dodge Challenger R/T muscle car.
The 1978-1979 Dodge Li'l Red Truck came only in Canyon Red set off by bold gold decals on doors and tailgate, plus genuine varnished oak planking on box sides, tailgate, and bed floor.
But the real killer was that pair of tall, 2.5-inch-thick chrome exhaust pipes poking up through the step plates behind the cab. Wrapped in perforated metal heat shields, they looked like they'd been swiped from a Kenworth 18-wheeler.
Those stacks led straight to a 360-cubic-inch V-8, tuned as if smog regs didn't exist. Essentially, it was the E58 police unit (E for "Express," hence the name on the doors), sans "Lean Burn" and emissions hardware but fortified with a free-breathing Holley four-barrel carburetor, twin-snorkel fresh-air induction, beefed-up internals, and heavy-duty electrical.
End result: 225 horsepower and a thumping 295 lbs/ft of torque at 3200 rpm. Completing the performance picture were a three-speed Leaflet automatic transmission, 3.55:1 differential, stiff springs and shocks, and LR60-15 white-letter radials on eight-inch wheels.
Most examples of the 1978-1979 Dodge Li'l Red Truck carry the optional slotted chrome rims, power steering, and power brakes.
Performance was quite good for a time when smog equipment had a stranglehold on horsepower. The 1978-1979 Dodge Li'l Red Truck did the standing quarter-mile in under 16 seconds, 0-100 mph in 20 seconds. Adding to its appeal, production was just 2,188 for 1978, and 5,118 for 1979.
Somewhere, I've got two different magazines that did road test comparisons against the hottest cars of the time AND the other magazine did the same thing, except with the hottest trucks of the time AND the Little Red Express was the "Quickest, the Fastest, got the best gas mileage, had the Smallest engine , cost the least AND was a LIMITED PRODUCTION VEHICLE!
When I started reading about the developing of THIS truck, I read everything I could get my hands on, about the truck from the start to finish. I drove my 69' road runner down to Little Rock Dodge and checked one out, with a salesman trying to deal with ME on MY 69' road runner and, finally, to shut him up, I said that the ONLY deal that they could make with ME would be that we swapped titles and keys, Straight across! THAT shut him up, after he said, "I can't do THAT!" I said, "exactly, now let me look at this truck!" With that, he handed me the keys and I went for a test drive, with him in there. Those stacks sounded sweet!
