For starters, Chrysler repurposed the transverse 2.2L four cylinder from K-Car duty into a longitudinal setup for this truck. There was one big problem: what to do for an engine? None of Chrysler’s existing truck engines would fit in the smaller package, which was not originally designed to accept a V8. According to Allpar, much of the engineering was contracted out to local engineering firm Aero-Detroit, with some supervision by in-house truck engineers. However, it would have to be done on the cheap with as much parts sharing as possible due to the company’s still-scarce resources. Hal Sperlich had championed the idea of a compact truck that was slightly larger and more capable than those offered by the Japanese. It seemed that Chrysler’s specialty in those days was finding niches. The Dakota was one of the ideas that were blossoming at Chrysler as it worked its way back from near death. Yes, there was the occasional Dodge fanatic, but they were mostly into the Cummins diesel more than the truck it came wrapped in.įor 1981 Dodge had managed an update on the aging D series pickup, which soldiered away in obscurity by catering to that small group of Mopar loyalists who would not be dissuaded by the company’s perilous health. Ford – that was all that “truck guys” talked about then. In the early 1980’s Dodge was the perennial also-ran in trucks. At least I got off a few shots to prove that these were once out and around. However, in the ensuing years, these seem to have all snuck off into a dark corner and gone away. But I didn’t have much to say about these. At the time, I was kind of holding out for one of the really rare Dakota convertibles – now there was an interesting truck. I took these pictures back in July of 2011. Now these early Dakotas have all but disappeared too – which is a shame because they have not received the credit they deserve as a significant contributor to Chrysler’s comeback of the 1980’s. But its unusual size would eventually become common as the traditional compact truck eventually disappeared. When it was introduced, the Dakota did not fit neatly into the then-common world of regular trucks and compact trucks. It is getting harder and harder to find vehicles we have not yet written up, but I believe I have found one – the early Dodge Dakota.

Dodge magnum plywood