Anyone have a Dodge Little Red Express?

[Ramrod]

I'm not familiar with the various models of Dodge trucks. The truck that always got my attention was the Little Red Express.

What year(s) models were the Little Red Express made? Are they very collectable? I've seen very few on the road over the years and some of those may have been cloned. There is a Dodge truck sitting in a local neighborhood yard but it appears to not be a Little Red Express but it is a step-side of the same model year.

Does anyone here have one? Is a Little Red Express the same as a Little Red Wagon?

[Okiespaniels]

The "Little Red Wagon" was a 60's A-100 Dodge Van/pickup that started as a drag truck but became one of the first "wheelie racers" pretty much able to ride on the back bumper all the way down the 1/2 mile. It was campaigned by Bill "Maverick" Golden. I would suspect Mr Golden has retired, or like many others of his age, passed on.

The "Little Red Express" was built from 78 to 1980 (?). The first models had 360 Police interceptor engines with real cold air induction behind the headlights but later years had the smogged down 360 4bbl.
As a side note step side trucks were available in other trim packages, such as the Warlock.

[Randall488]

lil red express was a 78-79 only truck, the more desirable one is the 78 because it has a more aggressive cam and the last year to get a 440 optional. the step side dodges were known as warlocks. not as collectible but still desirable. in its day the little red express was the fastest production vehicle in the world. it even beat a Ferrari of the same year. the wouldnt be hard to clone. the rarest parts would be the seats.

[Okiespaniels]

I'm not aware of a 440 factory equipped express truck. Can you document that with factory literature? Nothing I read shows that.
All little reds are step sides to fit stacks, the Warlock was trim package that could be had with any production V-8 and was even available in 4wd.

Handy sites for the curious...these are the factory specs

http://www.1978-79lilredexpress.com/...fications.html

http://www.allpar.com/trucks/dodge/lil-red-truck.html

[Randall488]

you could also get a midnight express truck too. dealer optioned up warlock with black paint and all the other options of a little red. but yes in 78 you could get a 440 interceptor engine.

[Okiespaniels]

Originally Posted by Randall488 you could also get a midnight express truck too. dealer optioned up warlock with black paint and all the other options of a little red. but yes in 78 you could get a 440 interceptor engine.

Correct...these were dealer built trucks and very few exist. Since they were warlocks any engine sold in a D-150 including the 440 could be had. Even a slant six...I doubt any of those were converted to an ME.

But a 440 was never installed in a Little red express from the factory. Tom Hoover (factory engineer in Chryslers performance dept) discovered a loophole in the feds smog regulations that a allowed an already certified engine to put in any chassis. Since the big block was being phased out (78 was the last year) he decided to stuff a police package 360 with w-2 heads in a D-150 pickup with a stepside bed. This was lightest pickup at the time and in '78 the D-150 gvw exempted it from requiring catalytic converters. This changed in '79.

Found a pic of one with Viper engine in it online...