Welcome to Hooniverse Truck Thursday. I was looking at the Hemmings listings for a truck to feature this week, and look what I found. It is a 1972 Dodge D200 that just underwent a cosmetic restoration. This is the first year for this generation of Dodge Trucks that was produced between 1972 and 1991, and this one actually is the less desirable D200 model. Let’s explore this Minty Fresh Dodge Truck.
This 1972 D200 was finished in a White and Meadow Green two-tone, and according to the listing, this is the color scheme of the U.S. Forestry Dept. This has been a California truck for its entire life, which usually means that it hasn’t been ravaged by rust. It originally came with a 318 CID V-8, a 4-speed stick, and a factory AM FM radio.
But during the restoration process, a few factory available options were later installed. To make the truck easier to live with, Power Assisted Steering was retrofitted. To make the truck a bit safer, larger late model brakes were installed, as well as factory 3-point seat belts. The dash was redone, the seat was re-upholstered, and a new floor liner went in, along with rebuilt instruments.
On the outside, a fresh coat of paint was applied in the original colors, a new 1972 specific grill was found, a rear non-step bumper was installed, NOS tail-lamps, polished poverty caps, gas cap, front bumper over-riders, and a sundry of other NOS parts to complete this truck.
Under the hood you will find that the 318 V-8 has been enhanced with a High Torque Cam, Long Tube Headers, Electronic Ignition, High Capacity Radiator, a 4 Bbl Edelbrock Performer Carburetor, and an Edelbrock Performer Intake manifold. The seller states that this truck was built to be 100% reliable, and has been in weekly use, with no problem for over one year. This is not a show truck with a few dings here and there, but so what? This is a truck that is meant to be used.
Asking price for this first year for this generation (not a Ram) Dodge? Try $5,500! See the Hemmings listing here.
Now is this a truck that anyone here would want to buy and use as their own? Let me know….
Hooniverse Truck Thursday – A Minty Green Dodge D200
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I have no issues with the restoration, and making the truck more livable day-to-day should add value to it. However, $5,500 seems a bit steep to me. Sure, its a good looking truck, and it is somewhat practical, but you could get something a bit more modern, more powerful, and better looking for less. I do dig the paint, though.
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Agreed. I'd want to get some fake but "looks close to real" forestry decals to seal the deal. Otherwise a nice resto keeping old iron back on the road.
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I was thinking along the same lines. I wonder how many national parks you could get into with this truck. It may be a worthy investment.
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None. The US Forest Service administers the National Forests (Department of Agriculture), not the National Parks (Department of the Interior).
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Dully noted, rocketrodeo. What color trucks does the Department of the Interior have?
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The ones I've noticed are white. As a taxpayer, I approve. In the mid-90s, during the Sagebrush Rebellion, the USFS started ordering white vehicles when the green ones became targets. (Tense times. We were issued cards that informed state and local law enforcement that interfering with or detaining federal employees carrying out their job responsibilities was a violation of federal law, and detailed the penalties.)
I personally like the "green like no other green" Forest Service livery, but I imagine that the D3 have gotten tired of having to keep it on hand. It has to be hideously expensive.
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I agree that the restoration was all probably a good idea, that the price is a bit high, and that you'd want to do a power-oriented rebuild on the 318 (or just drop in something that can actually move that beast), but why would you want something a bit more modern? You'd get ugly trim and bad 80s build quality. With the power steering and better brakes, this truck already has all the more modern I'd want on a ram.
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Ah, I was thinking about what my truck, a 97 F-150 is worth, and that I would rather have that, or hell, you could probably find a Gen 1 Lightning for around that price. But yeah, this Dodge D200 is a much better proposition than just about anything from the 80's.
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Oh, I read your "bit more modern" more literally. Yeah a late 90s truck is a whole different proposition. On the plus side for the seventies, though, is that it would probably be cheaper to maintain long-term than a 90s truck now that all the cosmetic stuff is sorted.
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80's build quality was a concern in the 80's and 90's, but shouldn't matter too much today. The 80's cars that are still on the road have either already had any assembly issues corrected, or managed to be put together properly the first time around.
Disclaimer: I drove to work today in my 89 Ramcharger with an odometer that has gone past 99,999 an unknown number of times.-
This is generally true for mechanicals, but the trim and interiors of the 80s mostly look like hell now and are hard to get into good shape once they have started to get rough. Give me a hose-out 70s interior with very few extra parts anywhere on the car any day. However, this is not to say that I'd kick a ramcharger out of my garage.
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That thing is sweet. Seeing the '72 front end with blue and yellow plates makes me think it should be on CHiPs.
I've always had a thing for factory non-step rear bumpers, despite the fact that they are less functional than a step bumper. They seem to have fallen out of favor in the 1980s though.
Minor correction: The AD platform was in use domestically until model year 1993, not 1991. The looks-like-a-scaled-down-big-rig Ram was introduced for 1994.
I think the problem with this one is that it can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up. The listing states that there are receipts exceeding $10K for the work, but it isn't really a restoration, and isn't that custom, either. Why spend $1000 for a correct one-year-only grille but then use sideview mirrors that are a decade and a half newer? Why build up and four barrel-ize a 318 instead of starting with a 360? Why start with a 200, then swap the step bumper for a later Ramcharger bumper that doesn't have a provision for towing?
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I see a bunch of articles from those rod and muscle magazines claiming dynos of 350-400hp from a properly rebuilt 318. It's getting harder to find a good 360 for cheap, I think a well-handled 318 could be a pretty decent fit for a truck rebuild.
I also don't mind building up a truck in a neither restored nor custom vibe, but rather for general modern use, but I agree with you that if this was the aim, it seems like the owner at least toyed with (and spent money on) the restoration idea before giving it up.
Yeah, it's a bit overpriced, but let's do some collector car math.
If you could get it for $5,000 (entirely possible), you'd have both a classic ride and a somewhat functional Home Depot / Lowes / Costco errand vehicle at the same time. Use it for three or four years, keep it garaged and nice, and then sell it for $4,000. Considering that everything's already been done to it, you'd just be out occasional maintenance costs in addition to your grand. To me, that's worth it for a few years of enjoyment.
A good clean reliable truck for $5500?
Tempting Toll [/attempting to start new Hooniverse Meme]
For the Dodge fan, the price should not be an issue as it is likely less than the cost of the restoration. Yes, I realize one could probably buy a nicer, more feature-rich truck for the same price but this comes from an era when trucks were straight foward, work-oriented vehicles. This quality has been lost to us through the mists of time, and is something I'd be willing to pay a small premium for.
Clean, honest, simple, doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, I'd want to negotiate, but I like this quite a bit.
Why is the grille different in the bottom picture?
If I wanted a pickup from the '70s, I'd take a Ford. I've driven quite a few examples of Big Three pickups from the '70s and '80s, and Ford always seemed to be a step up from Mopar and GM in terms of solidity and assembly quality. Dodges could be slipshod and rust-prone.
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I don't think all the pictures were taken on the same day, and I think they did some work in between photo sessions. If you look at the additional pictures on the Hemmings site, there's a different rear bumper on the shot with the tailgate down.
I really like this truck. I'd buy it if I had the scratch and space. Drive around in Yogi & Boo Boo costumes. (Wife is REALLY short)
Man these old Dodge trucks had some great, clean lines. In the days when they were more common, they looked plain and dowdy compared to their Ford and GM cousins. Fast-forward a couple decades and some of the Fords can seem overwrought, the GMs look boxy and fat, and the Dodge just seems simple and down-to-business. It even seems they worked the "fuselage" design philosophy into them.
$5K might seem high, but is not an offensive asking price for the quality and relative scarcity. As someone else said, you could enjoy it for a few years and easily make most of your money back.
As someone who has spent most of his life near a Forestry Department station chock full vehicles wearing that hue, I heartily approve of this truck. So too, I assume, would Carcoat Damphands.
Awesome. The perfect truck to take to the hardware store and make all the guys in their f750's feel weak and insignificant.
The price isn't bad. Paint and body work is not cheap and that alone could cost as much as the whole truck. Add to it that the interior is nice and all of the trim is there and you have a vehicle that is well worth the money. Spend much less and you will not get a truck that is anywhere near as nice as this, just cheaper.
Very nice truck. I think that the price may be steep in some areas of the good ole U.S. but I'm here to tell ya, that would be a $7000-9000 truck here in Michigan. Mostly due to the fact that the lion's share of the trucks of this vintage have been used and abused, and what part of them wasn't Fe₂O₃ by the end of their life was recycled, and is probably currently being utilized as re-bar in someone's driveway slab.
It just doesn't look right without a one-shade-darker green where the US Forest Service door decals were. I grew up in a Forest Service family and spent a few years working for the agency as well, and I still reflexively wave to all the green trucks when I pass them on the highway.
There are always lots of surplus USFS vehicles in the communities surrounding the national forests. I wouldn't buy one, myself; I have a pretty good idea how they've been treated, especially the 4wd ones.
My Dad drove a '74 D100 for 10 years for a local tech school supply/stores vehicle. Once it was retired he bought the truck from auction and then let it rust in our yard. The first place the rust targeted was the hood as the indentations are huuuge!
I grew up in the national forests and parks with a Ranger family too, so I would totally be tempted to buy this truck even at the somewhat inflated price. It's a bit of a mishmash of a truck with the random improvements done to it, but I definitely approve of the new brakes and power steering.
I used to drive a rusty green beater 1972 W200, the 4×4 version of this. It was a 360 automatic, though. God, I love the interiors on these! Nothing in the way, as it should be. The thing had newish 31" BFG AT's on it and the greasy old 360 would break 'em loose from a stop like it wasn't even trying! Anyway, it got really sketchy commuting in that beast in the city with the tired old brakes and everything, I sold it to an old hot-rodder in the neighborhood who put newer discs on her and pulls his boat to the bay, and I replaced it with a clean-ish 72 Dart Swinger.
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Wrong steering wheel, crappy after market side mirrors gotta go!
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