I was in traffic behind the wheel of a 1975 Dodge pickup when a guy pulled up beside me at the traffic lights, rolled down his window, and asked whether it was a 1974.
Easy mistake because the early Tin Grille (1972-75) Dodge trucks bore a striking resemblance to each other.
Jim Sutherland
He was impressed with its overall condition, and I filled in the blanks a little while we waited–given the fact red lights last only slightly less than an eternity. I told the guy the truck had roughly 23,000 real miles on it because it had been given a 40-year timeout in 1983.
Some of our MyStarCollectorCar readers may recall our 2023 article about this ‘75 Dodge pickup and how it was discovered in a storage lot after the trees surrounding it were cleared away and the truck was spotted by an eagle-eyed car guy.
The truck’s buyer ended up owning it for about 30 seconds before he sold the pickup to a buddy who brought the ’75 Dodge back from its long coma. Happy ending is the last owner was convinced by another car guy to sell the Dodge to us last spring.
Since then, we have put some miles on the ’75 Dodge but it is still below 25,000 miles and now runs like a top. There were a few hiccups before the truck achieved its coveted “purring-like-a kitten” status but given its long absence from the road, the process was not very difficult.
The undercarriage of the survivor truck is remarkably close to perfect and its cosmetic sins are relatively small, so the 49-year-old pickup is a vehicle that wears its many decades very well and is solid as a rock.
The back story on this remarkable truck brings me directly to the back half of the conversation with the guy at the traffic light. He asked what has become a common question regarding the truck: “Do you want to sell it?”
Our answer is always “No”, because the ’75 Dodge is really a time traveler from the past, given its low miles, long holiday from use, and overall retro coolness. He expected a “No” answer but there was still a little life left in the red light so he added, “Too bad, it would have been the perfect parts truck for my 1975 Dodge Ramcharger”.
Bear in mind this guy not looking to insult the truck or us. His perspective clearly leaned toward the ’75 Dodge pickup’s real value as a parts truck that would help him restore his rusted-out Dodge sport utility. As a result, a long box survivor truck had no appeal to him-other than its value as a donor vehicle.
He would have been more than willing to get out his cutting equipment, make a lot of sparks, and reduce a very low mileage pickup from a bygone era to a pile of parts. He wanted to destroy the truck because he viewed the ’75 Dodge long box as a pickup version of a 4-door sedan and wanted to dissect it.
Was he wrong? Most definitely in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar, but we don’t make the car guy rules so his viewpoint is valid for him.
We are just very happy he does not own this truck.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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