Nestled in the “judged” lot at Mopar Nats was this clean driver Dodge D-100 pickup truck. I didn’t think much of it at first when I walked past it…nothing against the truck, but with a short timeline, I was in “shoot and move” photography mode and there was a lot of colorful and wicked rides to go check out. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that I took a breather and remembered that there was more to life than High Impact paint, I might have overlooked it altogether. I’m glad I didn’t…the lead photo was the first one I took, and as I looked at my camera’s display to make sure I liked the picture, I noticed something: the dash binnacle and steering wheel location. “Wait a…that ain’t right,” I thought to myself.
I’m proud to say that I do not digitally alter my photographs except to resize and watermark them, so you are seeing correctly: this Dodge is right-hand drive, from the factory, with full documentation as far as code tags go. Ignore the shifter…from the factory, this was a Slant Six/three-on-the-tree truck, and that’s right about where the similarities to any other Dodge from this era end, and where we are reaching out to you, the investigative readers who have managed to dig up some awesome knowledge, to help us out.
Here’s what we do know: this truck was not exported, ever. It’s branded as a Dodge, not as a DeSoto or Fargo truck. The shifter was mounted like you would find in an Australian-style setup (handle on left). At one point in time in the 1970s, the truck was around the Hays, Kansas area, which can be determined by the remains of a sun-roasted college parking decal. After that…well, we know it’s not a lot of information, but it’s what we got. What do you think is going on here? Our first instinct was “mail truck” but being two-wheel drive, that didn’t quite make enough sense to justify what might be a one-off pickup. Unless this was a very special order (right arm amputee?) we are at a loss. Anybody got any ideas?
probably ordered as a rural route mail truck
Whoever installed that shifter should be kicked in the berries, sorry.