If there’s such a thing as a rare beast in the world of classic big rig trucks, the Dodge Big Horn semi is one of them. Produced only for a couple of years in the 1970s and built in exceedingly low volume they are seldom seen outside of collections, random images on the internet or trucking museums. Antique truck enthusiasts have been freaking out this week because there is a 1974 Dodge Big Horn for sale on eBay right now and the bidding runs until Friday. What’s interesting about this truck is that it seems to have been a working truck up until recently and there have been some changes that reflect it.
The first thing that makes us think that this truck was working even as of late was the addition of the huge aerodynamic fairing and sleeper behind the cab. While these trucks could be found with sleepers in the 1970s, that one looks like a late model job that has been adapted to fit this cab and this chassis. We have no idea if the truck was originally delivered with a sleeper or when this one was added.
The engine is a big cam Cummins and it is backed with a 13-speed manual transmission. The seller claims that both of them were rebuilt in the fairly recent past making this a decently fresh truck. If there is one number that may be a little “askew” it would be the claim that only 62 of the trucks are left in North America. Others claim the number to be 100-110.
The thing that makes these trucks look so cool is the massive hood and the relatively short height of the cab. The combo of the two give them a super unique look. The blunted nose is also cool and the fact that these trucks had the largest radiator every installed into an over the road truck in the country is the basis for the hood needing to be so big as to clear it. The trucks truly were some of the nicest of their era but unfortunately the dealer network and service really let people down and that is one of the reasons people believe that sales were so weak.
The final blow came from the feds who developed new regulations that these trucks could not meet so rather than invest in a new program, Chrysler killed the Big Horn. We’d set to work stripping this thing down and blowing it apart for a full resto as soon as we got it home. Wouldn’t you?
Check out the photos and then hit the eBay link at the bottom!
I like in the fee-bay ad, a cassette player is listed as optional equipment…..kinda dates this good ol’ truck a little 🙂
Doesn’t look bad with the modern aero.
Needs an old Mercury sleeper….These always crack me up when I see them because the cab always appears so disproportionate to the rest of the rig…still bad ass tho….
A Big Horn Semi….
Well, really – I say chaps there’s no need for smutty innuendo as there may be ladies reading these pages!
re: “…sales were so weak…”
per my father-in-law who owned one…
“If it wasn’t for the Dodge parts…” Apparently a detroit diesel in a Pete or KW etc would have interchangeable parts, except the Dodge. It had its own “special” arrangement and non-standard parts.
I think dodge stopped production on these the same time international stopped pickup production. I heard they both agreed to focus on different parts of market.
I think they all had cummins in them. On the eBay listing it shows a photo of a info board of a truck with a kta cummins, an option the bighorn never had. that particular truck that accompanies that info board with the kta is a dodge cab and hood on a peterbilt 359 frame.
Cool trucks for sure.
That info board is also in front of a white fender, I would guess it is not correct info for the truck shown.
The reason the cab looks so small is that it shares the roof and windshield with the late ’50’s Dodge pickups. Even the doors have the same crease stamped in the side. Look at the other listings on eBay and you’ll see this Big Horn cab is a dead ringer with the ’50’s pickups.
I had a “kingsize” Matchbox Dodge dump truck with two trailers that was one of my favorites when I was a kid. That toy had the same cab as this truck but the front sheet metal was different.
I love trucks from that era!They all had their own look and personality. The truck I drive for work is a ’15 579 Pete and I give it 5 years before it’s junk. I’d take a nice ‘old’ truck over a new one any day.
cool looking old truck, but that sleeper looks so wrong on it… reminds me of how wrong modern aero scoops on 60’s drag cars looks