(Photos: Scott Liggett) For a couple of years now, we’ve had a thread in the forum that is specifically aimed at showing Brian Lohnes all of the heavy-duty lumbering beasts of trucks that are available for sale or auction. It’s pure evil genius: you come across something that you know, for a fact, will turn his crank…say, a stake bed 1950’s GMC heavy-duty with good patina that should start…and post the photos and link. It’s like salt in the wounds, which among friends is the closest thing you can do to verbally giving a friend a little bit of hell.

For the most part, I’ve managed to avoid that hell, but after Scott Liggett found this Dodge Rampage I’m starting to wonder if I’m being targeted. It’s a known fact that I’m rather sympathetic to Chrysler’s 1980s leanings, regardless of flaws. The K-cars were basic machines, the 2.2L four cylinder can be made to run solidly enough with some work, and if you know your way around a turbocharger and pair off the engine with a five-speed, you can wind up with something entertaining. This isn’t a K-car, or even a derivative for that matter. In fact, the Dodge Omni/Charger/Rampage and Plymouth Horizon/Turismo/Scamp are based on the L-body, which has roots with Chrysler European division Simca. Only sold from 1982-84 in Dodge Rampage and Plymouth Scamp treatments (they were virtually identical), they actually compared well with the Chevrolet El Camino/GMC Caballero. They were lighter, but could still pack around 1,145 lbs. worth of payload. Additionally, fuel mileage numbers were outstanding for the little front-wheel-drive ute.

Now, if there is one thing I will say about 1980s Chrysler products, it’s that they need upgrading. And what better way to upgrade a Rampage than by digging through the performance-oriented parts catalog of it’s siblings, the Shelby Charger 2.2 and Daytona? This particular Rampage, re-shot in a certainly-not-1980’s Sassy Grass Green, has a few nice touches: the 5-lug “Crab” wheels are raided from a Dodge Daytona, either a Turbo Z or C/S performance model. Since Rampages were originally four-lug cars, you can bet that a significant amount of suspension upgrading has taken place. The nose cone is from a Shelby Charger, the hoodscoop was available on many performance L-bodies, and the interior is…you guessed it…raided from a Shelby Charger, which gives you a full gauge pack and killer seats.

While it’s not the 340-powered rear-drive Scamp that we found earlier this year, there is something about having a little runabout truck like this that just makes sense. When the biggest thing I haul around with any regularity (besides my big ass) is an engine block, why wouldn’t a small ute that pulls upper-30s MPG numbers be a bad thing? If you’re really concerned about power figures, build up a turbocharged 2.2, or get real creative and swap in the running gear from a Dodge Neon SRT-4. If you’re gonna have a parts runner, this would fit the bill nicely, and while the color isn’t for everybody (if it were me, it’d be shot in the black/silver accent Shelby pattern), the fact that there is a Rampage this clean and well-cared for makes me smile a little.