Rewind back to 1990 for a minute. The truck of the moment, as it had been ever since it debuted, is the updated GM C/K pickup truck. Lifted, slammed, name it, GM trucks were killing it. They were the newest of the full-size pickups, having been reworked for the 1988 model year. Ford’s F-series, while looking newer, was really a neat repackaging of the 1980 model, and as far as Dodge went, it was basically 1972 with a different nose, tail and dashboard design. Or, per most automobile rags of the day, “dated”. If it wasn’t for the introduction of the Cummins turbocharged inline-six diesel engine for 1989, nobody would’ve cared anything about Dodge trucks. They were old news, not selling, and had only just gained fuel injection and an overdrive automatic transmission, way late in the game. They weren’t sporty, they weren’t hip. They were what your grandpa drove, and he bought the slant-Six, four-speed version before they quit making those.

Now, think back to GM for a moment. Remember the 454SS? Capitalizing on the sport truck market, Chevrolet dumped the 7.4L V8 and a TH400 into a shortbed regular cab and turned it loose on the market. Remember, this is barely post-Malaise era, and this was a cannon shot. Big-block pickup truck, baby! Meanwhile, over at Dodge: 3.9L V6, 318, 360 or move up into work truck territory for the diesel. Now, the likelihood of Ma Mopar bringing back the big block was on par with petting Nessie on the head if you visited Loch Ness, but for a second, consider the thought. The D-series truck had the room to swallow a 440 whole with room to spare. The 727 was still in production and would take the power. Raid the Dana 60 from the 3/4 ton truck (a nod to Mopar’s muscle days), keep the options minimal and undercut the GM trucks on the price point and Chrysler could’ve performed a power coup.

Ah, hindsight. What a wonderful thing. At least this 1990 440-powered beast serves as a great “what-if”.

AllCollectorCars.com link: 1990 Dodge D150 shortbed