Not all that many people know that for three years in the mid-1970s Dodge was in the big rig business with their Bighorn trucks. They got out of it pretty quickly because they sold virtually none of them, moving just 261 units over three years. According to some sources, there are less than 100 of these trucks accounted for currently.
This particular truck is at a truck stop in Illinois, where Greg found it. He does not think it has moved for a great while, and we agree with him, as you will after looking at the photos below. The trailer attached to this truck is a chapel of some sort, and we’ll leave that alone.
These Dodge trucks were cool for several reasons, but we think that their styling is boss. They used the cab section from Dodge LCF (Lower Cab Forward) medium duty trucks of the era. Your eye exaggerates the length of the hood, or snout of the truck because the roofline is comparatively low. Note the miniscule sleeper just behind the cab. Claustrophobics need not apply! Oh, and back to the roof line for a minute. These are pretty low slung for a big rig. Don’t believe us? Look at the truck in the background of the first photo and compare the height of the cab roof in relation to the trailer it is towing!
Engine options ranged from a series of Cummins offerings, and even a Detroit or two. Due to this truck having the “Dodge Diesel” emblems on it, we think it is packing some sort of Cummins power. The base engine was the 250hp model, although with twin stacks and twin axles, this truck seems like it would having something more potent than that.
Behold, the rare coolness of a Dodge Bighorn!
One of my truck pulling buddies is currently restoring one of these Big Horns to use to tow his 4×4 Dodge pulling truck to the pulling events. It is way overkill for the tow job, especially since he is powering it with a worked over Cummins KTA600. The KTA600s were rated at, you guessed it, 600hp in the day, but his will be pushing around 1100hp once he is done tweaking it. He also put a big clutch in it rated at, get this, over 6000lbs of clamping force! He says he won’t hook it at the pulls, but judging by the clutch, I bet it wouldn’t be hard to talk him into it. Pics will come as soon as its on the road.
I rode in several of these when they were brand new, both day cabs if I recall. The nice part about a Bighorn compared to the rest of Dodge’s diesel fleet offerings, Bighorns did not have a dog coop in the cab to cover part of the engine, making for alot more foot room. If they had only built a new era cab to go with the rest of the truck I think sales would have been alot better.
that truck is cool as hell.this is what I like about this site variety.
Big Horns are one of the coolest trucks ever. That needs to be on the road and not sitting there deteriorating.