Desperate times call for desperate measures. At least that’s what they say. In the automotive market during the late 1970’s, this was more often the case than not. After performance was largely killed off by a fuel shortage, the EPA, and insurance companies, enthusiasts were left out in the cold with no way back in.
As what has been known as the first true performance pickup truck to gearheads everywhere (not counting the El Camino SS and Ranchero GT), the Dodge Lil’ Red Express offered the neglected enthusiasts of the late ‘70s a fresh canvas in which to mold the ultimate street machine.
Inspired by the custom van and pickup scene that was sprouting up all of the country at the time, the Adventurer D150 that the Li’l Red Express along with its siblings; the Midnight Express and the Warlock trucks that it was based on became a part of Dodge’s “Adult Toys” (it’s not what you think) truck and van group (we’ll delve further into that another time).
Each one of these vehicles served a special purpose, and the Li’l Red Express was as close as you could get to a Mopar muscle car during the two model years that it was made in ’78-’79, apart from the Volare Road Runner and Dodge Aspen R/T.
The LRE truck came equipped with parts-bin performance components that started off with a 360 truck block, Red Stripe valve springs, camshaft and damper from a ’68-spec 4-barrel 340, along with an intake manifold, Thermo-Quad carburetor, windage tray, roller timing chain and sprockets from a ’78 model year police-spec 360. The numbers that resulted were 225hp/245ft-lbs of twist being fed to the rear tires.
Rounding out the performance goodies included a dual-snorkel cold-air intake, low-restriction exhaust with Street HEMI mufflers, dual 2.5” diameter exhaust stacks, and because the fact that in 1978 trucks were largely exempt from the strict EPA guidelines that cars had to follow, catalytic converters were MIA for the initial year of production.
Unfortunately you can’t have too much of a good thing, and EPA caught up to the LRE truck for ’79. Catalytic converters were slipped on, the aggressive throwback camshaft came out and a more modern, lower lift bumpstick went in its place.
So obviously power fell a bit, but at least the 3.55 Sure-Grip rear gear ratio, rear sway bar, A-727 3-speed auto with a 2500-stall converter, and all of the aforementioned induction and exhaust pieces remained in place.
Throw in some chrome and a lot of pin striping that was all the rage in those days, and you had a hot machine on your hands.
In fact the truck was so hot, it was the fastest performance American vehicle in ’78, beating out high-rank contenders like the Pontiac Trans Am and even the Corvette.
A total of 7,306 LRE’s would be built (2,188 units in 1978, 5118 in 1979), and even though model year 1980 units were initially planned, the plug was pulled after issues of dealer overstock of the ’79 models, along with the fact that the decade’s second fuel crisis had kicked off that same year.
We spotted this ’79 version on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of just under $20k and 61k miles on its ticker. The very clean and near flawless condition suggests that it was recently restored, and it probably helped that it was originally from Arizona as well. Currently located in Kansas from a seller with a 100% approval rating, we say this is a pretty good deal.