A rare example of Chrysler’s short-lived front-wheel-drive cartruck.
Volkswagen began selling a pickup version of the Rabbit in the United States in 1979, and that cartruck’s non-shabby sales success must have convinced Lee Iacocca and his poker buddies that making a truck-ized Omnirizon would be a great idea. The result was the Dodge Rampage and its Plymouth-badged twin, the Scamp. I’ve found a first-year Rampage in a Denver-area car graveyard, so let’s take a look at this interesting bit of automotive history.
The Rampage was sold for the 1982 through 1984 model years, while its Plymouth Scamp sibling was available for just the 1983 model year.
The Rampage took its nose from the quasi-sporty Dodge 024 (which became the front-wheel-drive Charger a bit later), while the snout of the Scamp came from the Turismo. Both were members in good standing of the extended Omnirizon family, which traced its ancestry back to the Rootes Group via Chrysler Europe.
This hood started its career on a Shelby Charger before being swapped onto this Rampage, and the large number of Omnirizon bits and pieces stashed in this truckcar’s cab implies that its final owner had a whole fleet of related machinery.
The original engine in this car was a carbureted 2.2-liter straight-four rated at 84 hp, but this one is a fuel-injected 2.2 or 2.5 from a later vehicle. The assembly lube on the camshaft suggests this Rampage was getting engine work done when it took that final ride behind a tow truck.
The interior is dirty and full of parts, but looks to have been reasonably intact when it arrived at this place.
A friend had just obtained a 1990 Dodge Omni that needed some parts when I heard about this Rampage, and so I suggested he head over and do some shopping.
One vehicle dies so that another may live. Such is the Way of the Junkyard.
It drives like a car, yet hauls like a truck.
Keyword: 1982 Dodge Rampage Is Junkyard Treasure