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When Dodge came out with the Rampage, what was there idea for it?

Was it a performance truck? Compact truck? Hybrid utility vehicle?

Can you buy a Charger or 300C for under 2009$? Im serious, this has been bugging me for months. Any leads?

I think they were trying to find a way to get better mileage from a pickup built in-house - their only compact truck at the time was a rebadged Mitsu Mighty Max, and that wasn't great on gas mileage anyway.

If you're talking about the LX platform, I doubt you could pull that off without getting a wreck without the motor.

It was dodges version of the VW rabbit pickup. An answer to a question that no one had asked. A front wheel drive pickup with a half ton capacity.

Being based on the omni it is automaticaly less cool than the rabbit pickup The VW is lighter at 2100lbs versus the dodges 2400 and the VW values are increasing while the dodges are still falling without hope of bouncing back.

But I am biased. I miss my rabbit truck

The ONLY plus I can see the dodge having is the popular turbo 2.2 swap is so documented and easy. Other than that....yuck.

And the VW caddies were a larger heavier version of the Mini pickup.

In this case, the answer to the question is; BRAT!

Is there any relation between Omni/Horizons and golf/rabbits? My bud says there is, but all I can find is some engine relation.

Joey

I know of the engine relation, but nothing else. Perhaps we could claim a relationship based on the current "VW" minivan?

OHhh...a WRX/STI powered Brat.... mmmmm...

joey48442 wrote: Is there any relation between Omni/Horizons and golf/rabbits? My bud says there is, but all I can find is some engine relation. Joey

They look similar, but the only real relationship is that the early Omni / Horizons used VW engines before Chrysler was able to ramp up production of K-car motors. That, and the way they fit a similar niche seems to have led Chrysler to built an Omni variant to build something similar to each Rabbit variant (Scirocco / O24, Caddy / Rampage, GTI / GLH) The Omni itself was based on a Simca design that predated the Rabbit.

ditchdigger wrote: It was dodges version of the VW rabbit pickup. An answer to a question that no one had asked. A front wheel drive pickup with a half ton capacity. Being based on the omni it is automaticaly less cool than the rabbit pickup The VW is lighter at 2100lbs versus the dodges 2400 and the VW values are increasing while the dodges are still falling without hope of bouncing back. But I am biased. I miss my rabbit truck The ONLY plus I can see the dodge having is the popular turbo 2.2 swap is so documented and easy. Other than that....yuck.

To take it a step further, the Rampage and Rabbit-up were equally ugly and pointless. At least with a Rampage you can make it a GLH-like clone and have some fun.

The Rabbit truck isn't ugly at all. And you could put a 16v, or turbo the 8v, or put a crossflow in and turbo that, or maybe a 1.8t, or a TDI. Any of which would make it fun. Add a set of coilovers and have a small truck that handles well.

missing the point a bit. i wanna "new" rampage from a 300C or magnum or charger....

CarKid1989 wrote: missing the point a bit. i wanna "new" rampage from a 300C or magnum or charger....

Get out the Saw-Zall Kid, the Rampage was an econo-truckie for the commuter with lawn clippings.

Make one:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/a-very-nice-one-of-those/11586/page1/

Or go to Australia:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/VU-Commodore-Ute_W0QQitemZ320387915685QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Cars?hash=item4a989b9fa5&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A13%7C294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ford-falcon-UTE-AUll-extra-cab-5-spd-manual_W0QQitemZ150354280345QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Cars?hash=item2301d03f99&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A4%7C294%3A50

The FWD cars of the '80 were what Chrysler banked everything on. The made every version possible and the truck (Rampage) was just an extension of that idea.

Economy hatch: Omni & Horizon
Economy Sporty hatch: Omni 024 & TC3
Sporty hatch: Daytona
2 door sedan/ 4 door sedan/ wagon: Reliant & Aries
Van (mini): Caravan
Sport Sedan: Labaron GTS
Luxury car: Lebaron
Convertable: Lebaron
Limo: Lebaron
Truck: Rampage

All the above are basically the same car and all were available in at least one form with a 2.2L engine.

BTW, Rampage/Scamp had a higher load capacity than te El Camino of the time and after owning a Rampage for a number of years, I miss it dearly. It was fairly quick for a stripped out 2.2 Charger minus the heavy rear glass, stiffer rear springs and slightly longer wheelbase. Made autocrosses a lot of fun!

Also, the Omni GLH was built to outdo the Rabbit GTi. The performance of the GLH was supposed to 10% better than the GTi, of course the GLH-Turbo and GLH-S. On the Omni/Horizon and Rabbit sharing, they did use VW 1.7L motors in the early cars and I knew a local guy who built up his Horizon with a 1.7L motor and a close ratio Rabbit box. He and my Uncle's DSP GLH were fairly close with the Horizon benefiting from a lighter weight.

When they were new the dodges outperformed the vws. Yea, they are pretty poorly made, but they still worked well. VW people will always hate them though. lol

Yeah, Chrysler just didn't have the styling to compete with the dubs.

We had a Rampage way back when I worked for a mining equipment company. Darn effective delivery rig. The bed was a lot larger than it had any business being. The car/truck handled upwards of half ton payloads with aplumb. Ran very reliably, economically, and very well through quarries and construction sites.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind having one myself.

I know a guy that has two of them sitting in his yard. I think they look pretty cool, I can imagine dropping in an SRT4 engine / drivetrain. I suspect it would suprise a few people.

The Omni 024 and the Horizon TC3 had the most names of any model of car I can recall, without major change:

Omni 024, Horizon TC3, Turismo, Charger, Shelby Charger, DeTomaso (yes, there was one -- it was stripes and spoilers), Duster, Rampage (okay, that one was different), Scamp,

I think that's it.