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History of MPC's Dodge D/W Series Trucks


Fabrux

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And I guess I got the engine wrong, my apologies. I'm not that familiar with Chrysler engines.

No need to apologise :) , it's all good .

Certainly , MPC did imply that the engine in the Little Red Express was a 360 , which is a small block ; a factory relica "360 EXPRESS" air cleaner lid decal was even included (!!) for their generic Chrysler big block :blink: .

If you ever need thee reference for Chrysler stuff , go to "Hamtramck Historical 1970 Registry" ; I'll add a link in a minute ...

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Curious, Why do you say incorrect.? the Dodge trucks WERE avail with both a 400 B engine as well as a 440 RB up till approx 1977 ( maybe 1978 )

I use the term loosely ; "incorrect" in the capacity of :

- 1968-1969 (and 1970-1971 "Ramcharger" / "Air Grabber") air cleaner ;

- Manual transmission wasn't available behind the 440 after 1972 (1974 for the 400) .

1978 model year was the last year for the B/RB engine series :( .

As a side note ; ever see one of those oddball Mitsubishi 4 cylinder , naturally-aspirated diesel engines that was an option for '78 or '79 in the "D" and "W" Series pickups ? Gee , I wonder why *that* was a failure <_< ...

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My friend bought a w-200 4x4 in washinton state, he brought the truck down south here it is a extended cab longbox! I have a wip on this truck I had 2-3 rough glue bombs I cut up one cab to make the half extended cab lots of putty and sanding now! I am in need of a tailgate for the fullsize long bed and tail lamps if anyone has those don't believe a extended cab was ever kitted

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On another 4x4 forum, i took measurements of my real 90 dodge extended cab 4x4 truck for a person that was going to make a resin cast of one, that has been around a year and 1/2 ago, the person is on this site too, i havent heard anything else on it so i dont know where how far it is along. Maybe he will post if he sees this posting.

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Point of note here,,

The "Warlock" version's wheels were cast in metallic gold plastic on thier own sprue.

Looks like the "Firefighter" version may have the same wheels but I never had that kit so I'm not sure.

It has the same wheels, but chromed this time, I have all the trucks in the series except the pumping iron version....

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I'd actually prefer this kit doesn't return, and IIRC, Model King looked into refurbishing the molds and they were not in good shape, or at least not worth the time and money to refresh. The details are so lacking on these kits that you'd end up buying two or more additional kits just to make them look decent. RB-series engine from the AMT '71 Charger or Revell '68/9 Charge or '69 Dart, realistic off-road wheels and tires from another kit, decent solid axle suspension from elsewhere, and then you've still got the one-piece bed. -_-

If Moebius' upcoming Fords do well, the '72-'80 Dodge/Plymouth pickup and SUV line could be a future series, too. ^_^

Sad too hear the tools are in such bad shape, cuz the chassis plus trim-less bed from the Monster truck coupled with the '79-80 cab of the Fire Truck (same cab as the '78, but with different cowl insert, new hood and grille) and the 4x4 running gear could've produced a "never done" '79-'80 Power Wagon

%252779%2Bmacho.jpg

But an all new kit of this generation of Dodge trucks would be better indeed, because the Mpc's were annuals thus updated with each passing model year, which erased the prior edition, a new tool can be designed to incorporate several versions spanning more then two decades and...also include Ramchargers!

The same can be said for the old C/K series of Chevy trucks from the mid 70 'till late '80s, that's from an era when truck were trucks and not fashion accessories or statements, also the reason I prefer 4x4 over 4x2.

Edited by Luc Janssens
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The MPC 67-72 Chevy Pickups were also Promos so limitations from that were added.

Surprised they diod the Bed proto-typically. But maybe at the time they could not do

it the cheap poorly detailed single piece like they do now.

I do like Revell's OLD school method on the VTS Ram. My 60 & 63 Ford's are like that

Cab & box sides cast in one piece with the bed floor and cab back wall in the Ram as separate

pieces.

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As you may or may not be aware these kits started as a series of annuals produced by MPC. While the full-size truck debuted for the 1972 model year I can not find any references to or depictions of a 1972 annual release. The earliest release produced by MPC was the 1973 annual, probably hitting store shelves in late 1972. As far as dating of the kit release goes, I have found box pictures showing a copyright date of both the year depicted and the previous year for most of the issues. For simplicity's sake I have chosen to list the year depicted as the year issued.

The first kit issued with this tooling's long run was the 1973 Dodge Pickup annual. The truck depicted is a regular cab, 8' full width box trimmed as an Adventurer 100. The engine is a cobbled together Chrysler B/RB V-8. Options with this kit included both 2WD and 4WD suspension with stock wheel covers and 4WD 8-lug wheels, a stock hood and a bulged center hood, race equipment and emergency equipment. The kit has the grille used for 72-73 and is molded in white. MPC #1-07309

I'm pretty confident that the "Baja Brute" #1-0458 shown below is actually the first MPC annual issue of this series of Dodge Pickup kits. It's listed in the Coulter & Shelton Directory along with the other MPC '72 Truck and Van kits. Note the "1972" on the front bumper graphic.

72DodgePU01-vi.jpg

The side panel shows it as a 3n1 kit including a stock 2WD version and the contents appear to be almost indentical to the '73 release. I can't find a copyright date on either the box or instructions and my open kit is missing the decals. On the chrome tree it has " 72 dodge pick up " engraved above the stock wheel covers.

72DodgePU02-vi.jpg

For what it's worth I know that this isn't first time MPC brought out a new kit without the year placed on the box. The first issue of the second generation Firebird kit from MPC is only labeled " Firebird Formula 400" which came out around 1970. Anyway I hope this completes the History of the MPC Dodge D/W kits.

-Steve

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Aha, there you go! I thought it was odd that I couldn't find a 1972 version. Usually when MPC did an annual they started with the first year of a new body style, which for this truck was 1972. Thanks for this! I'll update the posts.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think one thing is worth mentioning:

Starting with the 76 year the truck cannot be built as a 4x2 anymore. It just had those 1/20 Can Am Racer tires with the steelies, no stock chrome full wheel covers anymore, no standard front axle.

I would love to build a Power Wagon like the one shown. Someone should make decals for it ;)

On the topic of "hidden" annuals from MPC: I always thought the 1970 Camaro and Firebird kits didn't get real annual numbers because they came out in midyear 1970. The annual kit run possibly was done by the time?!

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I am not 100% certain, but I believe the Warlock was reissued in the mid 90's around when the LRE was reissued? I seem to recall a Blueprinter that touted the availability of both. Perhaps the Warlock was a Blueprinter special like the Fiat dragsters, BTTF trio, and Munsters dragsters. Maybe I'm nuts and it wasn't reissued too. Or maybe it was a 1:18 diecast?

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I am not 100% certain, but I believe the Warlock was reissued in the mid 90's around when the LRE was reissued? I seem to recall a Blueprinter that touted the availability of both. Perhaps the Warlock was a Blueprinter special like the Fiat dragsters, BTTF trio, and Munsters dragsters. Maybe I'm nuts and it wasn't reissued too. Or maybe it was a 1:18 diecast?

Nope the Warlock kit was never reissued, it must have been a 1/18 diecast you remembered, cuz I seem to recall it, although vaguely too.

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I believe I did mention in the original posts that the 2WD option was dropped in 76...

They do show the 4x2 with stock wheels on the box-art, yet when you open the box the parts are as you say committed and also no mention of them in the instruction sheet, except the choice of gear shift IIRC.

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Yes right, Luc. I wanted to hint on that but forgot ... ;)

Kataranga, you are probably right, didn't save that in my brain. I beg your pardon...

Overall I love those articles about old kit lines. Please keep them coming!

I looked through my LWB Dodge pickups several months ago. I have years 73 to 77. The side trim was the same for the kit years 72 to 76 (I think), the trim level is D100 Adventurer SE. The moldings are the ones that go over the wheel wells. This is only correct for 72 to 74 (or 75?). MPC corrected it to straight moldings for the 77 model. Additionally the "100"-script is on the cab from 72 to 76 on the kit, "Adventurer SE" on the bed. They again changed it in 77.

I might have mixed it up a bit, as I didn't compare every year to original truck pics and some time has gone by since I did this research. But my conclusion was that one has to change/kitbash quite a bit to build a really accurate 75/76 truck. I think they are quite accurate for 72 and 73 and then for 77 (and probably 78) again. 74 is ok as well, possibly.

Also I found they never changed much in the interior, just like the AMT Ford pickup 75-78. So here again is much work needed to get it really right.

Jens

Edited by JS23U
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  • 4 weeks later...

Also in late 1976 a separate, non-annual version was released as an Off-Road Camper. This issue includes the dirt bike and an odd partial-length camper/sleeper arrangement.

Pic of the clear parts from this kit:

76dodge2.jpg

And a look at the box sides:

76dodge5.jpg

76dodge4.jpg

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It kind of reminds me of the Jeepster's almost full length top, but it's definitely odd looking.

Any idea what the piece at the lower left is for? The other pieces seem to have homes, but the lower left piece look like a bunk, maybe to be laid across the bad rails, under the cap?:

76dodgecap.jpg

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