This time, Dodge A100 is a keeper
Over the years, Keith Hart has owned some tasty collector cars. At one time or another, a Chrysler 300H, a Jaguar XK120 and an Aston Mar-tin DB6 have graced his garage. In 2010, when he was looking for a new toy, he found himself on something of a trip down memory lane – in a rather surprising vehicle.
When a friend of Hart’s son found a seldom-seen mid-’60s truck for sale in British Columbia, the news found its way to Hart very quickly and it didn’t take long for the deal to be done.
The reason he found the ’64 Dodge A100 so attractive, Hart says, is simple. He’d owned the type be-fore.
A northwest Calgary dry-cleaner used A100 vans as delivery vehicles, Hart says, and he obtained one after its commercial life was done.
After swapping out the sturdy but underpowered six that originally powered the van in favour of a hulking 383-cubic-inch V-8, Hart didn’t enjoy it for long. “I’d just finished putting the motor in it and a guy said, ‘Hey, do you want to sell that thing?’,” Hart recalls. “He made me a stupid offer and I sold it.”
The Dodge A-Series vans were part of a tribute paid by the Big Three North American manufacturers to the innovative Volkswagen Type 2 Transporter.
Once VW discovered the market for light, car-based trucks, GM, Ford and Chrysler all hustled to create similar vehicles. The Dodge effort used parts from the Valiant compact car, notably the famous “Slant Six” – an in-line six cylinder engine with the cylinders canted to one side to lower the engine’s profile.
Unlike the Type 2, the Dodge A100 wasn’t rear-engined. The engine compartment was located between and below the seats. Both van and pickup styles were offered.
Hart’s new truck had the smallest six available, displacing 170 cubic inches, and a manual column-shift transmission. It only has one option, he believes, the cab quarter-windows that improve rear visibility. The truck also had an extraordinarily low number of miles on it, although some paint and bodywork was required.
The reason for the low mileage is hinted at by a plaque on the dash that indicates that this truck was once the property of the United States navy.
“From what I understand, and from the research I’ve done so far, it was on an aircraft carrier for a while.
“It went to a land base, and it was used there until it was sold.”
All that salt air might explain why a little bodywork was necessary, too. The truck’s new owner was someone from Edmonton, who later moved to B.C. Hart believes he is only the second civilian owner.
Hart and his A100 can often be seen at car shows around town, and he says it attracts a lot of attention. Part of the reason is the truck’s rarity, he says, but part of it is also the fact that an A100 pickup was the platform for what was the most-famous drag-racing exhibition vehicle of all time – Bill “Maverick” Golden’s Little Red Wagon.
Created for Dodge’s drag-racing program in 1964, the Little Red Wagon had a monster 426 Hemi engine in the bed. For a time, it was claimed to be the world’s fastest truck.
With all that weight at the rear, however, the little machine had a disconcerting tendency to lift its front wheels off the ground. When Golden, then one of Dodge’s Super Stock stars, figured out how to steer the truck using the rear brakes, he embarked on a career that ended only with his retirement in 2003.
Over the years, Maverick Golden travelled all over North America – including a late ’90s visit to Race City – jumping his front wheels into the air right off the start line and keeping them there for a full quarter mile.
Hart’s low-geared truck with its small engine won’t be doing any of that, of course.
The basic commercial cab and brick-like aerodynamics make it pretty noisy on the highway, he says.
With only a 90-inch wheel-base, Hart adds, “it turns on a dime.”
The truck’s main use is as a showpiece, something Hart says he was unable to enjoy with his previous collector vehicles.
“I was scared to take the As-ton Martin out in foul weather because it’s an all handmade aluminum body – hail would ruin it,” Hart explains. “I didn’t want to park it anywhere.”
The little Dodge is even giving Hart a little bit of deja vu.
As with his earlier A100 that proved irresistible to an interested buyer, Hart says there is a would-be buyer for this one, too, who keeps making offers.
“I said to my wife, ‘We should sell it and make a buck on it,’ ” Hart admits. “Oh, boy. That was a mistake. She said, ‘No. You sell everything else that you buy. We’re going to keep this one.’ ”
http://www.calgaryherald.com/
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