Copious sums of cash proceed to blow superheated air into area of interest car markets — anybody seen the valuation curve for the AMC Javelin AMX recently? There have been two large knock-on results. The primary is lovers turning to fashions that have not obtained a lot love as interest automobiles. The second is information of extra restomodders turning out beautiful examples of automobiles that have not had their day but. Pickup vans are within the restomod highlight of late, classic Fords and Chevys getting a lot of the love. The Drive turned its consideration to New Period Efficiency in Pennsylvania, a store devoted to third-generation Dodges. It seems proprietor Charlie Pitcher put himself by way of self-taught restomod faculty by turning out one handmade part at a time with a enterprise referred to as Steel by Charlie. When all his skills come collectively, the outcome may be one thing just like the teal truck above, a $100,000 assemblage of diesel-powered customized fabrication.
Dodge caught to its third-gen pickups an unexpectedly very long time, from 1972 to 1993. The truck above is an early third-gen Dodge pickup physique as soon as stripped again to a naked metallic shell atop a a lot stronger 1992 Dodge Ram chassis. In 1978, Dodge dabbled with Mitsubishi diesel engines for simply two manufacturing years, returning to grease burners in 1989 with the Cummins B Sequence engines. New Period sticks to Cummins, going with something from a refreshed and evenly modified four-cylinder to a Banks Massive Hoss with an enormous Garrett turbo. The entrance axle rides on a coilover suspension, the rear on long-travel leaf springs. The inside’s totally redone, proper right down to new door playing cards and customized speaker grilles. Pitcher advised The Drive, “Lots of the stuff we’re constructing is approach overbuilt. The principle factor we concentrate on is the powertrain and suspension, so the whole lot is constructed to be sturdy and straightforward to work on—easy, dependable, that form of factor.”
Not each new truck prices $100,000; the customized half catalog goes as little as $29 for a chrome steel consumption flange or $35 for door deal with backing plates, a weak spot on third-gens. The corporate put a 1993 Dodge Energy Ram 350 Cummins Dually on Convey a Trailer on the finish of final yr, the truck given a frame-off refresh and a six-speed handbook transmission swap among the many customized work. The profitable bidder paid $42,350. Pitcher stated, “Except [customers] spec out a full rebuild, normally we discover a good-running, low-mileage [truck] and provides it a freshening up.” For these able to ball out, full customized jobs take 12-18 months of construct time on high of that six figures.
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