Dodge on the Rampage in South City

Though is may seem like these shots are circa 1984, this super-clean Dodge Rampage was spied recently by photojournalist Dave Wallace on a trip to legendary Gotelli’s Speed Shop in South San Francisco, California. The Rampage and its 1983-only Plymouth Scamp rebrandmate were built on the Chrysler L-body platform, and shared a nose with its Dodge 024-Plymouth TC3 cousins. The Rampage was sold from 1982-84, and drove into the subcompact truck market against the Volkswagen Rabbit pickup and Subaru Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter – or BRAT. Legend has it that a few Direct Connection Shelby Rampages were built using components from a Dodge Shelby Charger. Lore says that even fewer of those got the turbocharged and intercooled version of the 2.2-liter mill under the hood. While all other Rampages were built naturally-aspirated, we know of at least one person that transplanted a 2.2 turbo mill under the hood to add street light surprise and torque steer amusement to the truck-like utility of the Rampage.

Thanks to Dave Wallace for the photos and Allpar for information on the near-mythical 1984 Dodge California Shelby Rampage.