Vehicle Description
1978 Dodge Lil' Red Express - Limited Production - 360ci V8 - New
Upholstery in 2003 - (Please note: If you happen to be viewing this
vehicle on a website other than our main website, it's possible
that only some of our many photographs of this car are presented
due to website limitations. To be sure you access all the
photographs, please go to our main website: Garage Kept Motors.)
We're excited to be able to offer another low production vehicle
for sale - A Dodge Lil' Red Express. A little known fact about the
Lil' Red Express is that it was the fastest American production
vehicle from 0-to-100 in 1978. (As tested by Car and Driver.) Just
to look at it you would figure it was something that a car
enthusiast built on a whim to make a fast, custom truck in their
own vision. Chrysler Corporation built the Lil' Red Express for the
'78 and '79 model year, with only 2,188 of them produced for the
'78 model year. Under the hood is a 360ci V8 (Code EH1) which was a
modified version of the police engine, mated to a slightly modified
automatic 727 transmission, and 3.55:1 rear differential. The
engine breathes through an exhaust system that consists of Hemi
style mufflers, a crossover pipe, and no catalytic converters. The
wheels on this truck are the staggered 15x7 front and 15x8 rear
chrome five slot wheels, which were only available on the '78
models. For the '79 model year, only 15x8 wheels were available.
The interior of this truck was optioned with red trim and shows
very well. Recent updates are new upholstery and carpeting. At
first glance it looks as though the truck has a bench seat mounted
in the cab, but taking a closer look you will see that it is
actually two bucket seats with a center arm rest/center console.
The bucket seats/center console configuration was an option on
these trucks rather than a standard bench seat. A factory AM/FM/CB
Radio is mounted on the dash......yes, you read that right, a
factory CB Radio. Another feature only on the '78 model year trucks
was the Tuff Wheel steering wheel. The gauge cluster looks as if it
was lifted from one of the early '70's Hemi powered cars; multiple
auxiliary gauges, a large speedometer mounted right in the center,
and a tach off to the right. Wood paneling on a fast truck? Not
exactly a lightweight material, but the wood paneling sure looks
nice with the contrasting Bright Canyon Red paint (Code PY3442).
Especially on this particular truck. The wood on both the inside
and outside of the truck bed is in great condition along with all
the body panels. We can't forget about the other design features
that make the Lil' Red Express trucks so unique: the exhaust
stacks, gold trim and gold Lil' Red Express logos on the doors.
From a time when sports cars were underpowered thanks to emissions
regulations, a Lil' Red Truck kept the muscle car spirit alive with
its unique styling, and capable straight-line acceleration thanks
to the V8 under the hood. Be sure to check out all the photos and
video on our main website: Garage Kept Motors. Call if interested
or e-mail with any questions. Thank you for looking.