Mopar Madness! 10 of the Wildest Special Edition Dodge and Ram Trucks Ever Made
Head-turning, tire-burning, or glory-earning, these pickups offered something more than just utilitarian transport.
Most of us tend to look at trucks as a pragmatic enterprise; vehicles expressly designed for the purpose of doing work. But over the decades, the Dodge and Ram brands have established a reputation for pushing boundaries. Some models have raised the bar for performance or capability, while others ventured into uncharted stylistic territory. A few even managed to do all three.
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Although some of these trucks struggled to find a receptive audience in their day, there’s something undeniably charming about risk-takers, and these special edition Dodge and Ram pickups weren’t playing it safe.
Dodge Warlock
Introduced in 1976, the Dodge Warlock was an effort to capitalize on the emerging custom truck craze. Offered as short-wheelbase versions of the two-wheel-drive D100 and four-wheel-drive W100 pickups, the package included custom gold wheels with wider tires, chrome running boards, oak sideboards, and gold pinstriping.
Exterior color choices consisted of Black, Metallic Green, or Bright Red, and all examples featured black interiors with gold accents and bucket seats. The package wasn’t restricted to a specific engine in Dodge’s lineup, though, so Warlocks could be outfitted with anything from an inline six-cylinder to a 440ci big-block V-8. The name has recently reappeared as an option package on the Ram 1500.
Shelby Dakota
While best known for his performance-tuning work with Ford vehicles, Carroll Shelby made the jump over to Dodge territory in the early 1980s at the request of Chrysler Corporation chairman Lee Iacocca. Iacocca had previously overseen Shelby’s work on the Mustang as Ford’s vice president and general manager, and he hoped to bring some of that high-performance magic back during a particularly prosaic time in Chrysler’s history.
Shelby’s efforts were first applied to the Dodge-branded L-body Charger and Omni hatchback, but in the latter half of the decade, the motorsport luminary also began offering limited-run models based on Dodge production vehicles that had been modified at Shelby’s own Whittier, California–based facility.
Arriving in 1989 and limited to just 1500 examples, the Shelby Dakota injected a much-needed dose of horsepower into Dodge’s midsize pickup. While the truck came factory equipped with either a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine making 100 horsepower or a 125-hp 3.9-liter V-6, Shelby's creation boasted a 318ci throttle-body-injected V-8 that served up 175 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. Paired with a four-speed automatic that sent the grunt to the rear wheels through a limited-slip differential with a 3.90:1 gearset, the Shelby Dakota was both a nod to the past and a harbinger of the muscle-bound trucks to come.
Dodge Lil’ Red Express
After a long downward slide for performance vehicles during the Malaise Era, small glimmers of hope began to emerge in the late ’70s. Making its debut in 1978 for a two-year production run, the Lil’ Red Express took advantage of a federal loophole that allowed Dodge engineers to outfit the pickup with a performance-tuned version of the automaker’s 360ci small-block V-8 that produced 225 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque.
Equipped with modified version of the three-speed A727A LoadFlite automatic transmission and a limited-slip differential with 3.55 gears, the rear-wheel drive Lil’ Red Express proved to be one of the quickest American vehicles in production at the time. Its bright red paintwork, chrome wheels, and big-rig-style vertical tailpipes only sweetened the deal for enthusiasts.
Dodge Ram SRT-10
In 2004, Dodge put the performance world on notice when it introduced the Ram SRT-10. Arguably the Dodgiest vehicle Dodge has ever developed, the Ram SRT-10 was motivated by the same 8.3-liter, 500-hp V-10 engine and close-ratio six-speed manual transmission that was installed in the Viper sports car. As a result, this 5,100-pound rear-wheel-drive pickup could rocket to 60 mph from a standstill in about five seconds flat on its way to a top speed of 154 mph.
Not content with a one-trick pony, SRT engineers also outfitted the muscle truck with massive brakes, 305mm-wide tires, and a performance-tuned suspension that featured Bilstein shocks, a rear anti-roll bar, stiffer springs, and a lowered stance. Matched up with Viper-esque 22-inch alloys, an aggressive body kit, and a functional rear wing, the Ram SRT-10 immediately rose to the top of the muscle truck food chain.
Although initially offered exclusively in regular-cab configuration with the aforementioned six-speed gearbox, a Quad Cab version utilizing a modified version of the 48RE four-speed automatic transmission was added to the lineup for the 2005 model year. Just over 10,000 examples of the Ram SRT-10 were produced during its three-year production run.
Ram 1500 TRX Ignition Edition
FCA finally gave Ford F-150 Raptor designers something to worry about when the automaker unleashed the Ram 1500 TRX in 2021. Packing a widened stance, high-performance off-road suspension with Bilstein adaptive dampers, a heavily reinforced chassis, and a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 cranking out 702 hp and 650 lb-ft, the TRX became the new king of the hill for factory-produced desert-running off-road pickups.
For its second year in production, Ram added the Ignition Edition to the TRX lineup. Limited to 875 units in total, the package included this unique Ignition Orange exterior color as well as special graphics and new 18-inch machine face black wheels. Orange stitching and copper carbon-fiber accents adorned the well-appointed cabin, while subtle tweaks like the Ignition Orange TRX depicted in the infotainment system’s menu screens served as a reminder that you were behind the wheel of something special.
Yeah, it’s essentially an appearance package, but it’s not like the TRX was lacking in the performance or style departments to begin with.
Dodge Dakota Convertible
While vehicles like the Jeep Gladiator may have normalized the concept of drop-top pickups in recent years, the world wasn’t ready to fully embrace the idea when Dodge introduced the Dakota Convertible in 1989.
To create the open-top truck, the automaker tapped American Sunroof Company (ASC) to do the conversion work. Once the factory roof was off, ASC installed a single-hoop roll bar, frameless doors, and a soft top with a plastic rear window. All Dakotas that underwent this conversion were outfitted with the Dakota line’s Sport package, which included a 125 hp 3.9-liter V-6, a five-speed transmission, alloy wheels, and velour upholstery as standard. Unfortunately, the end result was a rather ungainly-looking machine whether the top was up or down, and Dodge sold less than 3,000 examples over its three-year production run.
Dodge Ram 1500 Rumble Bee
Although it didn’t come packing a Viper V-10, the Ram 1500 Rumble Bee shared much of the street-focused performance spirit of its SRT-tuned brethren when it arrived in 2004.
Borrowing some inspiration from 1970 Dodge Super Bee muscle car, the Rumble Bee featured a 345-hp 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 under the hood and distinctive Solar Yellow paint. It also got 20-inch alloys, Super Bee–style decals, and an aggressive body kit that gave the truck plenty of visual flair, while a gloss yellow center dash bezel, yellow door panel inserts, and a numbered plaque added a sense of occasion to the cabin.
Dodge Macho Power Wagon
In the late 1970s, the Power Wagon sat at the top of the Dodge pickup hierarchy, but the optional Macho package took things to the next level. Offered on W150 trucks from 1977 to 1981, the treatment included black and yellow accents, larger tires and painted wheels, a roll bar, bold graphics, and four-wheel drive as standard.
Dodge Ram 1500 Indy 500
The Viper had been given the nod to serve as the official pace car for the Indianapolis 500 in 1996, and in much the same way that F-150s had been used as support vehicles for the race when the then-new Fox-body Mustang had paced the event in 1979, the Ram 1500 served alongside Dodge’s sportscar at the Indy 500 seventeen years later.
To commemorate the event, Dodge developed a small number of regular-cab, short-bed versions of the truck wearing the same paint and stripe scheme as the Viper. Along with special decals, these trucks were outfitted with Dodge’s 5.9-liter V-8, 17-inch alloy wheels, body-colored trim and bumpers, and the SLT sport package. Approximately 2,800 examples were produced in total during pace truck’s one-year production run.
Dodge D100 The Dude
In an effort to bring some of that Mopar muscle car charisma to its truck line, Dodge introduced a package called The Dude for the D100 in 1970. The treatment included side stripes that ran the length of the truck and a contrasting roof, along with the ability to choose from a range of the vibrant hues that were normally reserved for the automaker’s hot rods. The package didn’t include any performance upgrades, though, and the odd combination of muscle car styling and cowboy imagery—note the hat on the rear fender—failed to generate significant interest from the truck-buying public. Roughly two thousand D100s were sold with The Dude package during its two-year production run.
Dodge and Ram Special Edition Trucks
- Dodge Warlock
- Shelby Dakota
- Dodge Lil’ Red Express
- Dodge Ram SRT-10
- Ram 1500 TRX Ignition Edition
- Dodge Dakota Convertible
- Dodge Ram 1500 Rumble Bee
- Dodge Macho Power Wagon
- Dodge Ram 1500 Indy 500
- Dodge D100 The Dude
