Mopar Lowliner Concept Limbos Into the 2019 SEMA Show
Slammed pre-Ram heavy-duty pickup is perfect for SEMA
Many of our favorite Mopar custom projects start out as tattered vintage vehicles. This one began life as a 1968 Dodge D200 Camper Special—a heavy-duty pickup with an 8-foot bed and chassis optimized to carry a big, heavy slide-in camper. This camping arrangement left the trailer hitch free to tow a boat, dirt bikes, or other recreational gear.
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This truck, procured in Ohio for $6,800, miraculously survived its working life without getting rusty. Nevertheless, the body and box came off the frame, so it could be media-blasted and have its C-channel section fully boxed for strength. The wheelbase was also stretched 3 inches in front of the cab.
Moving the front wheels forward improved the proportions (especially with the new 22-inch eight-lug wheels, which look like giant steelies but are milled from billet aluminum) and made it easier to package the 325-hp, 610-lb-ft 5.9-liter Cummins turbodiesel I-6 crate engine (which dates to roughly 2006). That engine is backed by a six-speed manual, the physical size of which limited the degree to which the Lowliner could be slammed. Some 4 inches were cut out of the engine's oil pan to allow the powertrain to nestle as low in the truck as that transmission would allow. The air-sprung control-arm front and Dana 60 live-axle rear suspension is entirely custom and adjusts to three heights: slammed, drivable, and clearance for loading on and off trucks/trailers.
Packaging the giant wheels, that huge powertrain, and all that air-suspension gear required minor modification to the cab firewall and a major redo of the pickup bed. Basically, the bed features a modern Ram floor tubbed for the fat tires and installed (very shallow) inside the '68 truck's walls and tailgate. The air-suspension gear lives under a subfloor in the rear.
Design-wise, Joe Dehner's Mopar team started by removing all the trim, shaving off the drip rails, filling the door-handle holes, and sharpening the signature "check-mark" bodyside character line. Then making the revised front-end bodywork into a unitized forward-tilting engine cover. Another cool touch: The big, dorky fuel filler cap was removed from the B-pillar right behind the driver's door and replaced with a custom motorcycle-style filler on the top of the pickup-bed wall. Press the flush-mounted cap once, and it pops up to allow you to unscrew it.
The team removed the Camper Special's diamond-plate rear step bumper and replaced it with a stamped steel one from a base D truck of the period, while the stock front bumper was subtly reworked to give it some plan-view curvature. Custom taillamps were fabricated, incorporating Mopar logos and the reverse lamps, which had been separate in '68. Finally, the body and frame were treated to a deep coating of Candy Delmonico metallic paint, set off by a grille, bumpers, and wheels in Dairy Cream.
We expect the Lowliner to spend the next several months on the show circuit before (hopefully!) giving auto scribblers like us a chance to test drive it on Woodward Avenue during the week of next year's Dream Cruise. Stay tuned.
I started critiquing cars at age 5 by bumming rides home from church in other parishioners’ new cars. At 16 I started running parts for an Oldsmobile dealership and got hooked on the car biz. Engineering seemed the best way to make a living in it, so with two mechanical engineering degrees I joined Chrysler to work on the Neon, LH cars, and 2nd-gen minivans. Then a friend mentioned an opening for a technical editor at another car magazine, and I did the car-biz equivalent of running off to join the circus. I loved that job too until the phone rang again with what turned out to be an even better opportunity with Motor Trend. It’s nearly impossible to imagine an even better job, but I still answer the phone…
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