1977 Dodge B100 Tradesman review from North America

They sure don't make vehicles like they use to.

Body: There's minimal rust, just a little above the back door. Garage kept. 1 dent. Got a new paint job in 91, black with metallic flake. Replaced tail light - my fault. Weather stripping needs to be replaced on side cargo doors.

Chassis: broke upper control arm... my fault. Other than that rustfree, undercoated and oiled. Ride is excellent.

Drivetrain: Tranny was getting a little rough on the shift, but a bottle of Lucas smoothed it right out. It's got the torque flight 3 speed auto in it. The axle "punkin" is leaking a bit of oil I noticed.

Engine: 3 alternators, leaking oil sensor replaced, radiator is looking a bit rough. Going to need a new one soon. Some clutchfan noise. Valve seals are a little worse for the wear, blows a little smoke on startup. Starter was just replaced not too long ago.

Thermostat replaced. Needs a new coolant temp sensor.

Interior: The current thing that needs fixed is my cig lighter. Replaced the dash gauges, that's why I'm estimating my miles. New radio and new (6) speakers with 300 watt sub. Anyone that knows older Dodges knows that the turn signal thing that makes it stay on always wears out... same problem here. Got to hold it up for a right turn.

All I got to say is it's the Toyota of 1990s in reliability. The 318 makes it seem underpowered, but who need all that seat planting torque anyway... it's a van. This van was originally bought by my father and now he gave it to me. It's been garage kept all its life and it's never been wrecked. However it does have a dent in the back by the passenger tail light. Father was a bit under the influence and backed it into his international backhoe... ouch.

One thing that I say I love about the van is the captains chairs in the front. The passenger's rotates 180 degrees. The drivers side is the same chair, but it gets hung up... wasn't designed for the driver to do that... good thing. The van has a custom interior, most anyone that has an older van has done this. There's no windows in the back except for the one in the back door. I'm estimating it has about a 15% tint. There's a futon built into the back of it.

Most people that have this van can say that they get a bit more attention than regular vehicles. The 70's was the time that vans were up on the cool factor. The fastbackish design makes it appealing to the eye except for the snubbed short front end. The sound coming from the tail pipe is decieving on how much go power it does have. Lots of noise and little go. It has a striaght dual 2 1/2 inch with glasspacks on it. It's not raspy sounding though, it's more of a cherping chug sound. It's definitely a head turner to someone who hasn't heard it coming down the road before.

Overall the van is in excellent condition. It's been garage kept most of its life. I've had one gentlemen come up to me before and said that he owned one just like it. He told me of the good times he'd had in it and the reliability. How he wished that he never gotten rid of it and so on.

One thing that I do enjoy is turning up Hendrix, rolling down the highway, and soaking in the nostalgia of the 70's.