Dodge Dakota convertible

[Rebel Bronc]

I was driving through town and saw one parked in a front yard with a FOR SALE SIGN on it. I never even knew these things existed so of course I had to stop. I didn’t get all the details, but they only came 2wd. This one has never been driven in the wintertime; owner is asking $4900.

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Top-down fun with America's mid-size truck By Mitch Frumkin, published in OLD CARS magazine on October 28, 2004, page 67. There's no denying that the Chevrolet SSR is a sexy hot rod. Its cab magically transforms from a fully enclosed state to convertible form in less than 30 seconds. Chevrolet even advertises it as the "American street machine." Chevy rightly claims that it builds the world's first production truck with a retractable hardtop, but the SSR is not the first convertible pickup in the industry. Ford began offering a factory-built roadster with a truck bed in the spring of 1925, and continued to offer the combination through 1934. When Ford concluded production, the convertible truck idea faded away. It wasn't until decades later that customized convertible trucks began to gain status on the West Coast. By 1989, Dodge capitalized on the growing popularity of the specialty pickup market with the introduction of the Dakota Sport convertible. This was the first postwar production ragtop pickup, and Dodge billed it as "the ultimate fun truck." The Dakota Sport convertible featured a manual vinyl top that could be folded back and covered with a boot, or completely removed. The unique hauler was based on a two-door pickup with a metal roof on its cab, and was assembled at Chrysler's Dodge City truck complex in Warren, Michigan. From there, the trucks were shipped to American Sunroof Co. (ASC) several suburbs away. ASC sliced the roof off and added the necessary components to turn it into a convertible for open-air excitement. These Dakota Sport convertibles were sold as either as 4x2s or shift-on-the-fly 4x4s with a base price of $14,425. All {only in 1989} trucks came fitted with a 125-hp, fuel-injected V-6 mated with a five-speed manual or optional three-speed automatic transmission. {4th gear in the automatic was overdrive} Standard equipment included an integral padded sport roll bar; 15-in., cast-aluminum wheels; a tachometer; an AM/FM stereo cassette radio; deluxe wipers; power steering, power windows, and door locks; dual remote outside mirrors; and fog lights. Exterior paint choices were red, black, or white with the grill, bumpers, headlight bezels, wheel lip moldings, door and tailgate handles painted black. Decorative details on the convertible included an acrylic ram's head hood medallion plus added tape graphics on the body sides and tailgate. Dodge impressed 2,842 Dakota Sport convertible buyers in 1989. While the Dakota Sport convertible continued for 1990 with the 3.9-liter V-6, it was joined by a second variation, the Dakota SE convertible truck. The SE came powered by a standard 2.5-liter engine and smooth-shifting, five-speed manual overdrive transmission. Colors for 1990 were Colorado Red, Bright White, and Daytona Blue, or black. A mere 1,039 {writer's error, there were 909} units were sold. {Another 8 Dodge Dakota convertibles were built in 1991 by ASC for use as parade vehicles at the 1991 Indianapolis 500 where the brand new Dodge VIPER was the Pace Car. One 1991 Dakota convertible was a long bed

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[88to21bronco]

As a 13-year-old, this was my dream truck. The car dealership in town had one in the showroom. When my dad went to buy something, i spent the whole time drooling over it.

Now it just looks goofy.