Photo: Tom De Vette/Sara Kammeraad
Our long journey through the world of custom cars and trucks these past few years has often brought us face to face with incredible builds. Sadly, most of them have no story behind, as they were created by more or less experienced garages with only what goal in mind: to be sold for a profit. There are some, though, that came to be out of love, and the Dodge Ram we have here is part of that exquisite group.
This particular machine rolled off Dodge’s assembly lines back when it still made and sold trucks in 1984. Like many of its kind, it was purchased by an American family as a workhorse. And work it did, being used for many years to haul stuff around, from stone to wood, and from hay to ice blocks, helping with the family business.
During this time, it managed to make quite an impression, not only as a workhorse for the man driving it, Norman Kammeraad, but on his daughter too. Sara Kammeraad is her name, and she fell in love with it so much that, after the truck was retired from its duties of hard labor, she became instrumental in giving it new life.
Having received the Dodge as a Christmas gift, father and daughter set out to modify the machine about five years ago. They swapped the original 318ci (5.2-liter) for a bigger 360ci (5.9-liter) but kept the original 727 transmission, choosing to rebuild it.
Visually, the truck was upgraded by wrapping the body in Mopar blue (Sara describes herself as a big Mopar fan, and there are other elements on the truck attesting to that) and adding a wealth of extras, from custom decals to blue LED lights. The interior was modified too, made to look not unlike what you got with a 1984 Peterbilt big rig.
“So needless to say this truck once used in farms and worksites is now a show stopper. The idea of the build is to keep to her roots but sorta make her how we think she should have come from the factory in Warren,” Sara tells us.
And a show stopper it is. As far as we understand, the truck, known as the Old Blue and officially titled 1984 Dodge Ram Marksman 1000, is a regular of such events in Western Michigan, and over the years, was the recipient of a number of awards and special features.
Is this one for sale? Of course not, because it is a member of the family, and as Sara says, work on it is far from over, and more surprises are coming.
During this time, it managed to make quite an impression, not only as a workhorse for the man driving it, Norman Kammeraad, but on his daughter too. Sara Kammeraad is her name, and she fell in love with it so much that, after the truck was retired from its duties of hard labor, she became instrumental in giving it new life.
Having received the Dodge as a Christmas gift, father and daughter set out to modify the machine about five years ago. They swapped the original 318ci (5.2-liter) for a bigger 360ci (5.9-liter) but kept the original 727 transmission, choosing to rebuild it.
Visually, the truck was upgraded by wrapping the body in Mopar blue (Sara describes herself as a big Mopar fan, and there are other elements on the truck attesting to that) and adding a wealth of extras, from custom decals to blue LED lights. The interior was modified too, made to look not unlike what you got with a 1984 Peterbilt big rig.
“So needless to say this truck once used in farms and worksites is now a show stopper. The idea of the build is to keep to her roots but sorta make her how we think she should have come from the factory in Warren,” Sara tells us.
And a show stopper it is. As far as we understand, the truck, known as the Old Blue and officially titled 1984 Dodge Ram Marksman 1000, is a regular of such events in Western Michigan, and over the years, was the recipient of a number of awards and special features.
Is this one for sale? Of course not, because it is a member of the family, and as Sara says, work on it is far from over, and more surprises are coming.
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