Like most American carmakers, Plymouth also built trucks in the 1930s. But unlike Dodge, another Mopar brand, it stopped offering haulers in 1941, when the PT125 was discontinued. Plymouth eventually ventured into the truck market again from 1979, but that only lasted until 1983. And you might not know it, but the company also offered an SUV around that time: it's called the Trail Duster.
Introduced in 1974, the Trail Duster was essentially a rebadged Dodge Ramcharger. The latter soldiered on for two generations until 1993 and made a brief comeback between 1999 and 2001 as an SUV version of the Ram pickup truck. The Trail Duster, on the other hand, was dropped altogether in 1981. It was Plymouth's first and only SUV, so it remains a unique appearance in the company's lineup.
And with only 36,000 units produced from 1974 to 1981, it's also quite a rare vehicle. By comparison, Dodge produced almost 110,000 Ramchargers over the same period.
Finding a Trail Duster in pristine condition is quite the challenge nowadays, so enthusiasts who want a piece of Plymouth's short-lived SUV history need to look them up on the used car lot. Sadly, many of them are in rough shape, while others have been left to rot away in barns or junkyards.
Haven't you seen a Trail Duster yet? Well, here's a 1978 example being revived by YouTube's "Dylan McCool." This classic SUV was parked in a warehouse back in 1996, so it spent no fewer than 25 years off the road. Dylan actually bought the hauler in 2018 but didn't have the time to give it the attention it deserves until recently.
As you'd expect from a vehicle that hasn't been used for so many years, the Trail Duster was no longer running at the time of purchase. The once beautiful green and white two-tone paint show a lot of surface rust, but the body presents itself better than 25 years of storage would suggest.
The truck also comes with a matching green interior, which makes it pretty rare among Trail Dusters, plus a few high-end goodies like chrome trim and wood veneer. It's been used to store parts, and it has some rust on the floor, but it's completely useable with a clean-up.
After keeping it for around three years on a field, Dylan finally started working on this rare Plymouth. Getting it started was a bit of a hassle since the 318-cubic-inch (5.2-liter) V8 needed a few parts, but a ballast resistor from a 1973 Duster and an ignition module from a 1979 Dodge truck fixed the main issues.
The Trail Duster still needs a new fuel system and brakes that will actually stop it to safety, but it runs and drives, something it hasn't done in a whopping 25 years. And once it manages to move on its own, it also gets a much-deserved cleaning inside and out.
The process reveals a really nice interior and an exterior that could soldier on for a few more years, thanks to a cool patina. The good news is that Dylan not only plans to get this SUV back on the road, he also wants to take it off-roading. And plans on starting a YouTube series about the project.
Hit the play button below to see this cool and rare Plymouth come back to life and get the love it deserves.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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