In the late 1970s, the performance and muscle car era was quickly coming to a close. While the concept still existed in theory and automakers continued to market the idea to consumers, the latest models suffered from a sad downward trend in horsepower, choked by new emissions equipment, with more of an emphasis on fuel efficiency than performance.

The team at Mopar, not wanting to lose the muscle car reputation they’d built in the early seventies, was one of the last hold outs. Their “Adult Toys” lineup featured impressive designs, and cool names that performance enthusiasts yearned for. Debuting in 1977, the lineup initially featured the Warlock, the Macho Power Wagon, the Ramcharger, and the Street Van. Joining the roster in 1978 was the Li’l Red Express.

Based on Dodge’s D150 Adventurer truck platform, the Li’l Red Express was a half-ton, two-wheel-drive, stepside muscle truck, and a potent one at that. With Dodge utilizing an already emissions-compliant Mopar V-8 as the base block, they were permitted to make small modifications to complete the fully dressed engine. Mopar powertrain engineer Tom Hoover did just that. Starting with the Chrysler 360 Police Interceptor V-8, it was upgraded with parts from the 1968 340-cubic-inch V-8 with four-barrel carburetor, including the camshaft and damper, “red stripe” valve springs, and standard valve retainers, along with an intake manifold from the 1978 Police 360 with a Thermo-Quad four-barrel carburetor, and a roller timing chain and sprockets, again, from the Police 360. A dual-snorkel air cleaner and a 2.5-inch dual semi-stack exhaust system rounded out the setup allowing the Li’l Red Express to not only breathe better but sound the business. Output was rated at 225 horsepower and 290 pounds-feet of torque. The engine was backed by a built up 727 automatic transmission.

Each Li’l Red Express was finished in red with gold accent stripes and decals. The truck bed featured real oak wood fastened to the bed by chrome bolts. During the Li'l Red Express truck’s two-year production window, 7,306 examples were produced. Impressively, the 1979 model was the fastest American production car that year.

This 1979 Dodge Li'l Red Express joined Sonny Schwartz’s Suzy Q Collection in April of 2014 and has covered just seven miles since acquisition. It is offered today having covered 49,098 actual miles from new at the time of cataloguing, confirmed by a title document on file. The truck is accompanied by owner’s manuals and a laminated options sticker which has faded with age.