Jalopnik: Rampage

We See One Problem With Your Getaway Vehicle, Mr. Rampage

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Ultimate Fighting Championship Champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson lived up to his nickname in Orange County Tuesday when he took his camouflage-covered Ford F-250 on a wild Grand Theft Auto-type run through the city, until being pulled over and arrested at gunpoint by local police. How'd they find Jackson? There's a life-sized photo of him on the side of his getaway truck. That, and the UFC champ twice drove on the sidewalk, swerved across lanes and ran through several red lights. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of drug or alcohol usage. Maybe they should test him for bull steroids. [Deadspin, Photo Credit: TMZ]

What Every Rampage Needs: Sexy Chick In Space!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT

We thought we'd seen every possible accessory a Dodge Rampage could possibly need, but we were wrong. Oh, so very wrong. TheEastBayKid found this 1984 Dodge Rampage with Sub Lime paint and a custom-etched mural entitled Sexy Chick In Space on the rear glass. Yes! This is right on so many levels that all I can do is express my disappointment that we've already removed the rear glass from our race car and thus have no canvas suitable for this Mr. Guise's etching skills.[Cardomain]

What's Your Favorite Example of Caminoization?

Murilee Martin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:30:00 EDT

DAFamino. Ladamino. Continentalero. Cubepage. For years now, we've had a ~~disturbing obsession~~ healthy fascination for cars with truck beds, be they factory models or duct-tape-and-Pabst backyard jobs. So, in honor of the newly-revealed Pontiac G8 El Camino and today's El Camino craziness, we've gone and put together a poll with most of the truckcars we've seen here so far, in chronological order and preserving the original names as posted (even when they may conflict with our not-very-rigidly-enforced naming convention). We wanted to let you choose from every single one, but the hamsters that run our servers started behaving rather strangely once the poll got past 100 choices. Make the jump, vote away!

[s133.photobucket.com] You guys have forgotten ...

Froggmann — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:55:12 EDT

[s133.photobucket.com]

You guys have forgotten one lost car/truck the Dodge Rampage. This little guy was parked outside of my work last week. I tried to get more pics but traffic wasn't coperating. By the time lunch came around the little Rampage had left.

What's especially amusing is the carbon fiber hood scoop and the Racing stripe seat covers.

What Should We Call A Charger Pickup?

Murilee Martin — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:30:00 EST

Tipster Phillip, who has already obtained a PCH Tipster T-shirt for letting us know about the Playboy Jimmy, just keeps the tips coming with these shots of an early Dodge Charger-with-truck-bed he got at the 2007 Houston Autorama. The question is, what do we call this car? Dodge made a front-driver cartruck called the Rampage, so perhaps "Chargepage" is the best choice. Or perhaps the Ford and GM names are more appropriate for a 60s rear-driver. What say you, readers? Make the jump for more photos and a poll!

Denver Deadhead Rampage!

Murilee Martin — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:30:00 EDT

Remember the Dodge Rampage? Yes, for a while in the mid-80s you could get a factory-built Dodge Omniamino, but these days they're as rare as pastel leg warmers and cellphones that weigh 20 pounds. Fortunately, loyal Denver-based reader Kitt had camera at the ready when she spotted this fine example of the Little Front-Drive Pickup That Could (Not Sell).

The owner of this truckcar has given it his or her own special style, with a curious mix of Grateful Dead, safety-stripe, and general skullish themes.

It's nice to see Dead-related stuff on a vehicle other than a faded Subaru or beater Tercel. This Rampage gets bonus points for not having a single one of those irritating "dancing bear" images anywhere on it. Just the Steal Your Face skulls for this Mopar!

It's got the marker lights. It's got the roof-mounted spotlight. It's got the air horns. A little more of this stuff and we might be seeing the world's first Dekotoramino!

The owner wants everyone to know this is an '84 model, not one of those boring '82s or '83s. Duly noted.

Hmmm... what do these skulls represent? Kills? That seems somehow... un-Deadhead-like. Maybe the owner just likes skulls.

S3 Driver Freaks Out, Goes on Rampage at Audi Gathering

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:11:51 EDT

DATELINE — Ocean City, Maryland. The apparent owner of a rare Audi S3 went batshit at the H20 gathering here, thrashing his Mexican-entry import on a nearby dirt track, before veering off the track, hitting a vendor's trailer and sideswiping a Jetta. He was finally cold-busted by Maryland state troopers after he reportedly blew a tire and hit an embankment. VW Vortex says the guy had come up from Texas and had been trying to sell his S3, which is possibly the only one in the US. No word on the car's registration status, considering it's a non-US model. But we do know this guy's going to regret his antics when he tries to find replacement parts. That is, if the S3 doesn't end up impounded. NOTE: video not safe for work, unless your boss thinks the f-bomb is sexy. [VW Vortex

Jalopnik Gets Massively Mopar At The 2007 Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association Auto Show

Ray Wert — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EDT

We took a moment out of our ~~lazy~~ busy weekend schedule to head on up to Auburn Hills and the ~~Daimler~~Chrysler Tech Center for the annual auto show for the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association (CEMA). Although they've been doing it for 18 years, this is only the second time we've been lucky enough to attend an event all about featuring the best and brightest of Chrysler employee-owned classic and not-so-classic cars. There's no requirement of ownership of Mopar muscle for membership, there's obviously more of that on display at the show than any other brand of Motown motorabilia. For instance, we found these twin 1974 Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams sitting amidst the 340 or so vehicles on display at the mainly Mopar event. With one dressed up in admiralty blue and the other colored buccaneer red, these Super Duty-powered screaming chickens drew respectful nods from even the most die-hard Chrysler employees.

But it's a Chrysler-show, so let's show the Mopar magic. As you'd expect, there were Dodge Chargers aplenty — in all of its many variants. Mix that up with every classic Challenger and Super Bee — but whatevs, you'll find that anywhere. Nah, we've seen that metal so often 'round these parts it just doesn't do it for us so much anymore. Instead, we were excited to see the following historical Mopar magic from way back in the '80's:

1983 Dodge "California" Shelby Rampage

How could we not be madly in love with this L-platform El-Cam wannabe? Although it was first built starting in '82, it was the last year of this Omni-based Scamp-y subcompact pickup where there's some serious questions — did Shelby build a Rampage? We've heard that the '84 model year, there was a California-only package built, named obviously enough, the "California" package. That package included side skirts, a front airdam like the Shelby Charger, performance exhaust system, aluminum 15" wheels from the Charger, cruise control, center armrest and a 5-speed tranny with the Shelby Charger's gear ratio. No go-fast engine installed, no suspension changes, only a Shelby Charger-like look. But man, what a look it gave the Rampage. We'll take two.

1987 Shelby GLHS

Shelby used the Omni as the base body for the GLHS up until 1987 when he shifted over to the Charger for this limited edition turbo torque machine. Although the Charger and Omni were based on the same L-body platform, apparently the body appearance was more to Carroll Shelby's liking. Thus, the limited-edition 1987 Shelby GLHS had that more Charger-like low-to-the-floor look than the previous model. But, the look was the only difference in this only-comes-in-black model as it shared the same 2.2-liter "Turbo 2" engine as the prior year.

1989 Dodge Dakota Convertible

Because everyone needs a drop-top pickup. Need we say more?

But that's not all we saw — feel free to take a look-see through our gallery of Mopar madness from this past weekend and enjoy the Chrysler that was, and maybe even hope for a future Chrysler that's got the muscle to build some automotive hotness once again. – Ray Wert

Trucker Amok!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:15:33 EST

Erik Dubach, a diesel jockey from Mount Vernon, Illinois, felt that he'd just had enough. And he knew the source of his troubles: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Yes, that fetid cesspool of sin and corruption needed to be messed up, and with a couple grams of rocket fuel up his nose and some grinding of gears in his 18-wheeler, Mr. Dubach set out to accomplish his goal, smashing into a grand total of 23 cars plus assorted buildings, fences, and signs. – Murilee Martin

Meth fuels trucker's rage, deputies say [KRQE News]

Super-Rare Shelby: The Rampage!

Davey G. Johnson — Tue, 16 May 2006 23:09:07 EDT

We simply require one of these. Only 218 were built, and they didn't come with the full-boat Shelby Charger/GLHS setup. But these have to be some of the rarest Shelbys ever. Our half-birthday's in less than a month. Somebody get on this.

The 1984 Dodge California Shelby Rampage [Allpar]

Chicago Premiere: Dodge Rampage Concept Pickup

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:32:21 EST

Dodge rolled out a Hemi-powered truck concept this morning — the Rampage — that finds its closest analog in the Honda Ridgeline. It's a surprising direction, considering Ridgie's slow uptake in the truck market. Maybe Dodge is planning to steal Honda's not-quite thunder by doing a better unit-body pickup in coming years.

Dodge design chief Trevor Creed demonstrates the Rampage's, er, Rampageocity.