Spiffing things up for just $87.
While $87 may not seem like much, it went a long way back in 1978. Take this ad for the Dodge D100 pickup truck. The truck depicted boasts a base price just over $4000, and given its humble entry-level nature, looks pretty spiffy, all things consider.
But there are two things that really give this basic Dodge a bit of flair. First, there’s the yellow paint job, and second, there’s the white-sidewall tires and bright wheel covers. And for a truck that is, at $4147, entirely bereft of any other options or features, it looks pretty good. Now, we don’t know if the striped seat upholstery comes standard as well, but we like it.
But it’s the white-wall tires and “deluxe” hub caps that really elevate the look of this budget-friendly workhorse, and per the small text in the ad, they contribute $87 to the bottom line. We’d say the tires and wheel covers are money well spent. This is a nice-looking truck.
The ad doesn’t go into much detail about the truck technically, but we can be sure that this bottom-line Dodge is powered by Chrysler’s ubiquitous Slant Six engine mated to a 3-speed manual transmission.
What this truck didn’t come with was air conditioning, a dome light, or radio—of course such luxuries were available, for a price. And about that price: $4147 is about $16,000 in 2025 dollars, which feels like an incredible bargain to us. The least expensive new Ram pickup now lists for just over $40,000, but is laden with technology and equipment not even available in 1978. Still, 40 large feels like a lot.
Speaking of color, we’re a little confused by the Fire-department stuff in this ad. The truck is white, and the guy’s jackets are gray. Where’s the red? Only the dog seems to be of appropriate livery.
While our primary takeaway from this ad is that pickup trucks have gotten expensive, we’re also impressed by how far $87 used to go. To read more Favorite Car Ads, click here.
Listen to the Car Stuff Podcast
1978 Dodge D100 Pictures
Click below for enlarged images
