Midnight Express

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jos51700

jos51700

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Seeing the diecasts for sale in another thread brought a question I've had for a long time.

Was the Midnight Express truck a f'real Chrysler offering, or just a 'tribute' kinda thing someone did? I've never been able to see one in person or find much info on the web, but I've seen several different pictures. Some say they're legit, some say they had 440's, some say they were legit with only 318's, etc, but I never see them in the Mopar books, even though they almost always include 'Lil reds.

What sayeth the hive? Pics of factory sales literature is, to me, the end-all proof of existence of this non-Ford Bigfoot.
 
Good question! Dealer installed you think??

'78 Midnite Express Truck

Dealers used to customize vans like mad and call 'em their own back in the '70's so anything is possible.
 
talked to a owner of one years ago.. like that other thread sasy it seems it was a dealer package since it was so easy for them to get the wood and exhaust for them and the decals were probably pretty easy to have made at the time. it seems the easiest way would have been to start with a warlock. could get any engine with that...

midnight-4-jpg.jpg
 
Funny thing about a dealer option.... the midnight trucks are earlier ('77) than little reds ('78-9), that I've seen. So they couldn't be building them from parts bins for trucks that hadn't been produced yet?
 
Ever heard of a Black Beauty?
Looks like a Midnight Express only no stacks and no decals on the outside.
The interior was pinstriped on the doors and dash. Mine had the buckets with the buddy seat and was a 318 if I remember correctly with the granny 1st gear truck 4 speed.
It came from the factory with turbine wheels.
I sold it to a guy in Kansas or Okla.

Might have been a 360 with a 2bbl.
 
jos51700 said:
Funny thing about a dealer option.... the midnight trucks are earlier ('77) than little reds ('78-9), that I've seen. So they couldn't be building them from parts bins for trucks that hadn't been produced yet?
Click to expand...

were those real midnight expresses or just some built by the owner. problem these days is ya just don't know... the ones i've seen were 78 and 79 trucks..
 
Jadaharabi said:
Ever heard of a Black Beauty?
Looks like a Midnight Express only no stacks and no decals on the outside.
The interior was pinstriped on the doors and dash. Mine had the buckets with the buddy seat and was a 318 if I remember correctly with the granny 1st gear truck 4 speed.
It came from the factory with turbine wheels.
I sold it to a guy in Kansas or Okla.

Might have been a 360 with a 2bbl.
Click to expand...

sounds a lot like a warlock without the exterior stripe kit.
 
Good question! I've recently heard from a local dodge truck collector it was a prototype of between 38 and 44 trucks produced during the production of the Warlock shortly before the Little Red Express came out. I also know someone else that has one that is a four wheel drive that is little more than a rusty parts pile. But I still have yet to see any reference of it in the actual Dodge Adult Toy advertisements I've found online, so I'm inclined to believe parts were released to the dealer for installation on other step side pickups before production of the LRE truck.
 
Midnight Express trucks were a real factory option. Like the little Red and the Warlock. They were the real deal. Right from Chrysler.
 
If you feel like flipping thru this thread, this is Moparfest 2012. You have to click on links for pics for the pics to show up.
Start Aug 19 2012.
I'm sure there are pics of Midnite Express in there. It was inside the arena car corral.
Moparfest 2012
 
Garrett Ellison said:
Good question! I've recently heard from a local dodge truck collector it was a prototype of between 38 and 44 trucks produced during the production of the Warlock shortly before the Little Red Express came out. I also know someone else that has one that is a four wheel drive that is little more than a rusty parts pile. But I still have yet to see any reference of it in the actual Dodge Adult Toy advertisements I've found online, so I'm inclined to believe parts were released to the dealer for installation on other step side pickups before production of the LRE truck.
Click to expand...

As to finding an ad for them you may or may not.
I've been trying to find a Spirit of 76 Dodge Dart ad for years. Found ads for the trucks but not the cars.
The decals are listed in the parts manuals but no ads.
 
You could get a Warlock with a 440, but the LRE only came with 360... ?
 
Supposedly there are Plymouth lil reds with factory 440's, in Canada, but I'm not sure how long Plymouth trucks were actually available in Canada. I've been looking for a Plymouth tailgate forever.
 
jos51700 said:
Supposedly there are Plymouth lil reds with factory 440's, in Canada, but I'm not sure how long Plymouth trucks were actually available in Canada. I've been looking for a Plymouth tailgate forever.
Click to expand...

Do you have a Plymouth pickup?
 
when I was in high school there was a midnite express around my area in the early 80's but it was smashed shortly after . im sure there was a big block 400 or 440 in it but that was a long time ago .
 
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