1957 Dodge D100 Sweptside ½-ton Pickup

1957 Dodge D100 Sweptside ½-ton Pickup

Resonating its Chrysler lineage with fins borrowed from the Dodge Station Wagon, the Sweptside has a uniquely '50s image unlike most other trucks. Largely a luxury pickup for its day, few were sold and only a handful survive today, a rarity double whammy that makes them hugely desirable to collectors. The result of Joe Berr, manager of Dodge's Special Equipment Group, an in-house custom shop assembled to build custom work trucks for commercial clients, the Sweptside was an attempt to spruce up Dodge's Truck design and attract customers away from Ford and extremely popular Chevrolet, something Dodge had been working hard to accomplish for a number of years.

In 1955, Chevrolet had lobbed a hand grenade into the American pickup truck market with its Cameo Carrier model, the forefather of today's "lifestyle" trucks. Ford responded in 1957 with its restyled third-generation F-series pickups featuring FlareSide and StyleSide beds and the half-car/half-truck Ranchero. Where did that leave Dodge?

Finished in a striking Bermuda Coral and Glacier White combination, this truck's paint and trim are in overall very good condition. Complementing the wraparound windshield is a large, wraparound rear window. The trucks featured Frenched or "hooded" headlights to evoke a sense of motion even while stationary, and tailfins courtesy of Dodge's two-door station wagon model, all astride a 116-inch wheelbase. The Sweptside truck bed is identical to the regular D100 beds except for four more holes on the sidewalls for additional bolts to fasten the tailfins to the bed walls. This truck's bodywork is very original.

The engine bay is extremely tidy, the chrome bumpers are in very good order and the truck's metal bed is in very good condition. The rear-hinged hood opens to either 45º for typical servicing or 90º for full accessibility. This truck wears bias-ply, wide whitewall tires at all four corners, mounted on steel wheels and topped by deluxe factory wheel covers. The tires are in good, original condition while the wheel covers are in very good overall shape.

Under the hood is Dodge's 230 CID Flathead inline six-cylinder engine, mated to a three-speed manual transmission and either a 4.1:1 or 3.73:1 rear end.

Inside, the truck's "Pilot House" Custom cab is in overall great condition. The bench seat is in very good order and upholstered in a Houndstooth pattern with white vinyl sides on the back and lower cushions. A black section of carpet is in similar condition, while a black headliner is above the driver. A three-spoke, black steering wheel faces the driver, who gets in to see a white, metal instrument panel with a full array of gauges but the speedometer/odometer, fuel gauge and horn are inoperable. The dash and inner door panels are all in very good order. The glovebox was moved to the center of the dashboard to give the driver a shorter reach while he could turn a knob on the end of a handle to adjust the handbrake.

Joe Berr, Dodge Truck's special equipment sales manager, is credited with creating the Sweptside. Reportedly, he visited a Dodge car plant and borrowed a pair of rear fenders from a two-door Dodge station wagon. He had them welded to a long-wheelbase 1957 Dodge Custom Cab half-ton pickup, bolted on a station wagon rear bumper, cut the tailgate to fit the fenders and made chrome trim moldings to continue the styling on the truck's front fenders. Berr had final touches added - two-tone paint, deluxe wheel covers and wide whitewall tires - and Dodge had its Cameo Carrier competition. One owner of a 1959 Sweptside believes there are fewer than 75 1957 Sweptsides remaining today.

Dodge used a new naming system in 1957. D100s were conventional, two-wheel-drive models while W equaled four-wheel-drive units. The entire front clip was redone, as were the hood and front bumper. Other minor innovations included pull-type door handles, safety door latches, locks on both doors, adjustable tilting seat back and chrome grille bars.

If you are a classic truck collector and looking for something less common than a late 50s Chevy or Ford half-ton truck, you should do yourself a favor and visit MotoeXotica Classic Cars to review this beautiful, very limited production truck.

Competition to this Sweptside in 1957 were Chevrolet's Cameo Carrier, Ford's F-150 Styleside and GMC's Suburban Carrier.

VIN: K6D100 82429057

This truck is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows 89,573 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a clean and clear, actual mileage California title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!!

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