 1958 Dodge Sweptside
- Continued
By: James Mays
<BACK
TO PAGE ONE
When SEG showed off the resulting hybrid to selected dealers, they were ready to order. "Build it," they begged Dodge brass. "We can sell this beauty." And so the Sweptsides came into being. The first of the finned pickups rolled out of the SEG facility late in the 1957 sales season.
The MoPar work horses were pretty sharp lookers. Not sleek like Ford's
car-bodied Ranchero but when optioned with a hemi V-8, power steering and Loadflite pushbutton automatic transmission, a Dodge Sweptside pickup was as effortless to drive as any modern car.
Chrysler styling chief Virgil Exner wisely applied the corporation's sleek "Forward Look" to its trucks as well as passenger cars. Marketing coined the term Autodynamics to tie the division's car and truck lines together in the minds of consumers. This pitch was designed to convince Dodge truck buyers to sign on the dotted line for a Dodge automobile as well.
The redesigned '58 Sweptside got four headlights as dictated by styling trends. The attractive pickup had a full production year and was billed as "the handsomest truck on the road today." In January of '59, just months into its third season, the plug was pulled on the finned hauler. Sweptside was replaced by a new Dodge pickup truck called Sweptline.
 Ben's
1958 Dodge Sweptside sports the 315 CID wide-block V-8 engine with the pushbutton transmission. Since the shifter has no "Park" position, he keeps his handbrake in good working order. He did all the mechanical work and the body work himself, farming out only the interior. In fact, the upholstery is the only non original part of the vehicle, though the hockey stick design on the door panels is stock. The truck bed is now made of oak and once rusty box sides now gleam.
CTS
<BACK
TO PAGE ONE - ARTICLES SECTION HOME>
|
