Modern Classic: 1957-59 Dodge Sweptside D100

To qualify as "modern classics," we choose vehicles, which are comparatively affordable now and that we think will increase in value over time. These are cars or trucks many people would love to have: head-turners, trendsetters in their time, vehicles that people see that still make them smile, those that were definitive in their own right, stylish and fun to drive. Our focus is on collectibles at least 25 years old, so they can be registered and insured cheaply and aren't subject to annual inspections.


Tastes may vary, as may peoples' own definitions of "affordable." Our theoretical limit is $50,000 for a vehicle in good to excellent condition, which rules out many of the traditional exotics. This month's selection is the 1957-59 Dodge Sweptside D100.

History
In the mid-1950s, then as now, Dodge trucks were caught in the middle of the Ford vs. Chevrolet pickups war. Chevy's high-styled '55 Cameo Carrier (and GMC's Suburban) tried to personalize pickup trucks. Catching the drift, two years later Ford responded with both a flashy Styleside half-ton and the dual-purpose Ranchero pickup on a reinforced station wagon chassis. Fighting back, but on a budget, Dodge mated its "Forward Look" pickup cab with a finned, slab-sided load bed to create its contender, the Sweptside D100.


The Sweptside bowed in May 1957, a creation of Dodge's Special Equipment Group (SEG) under Joe Berr. He ran an in-house skunkworks that existed to modify trucks for custom fleet sales. SEG's bodymen took a rear bumper and a pair of rear fenders from a two-door station wagon and welded the fenders to the pickup box on a wraparound rear windshield, 116-inch wheelbase D100 Custom cab truck. They inverted a '56 Dodge sedan's chrome side-spear and trimmed the tailgate to fit. Unlike the Cameo, which used fiberglass rear panels, the Sweptside had finned steel rear fenders that its thrifty creators found by raiding Dodge parts bins.

Custom Custom
Custom-made chrome trim was added to the cab doors and front fenders to section off an area for then-popular two-toning. Chrome wheel covers and whitewalls were standard equipment. Remarkably, the cobbled-up truck looked pretty good and required very few new parts. All Sweptsides were finished off-line by SEG, so production figures, not available today, must have been small. Buyers could choose a 120-bhp, 230-cid flathead six with a three-speed column shift or a 204-bhp, 315-cid Power Dome hemi V-8 with a Load Flite push-button automatic or four-speed manual. Power steering and power brakes were optional, making this a very driveable hauler. Unlike Spartan Dodge trucks, plusher Sweptside interiors had twin two-speed wipers, a glove box lock, dual sun visors, door armrests and Saran and rayon seat covers. As each truck was virtually hand-built, often to order, some were equipped with conventional small rear windows. Those pointy rear fenders flare out ever so slightly, and the Sweptside's square tailgate is a bit incongruous between the tail fins, but the overall effect is pleasing in a period sort of way. At $2,000, they were cheap, but buyers failed to materialize in hoped-for numbers. It was probably little consolation to Dodge, but Cameos and Rancheros fared no better.