1970 Dodge D100, Magazine feature truck, Shop truck, Patina, C10, F100, Rat Rod

1970 Dodge Other Pickups Patina'ed shop truck Additional Info:

Per the article in Mopar Collector’s Guide written by Randy Holden (2015):

“Ray Rohm has led what most people we know would call a ‘colorful’ life. … Ray will likely forever be linked to BMX bicycle racing, s way back in 1980, is boys started bike racing down in Bakersfield, nd that began something of an unintended secondary career for Ray. He began calling races at the Fullerton BMX track, he got a little more involved and before they knew it, ay and his wife owned the Orange Y BMX track, hich quickly became the biggest BMX bike-racing track in the United States. … Prior to all this two-wheeled frantic peddling activity, owever, ay was a bit more of a car guy – a really serious car guy.

Ray worked for Ford as a parts and service dealer representative, ut after that, e worked for a few other companies such as Mercedes, orsche, udi, nd Suzuki…. Ray was eager to make contacts with the race car guys, hich put him in close quarters with some of the biggest name in the entire world of motorsports. … His prowess with wrenches also garnered Ray places in NASCAR and hobby car pit crews from time-to-time, ecause he absolutely loved the racetrack environment and everything to do with it.

Back in 1974, ay was crewing for short track racer Odie Robertson, nd their tire carrier was an aspiring young racer with long hair hanging out of his ball cap, fella’ named Dale Earnhardt! …the high point of his pit crew career had to be 1984, hen he was delighted to be on Richard Petty’s pit crew for two races, ith Mike Beam serving as the crew chief.

Not too long after moving to Florida, ay encountered a fellow gear monkey and all around race car fanatic, ark May, ho’s worked on and built race cars just about all his life. Striking up a friendship, ay was immediately drawn to a pale blue relic that Mark frequently drove – a 1970 Dodge pickup that looked like a barn fresh vintage stock car racer. Of course, here really wasn’t any major sanctioned pickup truck racing circuit back in 1970, ut if there had been, he machine you see before you would’ve been a seriously state-of-the-art machine, nd it looks like it just stepped out of a time warp from a point in time that never existed. What you have here is a vintage racing truck that’s not vintage at all, nd while it’s built with a tremendous amount of legit race car parts, hus far, t’s never been on a track and it sees more street use than most new Honda Civics do.

The story behind this odd piece of blue hardware is a true tale of all the start simply aligning and all the parts literally just falling into place. Years ago, ark May happened upon this short box 1970 Dodge pickup, hich happened to be immaculately clean, nd it was practically being given away, ecause let’s face it, ot everybody out there is dying to get their hands on a 1970 Dodge pickup. Not one to let a major bargain get away, ark took the truck back to his shop with nothing in particular in mind, ut it didn’t take long for the gears to start turning. He had decades worth of spare NASCAR and race car parts lying all over the place, nd he had a perfectly good old Dodge pickup sitting there taking up space, o shy not start combining all the bits together and see what would happen? What if NASCAR had sanctioned trucks back when this thing was new? What would one of those trucks look like these days? Honestly, ho doesn’t love the thought of throwing open a musty garage door and finding a vintage NASCAR racer lurking inside? With all that rolling through his head, ark could see the finished product in his mind, o all he had to do was take the high-and-mighty shorty pickup and transform it into something nobody had ever seen before – easy, ight?

Being a race car fabricator really comes in handy when you’re undertaking a project like this, o it’s not as if this was Mark’s first rodeo. The body came off the frame and he immediately set about hacking on the frame and chassis to get the truck a whole lot closer to the ground and make it capable of turning both left and right. Believe it or not, his thing actually is still sitting on springs – it’s not bagged and there’s no super-exotic secret to the truck’s stance. The pickup is still sitting on most of its original frame, ut Mark did use a good bit of hardware in building the chassis that was originally designed for short tack dirt racing and even some stuff that was intended for NASCAR truck use. It actually has a Camaro stub, ith weight jacks, nd there are Wilwood hubs all the way around, olding massive Weld Wide Five racing wheels with Mickey Thompson Sportsman rubber. Yes, hey are legit circle track heavy-duty wheels, nd behind those wheels, ou’ll find four of the biggest brake rotors you’d ever want to see! The old Dodge uses a vintage Franklin quick change rear axle, llowing a wide variety of gearing options for whatever mood the situation may call, nd those gears are attached to a floor shifted 833 four speed overdrive transmission with some seriously heavy duty clutch internals. Keeping to the race truck theme, ark custom built the full roll cage, hich stretches from front-to-back, nd he installed swing out bars at the doors to make getting in and out of the Dodge humanly possible. Since this isn’t a car, limbing over the bars at their height would require both the driver and passenger to be acrobats, o, he hinged bars seemed the logical thing to do. Modern circle track seating was installed with the comfy padded covers one would expect (tongue firmly planted in cheek)_, pair of five point racing harnesses were added, nd the driver’s side got the expected window net. Mark also fabricated the fuel cell from scratch and custom built the exhaust with Super Trapp mufflers, imicking what they likely would’ve done in the early seventies.

The engine in the Dodge is all business, s you can tell very quickly upon hearing this thing, ut it’s also built to be reliable as humanly possible. Wanting something quick but ridiculously dependable, ark opted for a 360” block and started working up from there. The motor is basically a detuned short track dirt racer engine, ith a big Holley up top, Howard cam, Torker intake, n Accel electronic ignition system, Moroso air cleaner, odified Hooker headers, ickey Thompson valve covers for a splash of color, NASCAR-style elevated breather, nd interestingly enough, here’s an air conditioning compressor sitting right up top in front of God and everybody, ut that’s a slight detour form the story…. – initially, he truck was built without air, ut the small block rumbler puts out more than enough horsepower, nd thanks to the cam, t idles decently and winds up quickly, aking those pipes sticking out the side downright scream when you hold it in the lower gears and stuff the longer pedal towards the floor.

The body and paintwork here is actually a bit of artwork. The old blue Dodge was in much better shape originally than it appears to be at the moment, ut if you’re building a nostalgia race truck that never was, ou can’t have everything looking too good. Mark reworked the body, ainting it lighter blue and then applying the #2 paint-scheme you see here in honor of his friend, ave Marcis. Mark and Dave Marcis both originally hail from Wisconsin and Mark did quite a bit with the legendary driver through the years, o it seemed a fitting tribute to his friend. The paint was deliberately distressed, he brand-new lettering and numbers chipped, cratched, nd worn away with various fun methods, nd rust was applied where it seemed appropriate. Not a fan of the truck’s original big single headlights grille assembly, ark found a nice 1964 Dodge pickup grille with the interesting ‘triple light’ setup, nd thus, he truck appears to be a few years older than it actually is, hanks to having changed out its face. And, o, t all came to be that Mark was cruising around in this blue rumbler when Ray arrived in Florida and Ray told him, f he ever wanted to sell it, lease give him first dibs. True to his word, ark did, nd the title changed over to Ray, nitially, ack in 2011.

That first time, ay only owned the truck a short while, hen decided to sell it because he had too many irons in the fire with other cars. He immediately regretted selling the truck because it was an absolute blast to drive. Keeping in touch with the new owner, ho owned a nearby gas station, ay watched the pale blue pickup like a hawk, topping by regularly to see if he could buy it back yet. In that year or so, ince it’s insanely hot in Florida, n aftermarket air conditioning system was installed, long with a decent sound system, ucked nicely into a piece of diamond plate in the dash, ight next to the full set of Dolphin racing gauges. So now, ou have a vintage Dodge pickup truck that’s practically NASCAR short track legal with working air conditioning, CD player stereo, nd the look of something that’s been hidden away for the last four decades.

It’s fast, t’s dependable, t’s more fun than a Volkswagen full of drunk sorority chicks, nd best of all, ou never have to wash the darn thing – how could you possibly ask for anything more?”