Wicked Wednesday: Mid-Engine, Hemi-Powered, Dodge Rampage Pumps Out 650 HP
Orange 1984 Dodge Rampage was an efficient, front-wheel drive trucklet. Now it is a powerful, rear-wheel drive beast.
Often when someone is looking to modify a classic they will start with a well-known model. An old Challenger is a common choice. Then they will maybe drop a new engine in it and upgrade the suspension and be on their way. The car will be more powerful and handle better than it did when new. But the basic formula of the original car remains. And there is nothing wrong with that. Following that path has led to some truly entertaining cars. However, this 1984 Dodge Rampage that you see here is NOTHING like the original car. The engine, the engine placement, the driven wheels, and nearly everything else has been changed on this car. It is like converting chalk to chili sauce.
This week’s “Wicked Wednesday” is all about this 1984 Dodge Rampage. Mike Copeland is the CEO of Arrington Performance, and Diversified Creations. He is also the owner of this wonderful oddball of a car. He had it at the Holley MoParty 2021 and Holley recently posted a video all about it on their YouTube channel. Copeland always wanted to build a mid-engine car and when he saw the Rampage, he thought that would be the perfect platform. We are not sure we would have felt the same way after seeing a Rampage, but you can’t argue with the results.
Dodge Rampage
Do you remember the Dodge Rampage? If you said yes, congratulations because most people have forgotten it by now. In fact, most people forgot about it when it was new in 1984. The original engine was a 2.2L 4-cyclinder and was connected to a four-speed manual or three-speed automatic. Power was sent to the front wheels. The word power might be a bit of an overstatement as the engine could not even crank out 100 horsepower. All this hardware was packed into a compact car with a compact truck bed. It was a curious little thing meant to steal some sales from the Chevy El Camino.
Power Upgrade
With such an anemic stock engine the Rampage needed a major upgrade and it certainly got one. A 6.4L Hemi is now under the hood. Actually, scratch that, under the hood today is a fuel cell. This massive engine won’t fit in the tiny Rampage engine bay, so it now sits right behind the driver in the original truck bed. That’s right, you are looking at a mid-engine Rampage. And this powerplant cranks out 650 horsepower that now goes to the rear wheels. It has a custom Centerforce clutch and a 5-speed manual GM transaxle that has been adapted to work with the big Hemi.
Nice Body
A stock 1984 Dodge Rampage dose not look like this. All the body flares are hand made out of steel. The front valance is also crafted from steel, but the front splitter is carbon fiber. The car tips the scales at 3,000 pounds and 60 percent of that weight sits on the rear wheels. It also has a bright orange paint job. “It gets more attention than anything I ever built.” Says Copeland.
Inside
The interior of the Rampage is tastefully trimmed. And while this is obviously focused on performance this is not a stripped-out racecar. It has leather seats and dash and fully functional air conditioning. It also has a 1,000-watt Pioneer stereo system to help drown out the sound of that Hemi right behind the drivers head. Of course, when you hear this car roar to life and blast around an autocross course it is hard to image why anyone would want to listen to anything other than the sound of that engine.
Video
The video is not even three minutes long, but there is a lot of Hemi awesomeness stuffed into those three minutes. We love this build because it started with a forgotten and unloved car. And then everything about it was changed. It has been transformed into a head turning custom show car. That can also rip around a racetrack.
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