91 was the first year of the v8 in the dakota. I had one. The following year (92) they updated the engine to the magnum engine. The reason I know this is because I needed to replace the belt tensioner and could not find one. Not from dodge, aftermaket, nowhere. Reason being they changed the tensioner when they updated to the magnum & 91 was the only year they made that specific tensioner. Just donated the truck away a couple of weeks ago with 229,000 miles on it. The truck was still running but had no 2nd gear (for the second time in the trucks life) & went through brake pads like crazy.