To start the transformation from a stock Dodge Ram 1500 into a Mr. Norm’s Red Xpress Truck requires $2,799. For that kind of scratch, you get the Red Xpress Truck graphics, custom Katzkin leather seat covers and embroidered carpet mats, a windshield banner, red powder coated custom disc brake caliper covers, dash and core support serial number badges and listing in The Original Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge Registry.
“We haven’t put a lot of 30-year-old stuff on the Red Xpress,” said Larry Weiner of Performance West Group. “When we started this project with Mr. Norm, we looked at it and tried to think about how Chrysler would have done a L’il Red Truck today. This is a 21st Century pickup.”
The RXT we drove included goodies like a Mopar Ram R/T dual inlet hood, Dodge Viper-spec Scorpion Zero P305/40 R22 tires sitting on custom wheels that are unique to the Xpress, an Eibach spring kit that meets Mopar specs and lowers the Ram by two inches up front and by three in the back, a new rear differential cover that has a larger oil capacity and the all-important cat back exhaust kit with dual chrome pipes that punched through the cargo box directly behind the B-pillar.
As intimidating as the RXT looks with its big rig nose and silver stacks, there’s one thing Weiner wishes they could have done with the Red Xpress:
“We really wanted to mount the stacks on the sides of the cargo box but it’s too expensive,” said Weiner. “If Chrysler still offered a stepside bed, we’d have done it. We looked at fabricating customer boxes but the price was way too high. They would have cost close to $10,000 to make them look right and to engineer the necessary safety modifications that are required today. If you look at the L’il Red Truck, the fuel cap sticks right outside the box. That wouldn’t work today.”
Cost and complexity were also issues when trying to find a metal works company to replicate the heat baffling that surrounded the LRT’s pipes. It’s not easy to recreate at a reasonable price because of the custom fabrication involved for such a limited production run.
The exhaust is run cleanly through the bed’s load floor, and one benefit of sticking with the Ram 1500’s stock fleetside box is that it can haul more cargo in back than the D150 Utiline step-sider will. Of course, you’re going to want to keep things well away from the pipes. They get hot.
It’s important to point out that there are no performance tweaks to the engine, powertrain or drive components, so there’s nothing that would invalidate the warranty on the truck or violate tough federal and state emissions laws. Today, not even the aftermarket can get around clean-air rules.
The Red Xpress Truck comes standard with the Ram’s 390-horsepower, 407-lbs.-ft. of torque 5.7-liter Hemi V-8. It’s an awesome powertrain for a stock truck that’s marginally hobbled by its five-speed transmission (relative to competitors that now have six gears). It’s fast, too. Merging onto the freeway and passing traffic wasn’t a problem in this truck and it has an awesome exhaust note that rumbles through the cab. Hit the brakes and the truck instantly sheds speeds with gobs more stability and confidence than the ’79 rig.
Weiner wishes they could have offered two optional engines -- a 6.1-liter SRT-8 Hemi V-8 crate motor, rated at approximately 450 hp, or Mr. Norm's signature 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Gen III Hemi V-8, based on the 6.1-liter, rated at approximately 600 horsepower – but the economy has a put a damper on those plans.
“We can do a lot with the 5.7-liter Hemi truck and keep the premium as low as possible,” Weiner said.
Mr. Norm and PWG still have a few more tricks that they are planning to add to the RXT in the near future, including a real wood floor. The original LRT featured wooden planks that bolted into the cargo box that could be easily replaced when they wore out. Weiner hopes to offer a similar looking floor that could be installed over the bottom over the cargo box without cutting sheetmetal. There are no plans though to add wood to the Ram’s exterior body panels. That’s a detail that will remain unique to the L’il Red Truck.
For some of our photography, we drove the two red trucks together on the road in Southern California, where the car culture has always embraced custom vehicles. The sight of these two rigs rolling down the highway with vertical stacks was enough to catch the attention of plenty of drivers and -- for a minute – let them forget today’s economic problems and concerns and live in the moment. And wasn’t that the point of the L’il Red Truck in the first place?
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