The Dodge Warlock

It’s October and just a couple weeks shy of Halloween! Seeing that we have reached the spookiest time of the year, we celebrate this macabre month with a feature article about a truck with an appropriately devilish name, the Dodge Warlock. For those of you who have not sat through umpteen hours worth of Harry Potter movies, a warlock is a male witch or sorcerer.Shrouded in myth and the fog of the late-1970’s, some would say the Warlock never existed. While the truck is definitely on the rare side, they are around. The short wheelbase Dodge Warlock was produced between 1976 and 1979 as a part of the “Adult Toys” line of Dodge vehicles. Other “Adult Toys” included a Dodge Tradesman full-size van ready for customizing and special packages for the Ramcharger and Power Wagon. This entry into the Dodge line-up would make the Warlock one of the earlier domestic sport trucks designed more for people and not necessarily for cargo.

The Warlock was available as either a two or four wheel drive 115 inch wheelbase D100 or W100 1/2 ton truck. The sheetmetal and mechanicals were identical to any other available stepside Dodge truck of the era, however what set the Warlock apart was the appearance package. The Warlock offered buyers a choice of four colors, including Bright Red, Black Sunfire Metallic, Orange Metallic, and Medium Green Sunfire Metallic paint schemes. The most popular color choice for the wickedly named truck was the Black Sunfire Metallic followed by the metallic green. Accenting the metallic paint was gold pinstriping on the exterior and interior dash and door panels. The pinstriping continued onto the eight-spoke black-painted wheels. Additional appearance improvements were provided by oak sideboards and an oak-lined bed, much like the well-known Lil’ Red Express. Unlike the Lil’ Red Express, the Warlock did not have the chrome stacks, the exterior oak panels on the sides of the bed, nor the large
door graphics.

The Warlock was available with a number of engines, including the workhorse 225 CID slant-six, a 318 2bbl or 4bbl, the 360 4bbl, and ended with the 400. Warlock enthusiasts claim that swapping out the smaller engines for the powerhouse 440 is a relatively simple task when the original engine gives up the ghost. Power was moved from the engine to the rear wheels via either an automatic or manual transmission.

The final year of the truck was 1979, and by that time the Warlock had become to be known as the Warlock II. Even though the name had been updated, little changed from the previous model years. The Warlock continues to be a relatively rare truck, and it would not be unthinkable that more than a few were transformed into Lil’ Red Express trucks somewhere along the way.