My mom, Kim Brooks was the owner who restored these trucks. I learned to drive in the Top Hand as a kid. @tophandbaroness restored them at 67 years old. She is one of the greats. Did almost all the work herself. Walk down memory lane. We called them Mustard and Ketchup:)
Hello there. I spoke to your mom yesterday about these. Learned a whole lot that I wish I would have known before hand because they are 100 times more amazing, knowing what I know now about them. Also talked to Sam who helped with the restoration and finding the trail duster. By the way, your mother sounds amazing. It was a joy speaking to her. She said she may make a trip out here just to be reunited with them and maybe turn a wrench or two in my shop. lol.
This needs to be added to this story in a part 2 video, please get her in, that would be amazing to see. And hear more about this cool woman! @whiskeysaldana2699
@@jonnyonwheels Well bruther! Hogan will be recorded making a sex tape with his friends wife without his knowledge and utter racist remarks on said tape losing his job when it went public, get most of my wealth taken by my wife in a divorce where she was having sex with his sons friend then sue the company responsible making the tape public for many millions of dollars recovering a ton of wealth and going back to work for the wwe after a brief hiatus. Un real
The roof on all 1974-1980 Trail Dusters came off at the windshield. In 1981, it became a fixed roof. The first few Trail Dusters and Ramchargers in 1974 had the door frame cut off the door and made part of the roof. The change was made around June of 1974.
Those half door Ramchargers were a brief sexy California kind. Chuck Norris got a Ramcharger because it's the low end of the 4x4 suv market and lots of people had those blown out 4x4s in the 1970s up north. Most were sold in salt territory and the real heritage is snow and salt, not desert where the surviving examples were. Ramchargers got thrown away as the worst era of Penta history was going on, they were junk in every way compared to a Blazer and not in the same universe as any Ford truck of the 1970s. Ford just didn't get as bad as the other 2 in the 70s. Ramchargers were tah-rash. Even the early love of them because of Norris before the internet jokes, were themselves jokes. I always loved them but all of us that loved them figured they were for the slow kids from shop class to mess with. They were, he abused and threw them away, and now these things of all models are rare. Even restoring them these days will result in a higher quality product. When you think of 'Malaise Era' at least, Ramchargers are pretty close to the crummy top.
My friends and I spent entire summers traveling in the backs of pickups everywhere our folks went. It was an Awesome time to be alive. Cruising Colorado and New Mexico's mountain roads and trails.😊❤
My mom is in fact the one who restored these, and she really is amazing! I used to drive the truck to high school and everyone knew Mac and Cheese. Fun to see them getting the attention from people that appreciate the hard work she put into them. Lots of memories.
I bought a 1974 Trail Duster Sport in 1974. I kept it until 1984. I miss that truck. I added the side steps and bumper protector from Hickey Enterprises along with the HE steering wheel. The roof rack and spare tire rack on the Top Hand were also from Hickey. That was a great company to get after market parts from.
I had a '78 Ramcharger I bought totaled , bent frame , etc ! Found a '74 trail duster frame , installed 3/4 ton '73 Dodge front and rear axles , for strength and lock-out hubs , installed a 440 with original truck mounts , 100 amp alternator , already had original air conditioning , am/fm cassette/CB , wood grain accent interior and rollbar , pretty much all options except power windows , turned out great , sold it to a friend in Canada and he installed a 12 valve Cummins in it , and I do believe it's on the east coast now !!!
I swear I saw one of those Trail Dusters in Columbus Ohio in 79 or 80, maybe it was this one, another one or a clone. The one I saw looked exactly like this and I have never forgotten it. Really cool looking. Who knows just saying what I saw.
We had a 1978 Plymouth Trail Duster sport !! It was like a rust gold and had 4x4 with stripes going down each side and also the 4x4 stripe on the tailgate!! My dad special ordered in Jan 78 and got it June 78 !! It was super cool !! And..... It was convertible!! That's what the Plymouth Trailduster had over the Dodge Ram Charger !! You coud take the top off the Duster in about 5mins with 2 ppl!!
AWESOME!! I have always loved these when younger. The Plymouth Truck is sometimes a set back and let someone think a second. But to make em think longer say Mercury Truck. Just more rare. I would love these , then get me Lone Wolfs , Norris Ramcharger lol.
@@CarsShopsAndCollections nothing beats those big three American 70s and 80s graphics on the trucks, especially Mopar stuff. Don’t get me wrong GM has some awesome ones too.
I have a 78 Trail Duster Top Hand right now. I have seen several Trail Duster Top Hand editions over the years. I think I have seen as many Trail Duster Top Hands as Ramcharger Top Hands. This particular Trail Duster may be the original Top Hand prototype. The Ramcharger and Trail Duster had fully removable roofs from 74 - 80. 81 started with a solid roof from front to back. Trail Dusters and Ramchargers never had a partial roof like the Blazer. 81 was the last year for the Trail Duster. My understanding is that you went to a dealer and picked out your truck or SUV and then used an order form to order the specific Top Hand options you wanted from the Hickey. I have seen these order forms. The parts were ordered from Hickey and then installed by the selling dealer. I have also never seen any hard numbers on production. I have read maybe 300. That could have been 100 trucks, 100 Ramchargers and 100 Trail Dusters. I have also read or heard 200ish also.
These are both the very first number ones built in 1977 prototypes. Built at Hickey Enterprises. After that it was a dealer option. There was no other ones built at Hickey. (except for the missing third one.)
@CarsShopsAndCollections . It was a damn good truck to me. It didn't give me any problems except for water pump, alternator and just stuff along those lines. The big issues were my doing. Bent drive shaft on a snowball I thought. Turned out to be a rock in a snowball. An the fuel tank sprung a leak. Obviously not my doing. Dad and I put a tank all the way in the back. I was 19y at the time and smoke cigarettes and left handed cigarettes. We always had to wait to air the truck out before lighting anything. I drove it for around 4 or 5 years and sold it to a buddy for $500. The last I heard he had for a couple years then sold it for $1,000. 82 dodge ram charger 318 no 4x4 plan Jane color burgundy. Another bud had a old bronco and was always jealous of his top cam off and mine didn't. Lol
@CarsShopsAndCollections yes it is. Those metal tops are pretty heavy. Except for the rear hatch. It's made from fiberglass. And the rubber gaskets are pretty expensive now adays too for the top. If you can even get them.
You are incorrect 1980 is the last year of the removable top Trail Duster 81 is the first year of the solid top and the last year of Trail dusters the only year they were made with a hardtop non-removable
Part of MOPARS Adult Toys line, they had some of the coolest looking street vans & trucks! Hopefully you will run across some vans more often, would love to see some of those customs {had a few} ✌💖☮
Enjoyed seeing these. I bought a 78' Dodge Macho Power Wagon new. Fully loaded w/ sunroof, 440, am fm cb, posi front and rear, Hickey fold down steps, push bar, lift kit, 1 ton front shaft, put edelbrock intake on which Direct Connection told me not to do. Cast iron intake will torque quicker. Truck was silver/ black. First set of hooker headers lasted over 10 years. They needed overdrive back then, but wasn't on the menu in 78. Truck would run up to 100 quick. Weighed nearly 5k lbs. I think. I drove it for nearly 14 years. Sold it in 93 for good money to a Mopar guy. As stated earlier, I really enjoyed this video. Thanks.
I had an 80 Trail Duster with a 360, auto, 4x4 with lockout hubs and absolutely loved it back in 82, it was a good thing that it had a 35 gallon gas tank since my best mpg was 13 highway. 😊
Man those are awesome I have seen a Top Hand Power Wagon but only read about the Plymouth Trailduster Top Hand that is really cool the Power wagon I saw had the bucket seats with the center buddy seat/console it was in good shape but not as good as those are they look like they were built yesterday the paint and everything on both of them are in perfect condition. Those are so bad ass and I am a big Mopar guy too love how the power wagon has the 440 in it too that it cool
Wow JC! Those two Mopars are beautiful! I will be moving to Pahrump soon, and I need to ship two of my Mopars to a storage facility that can receive them be for I get there. A pro-touring '73 Charger 383 6-pack 5-speed (drivable) A pro-touring '72 Satellite 360 6-pack 5 speed. (not drivable) I googled 24/7 motor coach, but it comes up as a RV repair shop. Can you steer me to an economically priced automobile storage company that can unload the cars for me? Thanks, Steve. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year and thanks for watching! We might have to film you and those cars at some point! So cool! Email me and I can get you in touch with a few people! Carsshopsandcollections@gmail.com
Great! I wanted to talk to you about filming my cars when I finish the jewel of my collection. It's a '69 Dodge Super Bee street freak gasser inspired by Ed Roth. Has a blown 426 Hemi with zoomies coming out of the fenderwells. A straight axle front end mounted on a 4-link and coil-over shocks. It has the classic old school bass boat fake paint job by House of Kolors. House of Kolors expressed interest in putting it in their SEMA booth with it is finished. I showed Big DaddyDon Garlits two pictures of it and he yelled out... "Oh my God! I want to see this car!"@@CarsShopsAndCollections
I had the Top Hand step side, my first vehicle. Bought it from my grandpa, it was his ranch truck. I sold it in 2002 for a couple grand to a guy in San Francisco.
Yes, crazy story the guy ended up living about a mile from my brother in SF and I randomly saw it one time driving through the Sunset District. Hard to miss! 😎👍
BTW, where this one says "Top Hand" above the front wheel wells, mine said "John Deere" but the yellow was painted over it, you could see that the "John Deere" were decals before it was modified to top hand. Mine never had the Top Hand decals above the wheel well but it said it on the tailgate. I also had the matching rims.
Cool trucks!! The only thing I can guess on the Ramcharger badge on the dash might be that, when you consider the production numbers(36,000 over 6 or 7 years = roughly 6, 250 trucks a year), perhaps the high end a/c trim was only available in Ramcharger badging. Start factoring percentages of how many a year, a/c, full dress trim inside, it's not hard to conceive that the probability is Mopar only did the one trim, & used it on both product lines. I'm betting Dodge was a higher sales rate to the Plymouth, so the production numbers on the ramchargers could be almost twice what the Plymouth were. This is something that if you pay attention to, all manufacturers did at some point with similar product lines, car or truck. Thanks for sharing the video!
The trail duster started off life as a ram charger. Hickey was only able to find a ram charger with a 440 and yellow for this build. it was Campaign by Chrysler as a trail duster nobody looking at advertisements knew what the Vin number was. Both are the first prototype of a top hand. Both are the only ones built by hickey. Still 1 of 1
I inherited my dad’s 77 Trailduster in this paint scheme so maybe it’s one of one but I distinctly remember it. Had a 440 and as a HS student, I couldn’t afford to drive it much since it got 8mpg. Might want to check the junk yards in North Dakota.
Those Cibie lights on the trucks...they get good money. I have a set of the large, rectangular Cibie driving & fog lights (with the parabolic lenses) and was offered $800 per pair.
I know- mine are on a Travco 320 my uncle ordered in '75. It arrived in '76, went to Alaska. The lights were installed in Anchorage. The guys were restoring a very famous Corvette race car, that had competed in Europe, started at $1600 for the set. But I shut them down because they are part of that vehicle @@CarsShopsAndCollections
I have seen several of those Plymouth trail dusters in that color concept so whether it’s real one or not is hard to tell you’d have to check the Vin on it. The ram charger on the dash is wrong. I do have a 79 trail duster at this time and he’s wrong about the top. The full convertible was from 74 January to July 1974, and then after that they left the full door on with the full top off and then in 1980 was a full top and you could not remove even half of it.
Awesome to see these,I had a 79 trail duster I had bought when I was 17 as my first vehicle,it was in 80 and it was a dealer demo. It was loaded with full power and the cb radio,it also had a pop up sunroof,it was two tone burgundy with chrome wheels. Beautiful truck,but it was not very reliable. I had it until 82,but I did get an 86 ramcharger a few years later that was pretty good. They were some of my all time favorite trucks that i wish I still had.
My dad had a 76 Trail Duster with the 440 auto and I think it was full time 4x4. All I remember was dad told me to take it out and blow the carbon out of it. The motor was just rebuilt and I mashed the gas and blew both exhaust donuts out of it and spent the rest of the day changing them. It was a total beast and it was all original except the rebuilt motor. Should have kept it. Then later in life I bought an 83 Ramcharger with a built 360. It moved along real nice. Dad's was green like a game Watson's ride lol. Mine was black and was the top edition with the rams head hood ornament. Cool old rides.
*I bet the Trailduster by Hickey was used at the major manufacturer auto shows around the country* Be interesting to check out historical photos from 1976-77 US auto shows, I bet you'd see it show up in pics!
That's a tough problem to have a GTO pink slip and not even know what car or where it is you have so many. A lot of people don't realize Chuck Conner's was also a Boston Celtic and a Brooklyn Dodger at one time.
If I was forced to imagine a guy who lived in Vegas, had the mononym of "Whiskey", and who had more money than some Central American countries, thks guy would be what I'd imagine.
That is insane! I'm not a huge fan of the color, but they are beautiful trucks! That is insane 1 of 1! I need to be friends with this guy, if for no other reason than his name is Whiskey 😂
Not a 1 0f 1 tho there are others, this is also technically not a TD it came off the assembly line as a ramcharger hence why the vin still comes back to a ramcharger, and why it has dodge badging and ramcharger grill this is just a prototype, 202 of theses prototypes were made from my understanding, there are quite a few ppl who own theses still
Also whisky is a douche bag, ppl have tryed to correct him on his misinformation of this vehicle and his response to them is I don’t fucking care, and you are poor
I really like the paint scheme on those trucks. It makes me wonder how it would look on my '99 Dodge dually, though with them being the 2 generation's styling being completely different, it probably wouldn't look as good on mine.
My father went to a Dodge dealership back in the late "80s looking for parts for a "78 Li'l Red Express that he had just bought....He got spare factory tips,exhaust pipes and misc trim pieces...And they just happened to have a NOS "78 Trailduster grille laying up in their attic as nobody wanted it because it didn't say "Dodge" on it....Well,they only wanted $50.00 for it so naturally he bought it.🤭🤭🤭....He's still got the Li'l Red and the grille still in the box as he never installed it either.🤣🤣🤣🤣
I owned one of the Top Hand Plymouth traildusters in 1992 I was 23,24 ish years old and unfortunately for me it got repoed Saddest loss in my life I had just got out of the army and had just started driving 18 wheelers
I used to own a 77 Ram Charger with the removable roof , I loved it but mine didn't have a 440 I had an under powered 318 .Sadly these vehicles rusted out pretty quick and the body went before I ever got the idea to upgrade to larger drive line .
Very cool trucks , I haven’t seen any Plymouth trail dusters in the top hand , but they definitely made the top hand in the Ramcharger . The Plymouth might be a 1of 1 but the top hand in the ramcharger is out there .
this trailduster started off as a ramcharger because it was the only 440 yellow Hickey could find in inventory. it was a prototype so it didnt really matter.
These both are prototypes. Both built in 1977. These are the first top hands ever made. The trail duster started off as a ram charger was sent to Hickey Enterprises, who changed the badging, and the Grill to have it represented as a trail duster for Chrysler and their promotional use.
My brother had a 76 Trail Duster and it said Ram charger on the dash as well I think they all did my dad was a complete Dodge nut grew up with Dodge trucks know them very well
Not the only one ever built I still have the 440 from the one I used to own. Now it might be the only one left but, not the only one that was out here. I also still have the back hatch ,roll bar and various small parts