I was talking to a friend tonight who swore up and down that his neighbour had a 383 diesel pickup in the late 70's/early 80's. Was there any such culprit? Mexico? South America? Anything before the Cummins showed up in the '88 model year?

Thanks!

There was a small diesel offered in the 70's but to my memory it wasn't anywhere near a 383. A six cylinder I believe. There was one in the small New Mexico town I lived in in the early 80's. I had a brief conversation with the owner once but never saw under the hood.

Yes, I think it was around 240-something ci, but I could be way off. I believe it was made by Mitsubishi. If no one else posts with better info, I'll dig out an old service manual later.

Dan, here used to be a blue 78 diesel allways parked at the tranny shop that is now windmill meats (forget the name of it now) was a really clean truck, wonder where it went?

It may have been a perkin inline6 around 100 hp. Tim

i would bet on the perkins 354 I6T i had one in a dodge C600 and it was a factory install into a military truck----there were numerous independent diesel shops swapping them into dodge/ford and chev pickups---they are very comparable to the cummins 5.9----bob

"383 diesel pickup" tells me everything I need to know about this one. The guy's either a liar or has his wires crossed.
If he did have a Dodge Diesel pickup it had the Mitsubishi engine. A 354 Perkins may be a good engine in a deuce-and-a-half or big rig or a Massey-Ferguson farm tractor, but in a pickup, no. And if anyone was doing conversions into 1/2 or 3/4 tons, they were far rarer than the Mitsu engine. I was in my early 20s at that time and read every 4wd magazine out there and never heard of it.

I'd put that 383 Diesel in the museum right beside all the 383 and 440 Hemis I have heard about!

R.

From Wiki:

"The 1978 saw also the introduction of the first Diesel powered Dodge pickup truck. Available as an economy choice in the light duty trucks was Mitsubishi 6DR50A 4.0 L inline 6-cylinder naturally aspirating diesel, rated at 105 hp (78 kW) at 3500 rpm, and ~230 N·m (~169 lb·ft) @ 2200 rpm. The diesel used standard Dodge manual and automatic transmissions via specially made adapter plate which had the LA V8 bolt pattern. This rare factory option, VIN code H, was the result of fuel crisis and the collaboration of Chrysler and Mitsubishi. The engine, while being trustworthy and having far better economy than any other engine in the Dodge lineup at the time, suffered from its low power output and was considered to be underpowered by American standards, even though it was previously used in the Japanese 3.5-ton cab-over Mitsubishi T44 Jupiter Truck and in industrial applications. Because of the low sales it was phased out quickly and as a result it became practically a single year specialty."

Bigfoot of the late 70's Dodge truck kind. I've heard of them but never seen one.

OK.... now I need to try to find one... I love hunting this kind of stuff.

I found an engine out of one on ebay - 1978 79 Dodge Mitsubishi 6 cylinder diesel

It was advertised as the 19 MPG 4X4...

Many of the South American trucks had Diesels. Most are probably Perkins.

Heavier Dodge trucks had Diesels for many decades, including the 1st Cummins in 1963.

The 1st commercially available Diesel in a US market Dodge pickup was the 243 Mitsubishi in 1978.

I believe there were dealer installed Perkins engines that were used in some pickups.

Here's another thread on them.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...&PHPSESSID=

The Mitsu diesel came out in the 1968-9 Dart in Chile or Peru. I have several pics somewhere and they were not dealer installed but by the factory AFAIK>

I've seen one in the late 70's. I have seen TWO Bigfoots. So they are rare. The Bigfoot is lots faster and has more power for sure.

chrysler has had a long diesel history---i googled dodge diesel perkins and came up with this mess----mopar belgium plant 1956-59 perkins diesels into full size chrylers--then moved production to rotterdam 1959-1962--sweden 1958 desoto plant offered perkins into full size---1963 chrysler opened their own diesel engine plant in UK then sold it to cummins in 1964----in 1960 perkins diesels were offered in Fargo pickups in canada and mexico---in 1962 dodge sold 1000 perkins in pickups in america and no one cared---in 1965 dodge offered heavy truck/military diesel options-- V6 cummins 130hp-- perkins I6 354 120hp----i had a 2 ton 1970? C600 military that served at the norad site cheyenne mountain colorado with the 354 perkins 5 speed spicer on a shortened frame with a flat bed the exhaust was routed through a 200 gallon tank of water so that the air quality wasnt ruined so fast under ground----it ran every bit as good as my modern cummins does ---also notable is it has a lower deck height than the cummins and can be mounted under a car hood----there is a ytube video of a guy running his 354 in a 65 falcon ranchero and it fits in there----sure wish i hadnt sold that truck now----bob----forgot one in 1961 jeep offered the 4 cyl perkins but chrysler didnt own amc yet----bob

Thanks guys! That was very cool to read!