At the same yard I also saw numerous (we’re talking hundreds) of A100 and A108 Dodge vans pass through over the sixteen years I frequented the place. Many were well preserved examples with original paint though most were used up and abused. Why do so many of these vans get painted with latex brush paint? I can’t figure it out. Anyway, my interest was usually in grabbing the Bostrom seats (for use in S/S clone cars), two-piece battery box (a great budget trunk-mount swap item), stock 15 x 5 rims (big with Max Wedge and Race Hemi B-body guys for use on the front of the car or to be re-hooped with wider rims) and Sure Grips. As for the Sure Grips, it is true that 90-percent of the A100’s had an open 8 ¾. But over the years I’ve scored at least ten A100 Sure Grips. Though they usually have a desirable 3.55 or 3.91 gear ratio, they’re based on the less durable 741 case with the small pinion gear. Nonetheless I had lots of luck buying them for about $80, cleaning them up and reselling them for $250 at the swap meet.

And speaking of axle ratios, you probably know that every A100 (and A108) has a stamped aluminum data tag riveted to the top of the driver side front wheel house. If you open the door and look down, you’ll see it. Well I once spotted an A100 with a 4.56 stamped into the axle ration box on the tag! Yep, you could order these insanely steep gears right from the factory, though few people did. Naturally the center section was long gone (somebody scored!). But seeing the data tag was still fascinating. I looked in vain to see if the metal gear ratio identification tag was maybe lying on the ground under the empty rear axle housing… no luck, but that’d be cool to have.

By far the most tragic A100 sighting was a rare walk-through model. In case you didn’t know, Dodge offered a multitude of side and rear door options on these classic compact vans. Most have a pair of back doors and another pair of doors on the passenger side (RH) of the cargo area (some with windows, some without). This offers the most utility for curbside pick-up and delivery service. But if you study any vintage A100 sales brochure you’ll see it was also possible to get an A100 with no side doors at all and also with no back doors if you were so inclined. Can you imagine an A100 with no loading doors? It’d be like driving a big metal sock.

Back to the story at hand, the walk-through option featured dual swinging doors on both sides of the van. That way you could pull up to either curb (watch that oncoming traffic!) and access the cargo area without walking around to the other side of the van. Well there it was; a pale blue walk-through van. Again I pondered ways of saving this rarity but the scavenging process had already begun.

You see, once a vehicle is brought into these yards, they are supported on steel struts so the wheels are lifted off the ground. This makes it easier to get underneath and snag chassis parts, axles, fuel tanks etc. Well the wheels, doors and drive shaft were gone, the rear axle was stripped and it was well past the point of no return. Sure, you could certainly find a way to save something like a Hemi ‘Cuda shell from the yard. Where there’s a will and a bunch of cash, there’s a way, right? But again, I figured only I would really car about this crazy multi-door A100 so I walked away. Yep, they crushed that one too.

Other oddball Mopars have been spotted out in the real world too. Back in 1983 I used to work at a cool restaurant called The Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield, MA. A summer job, I was in charge of sweeping, mopping and mowing the lawn. My immediate supervisor was a guy who drove a 1970 Coronet Deluxe station wagon. He bought it new and it still wore its medium green factory paint. At the time, these cars were still a fairly common sight on the road though rust was starting to catch up with most of them.

The thing that set this one apart was its 383 2-barrel engine and three-on-the-tree manual transmission. Probably an A230 gearbox, the car’s owner was a frugal type who likely chose this throwback transmission to pinch a few pennies at purchase time and when filling the gas tank. But the big block was also an odd choice. Why not the 318? He said he liked the torque since he did some fishing and occasionally towed a small boat trailer.

Another strange one was a 1978 Dodge Diplomat two door ordered new by the older brother of a buddy. It had the deluxe aluminum wheels that kind of resembled scaled down Packard wheels from the nineteen-twenties, dark brown metallic paint with a padded beige half vinyl roof, factory sunroof and a… four speed transmission. One of the 1976-up aluminum case A833’s with the 0.76 overdrive top gear and super low 3.09 first gear, I remember thinking it was really cool to see a stick shift and clutch peal in an otherwise boring late seventies smog mobile. The only buzz kill was the green O/D symbol on the shift knob – this manual ‘box was more about fuel economy than banging gears at the strip.