Hard To Find: 1961 Dodge D-100 Utiline
Dodge’s D-Series pickups were new for the 1961 model year and they were a totally new design as well as being re-engineered. They were a bit more comfortable and more modern in style than the C-Series pickups were. This great looking 1961 Dodge D-100 Utiline pickup can be found here on craigslist in Alpine, California, about 30 miles east of San Diego, where I should have moved after high school. The seller is asking $6,950. Thanks to Marci for sending in this tip!
The 1961 Dodge pickups were quite a change from the 1950s design of the rounded C-Series pickups. You know me, I love all vehicles and wouldn’t turn down anything from any era, literally. But, there’s something about 1960s Dodge pickups for me. 1961 was the first year of the first-generation D-series and they were made until 1993, although they were badged as a Dodge Ram for the last generation.
The Utiline box was Dodge’s name for a stepside or whatever various names that other manufacturers used. They came in three sizes, a 6.5-foot, 7.5-foot, or 9-foot length and collector-wise, the Sweptline trucks seemed to have become more popular and collectible. The seller has this one priced right between Hagerty’s #4 fair condition value and their #3 good condition value. The inside of the box looks good and surely the DODGE letters on the tailgate have been redone at some point.
The interior is all business here as in any 1961 pickup. I can’t tell if this truck has been restored at some point or not but it looks like parts of it have been. I don’t know if there would be green paint on the floor under the dash, would there be? It looks like it’s been resprayed to me but I don’t know for sure and it wouldn’t be a bad thing if it had been. It does look like a pretty solid truck although the seller doesn’t mention the condition of the body and if there is or was any rust or bodywork. At some point, someone added seatbelts and shoulder belts, a very nice touch.
Whoa, a bright yellow 225 slant-six?! I guess, to each his/her own, eh? I personally wouldn’t have painted it a non-factory color but that’s the beauty of living in a (mostly) free country. It would have had 140 hp and they say that it has almost zero miles after being professionally rebuilt. There are also quite a few new items under the hood and elsewhere. This looks like a great pickup that a person could just jump in and use as it is now. I wouldn’t change a thing other than adding a seat cover, treating the surface rust on the floors and adding some sound-deadener and rubber flooring. Any thoughts on this ’61 D100 Utiline?
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Comments
Wow, it seems that the majority of ’60s Dodge pickups are six-cylinder powered. Out west very few had sixes, the 318 Poly head was as common as a hooker in Vegas. I do admit that an elderly couple drove a ’63 model very similar to this one only it had a 4 speed. I remember them well as they drove straight down the middle of the road at 35 mph, never wavering until they made it to the farm and turned off. If you were unlucky enough to catch them on the way home, you got the same sentence. That truck still exists; the daughter of the couple has it and I saw it in a shed when her husband took me over to look at a real pristine ’68 Torino (also from her parents).
This truck looks like it would go for another 59 years. I sure hope that it’s kept in its original state. Of course you would have my permission to repaint the engine Chrysler Red. Polish up the rest of the truck and have a great time with it…
The only original owners of this truck had to some forestry, military or municipal dept. as Dodges were unheard of, especially a stepside. I read, yellow was a truck slant 6 engine color starting mid-’63. This is a great find, from a time when they were still called Dodges. Think they’d trade a short box ’77 Jimmy for this? I’d love to have it.
My bad, thanks for the correction, Howard! I thought that they were a lighter yellow for 1962 to ’69 but I must be mistaken. I have never seen a lemon yellow one but who knows.
I just spent 45 minutes researching yellow slant-sixes in 1961 Dodge pickups and the consensus seems to be that, they were yellow from 1962 to early-1969, but a light yellow rather than lemon yellow. However, as with almost everything on the internet, another site which I would think is more correct than not, DodgeSweptline.org, mentions that 1961 through 1963 Dodge D-series slant-sixes were in fact yellow, and they got that information from truck owners, not any official factory source.
Thanks for bringing it up, Howard. It’s always good to get these things out in the open so we can all work through it and get the right answer!
Everyone remembers something, and speaking for myself, this site has been a great learning experience.
I got that off a Mopar forum, someone questioned their yellow slant 6. That forum said mid-63 to ’69. I never saw’r one, but mostly because, either there just weren’t any Dodge pickups around, or the ones that were around, the motors were such oily slugs, you couldn’t tell what color they were.
I could stand corrected on my comments regarding the yellow engine. I was sure that I never saw a Chrysler engine that wasn’t red between ’61 and ’72 but we never had any Dodge trucks from Dad’s ’51 until he bought a ’72 model. Dad had a lot of Chrysler product cars. In 1972 it seemed that the engines were all blue. Of course, industrial applications painted them anything they desired. That goes for anyone rebuilding his engine. All said and done, when I look at this color I see Komatsu Yellow.
Looks like you could pull the engine without removing the hood. I wish the later Dodge/Ram trucks were as easy to get at things under the hood as these early ones are.
I very much dislike yellow engines.
I also see somebody has had their hand in changing the gauges which removes some of the charm of the truck for me.
Miguel, the gauges you see are correct and one year only on the 61 model. The yellow engine was the correct color also.
Now THAT’S nice patina.
Serious question; I don’t think I’d ever have the gall to do so, but how do people do safe, legit long distance transactions for a privately owned car? An auction site is one thing or a reputable dealer, but there’s no protection this way. I’ll have to consult the googles as I’m sure people do this all the time, especially dealers/ flippers. Only asking because finds like this are so tempting from here on the other side of country.
Great question, Eric. There is so much fraud out there its sickening, and I know firsthand some if the victims. Myself, I have never bought a high dollar car on ebay, and have never been disappointed. My expectations are low. I know one guy who paid 20k for a 69 GTO, that was appraised by eBay’s appraisal program; turns out the car had a cracked frame, bad tranny and 2 cyls were dead. Also found rust where there wasn’t supposed to be any. You are rolling the dice unles you can get a reputable person to look at the car, caveat Emptor. Good luck.
Stay safe and wash your hands
Cheers
GPC
Indeed. I did buy a car on Bring a trailer. Tons of photos and video, it was a 90’s survivor and the price was right. But, I still felt like I was going to vomit 24/7 until it arrived. There were a few unexpected odds and ends, but ultimately worked out in the end. I feel like it may be the only safe venue to buy something long distance, but now that it’s gained popularity almost everything on there is overpriced. I can’t imagine a safe way to buy something like this from a private individual, which is too bad. I think the solution is moving myself to where all the good cars are, not the other way around.
I have a 4 headlight Sweptline, a ’64, and prowled California pick a part yards in the ’90’s looking for parts. They were kind of common then. The dash instruments are original for a 61 or 62, they got a plainer setup after that. The entire interior of these trucks were painted body color, excepting bolt on parts. This one has the steering column and parking brake lever painted green, they were originally black.
Ditto on the light yellow paint, as illustrated in the vehicle brochure. The truck six was different in some specs from the pass car version, perhaps the engine plant needed to keep them separate.
Thanks for the knowledge. So, if you had to guess, would you suspect that the entire truck, inside and out had a repaint way back in the day?
Funny how the shade of yellow on the engine is the main topic… C’mon this thing is awesome!
This would look so good with white wheels and a white vinyl seat!
My guess is that more western trucks were equipped with V8’s to better handle the mountains. I think this slant six would serve us flatlanders well, albeit at a leisurely pace.
If this thing was within 200 miles of me it would be mine today!
What a little sweetheart! It’s a funny thing, even with the complete redesign for 1961 total sales were lower than 1960 which was a pretty low year. Sales recovered in a big way for 1962 and continued to grow in the 60s. The 61s are kind of rare and to find one in nice original condition is like Thunderbird eggs. It looks like there has been some touch up on some of the green paint but not necessarily a repaint. Up close in person inspection needed.
Wow, when that hood opens, it OPENS!
I will now and forever remember that early 60’s Dodge pickup’s slant 6’s engines were yellow….but will always occasionally forget what I had for lunch…thanks for the info, guys…I learn more on this site than any show on TV….
Ford also painted Y-blocks in trucks yellow, at least for ’56.
Makes sense, oil leaks are easy to spot!
I think Ford had a lot of trouble making its mind up WHAT color to paint its engines during the 50s. I remember ’56 and ’57 272 engines in trucks with a yellow long block and black valve covers. I seldom saw a 292 and when I did there was more grease than anything else. But I think they were red. Or maybe it was the car engines that were red. Oh well, if you rebuild a Ford Y-block just grab the first rattle can your hand encounters. Well, the wife’s pebbly pink that she picked out to do her medicine cabinet doors might not suffice but there is always John Deere green…
Clutch cylinder and brake master cylinder
Cool
My dad had a 67′ Dodge truck (one ton) not sure of the call tag, but it was a power house of a truck, with the 225 w/ 4-speed. We I became of age in 72′ I drove it for work (tile setter) and don’t recall it being yellow. I thinking it was black, maybe because of all the oil. It may of been a power wagon.
The US Forest Service had a bunch of these, but in Colorado / Wyoming they had 6, 4 spds, and short wide boxes. We had a power wagon 3/4 4×4 Utiline on the Routt Forest. Tough trucks that even us college kids couldn’t tear up!
Correction on my comment. Could not of been a Power Wagon, it was not 4 wheel drive, but if I recall correct, it had a “granny gear” transmission.
I’m late to this conversation, but humor me. When I was a teen we had a ’61 swepty/shortbed, with the slant six. We got tired of it burning oil so we pulled the engine out for a rebuild. I recall my dad scrubbing away at a quarter-inch layer of greasy grime that covered most of the block. When he got to the actual metal under all that dirt, he paused.
“Look!” he exclaimed. “Yellow!”
Yes, light yellow was the original color on those engines.
I now have a ’68 Utiline, but it ain’t as sweet as this one.