16 Vintage Pickup Models That No One Likes

Every car enthusiast has a soft spot for vintage trucks, but not all classics deserve the love they get. Last summer, I stumbled upon a rusted-out pickup at a rural auction that made me wonder why anyone bothered preserving it.

The truth is, for every beloved Ford F-100 or Chevy C10, there’s a forgotten model that missed the mark completely. Here’s my collection of vintage pickups that even the most dedicated gearheads struggle to appreciate.

1. 1961-1963 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

Rear-engine madness in pickup form! The Corvair Rampside featured a bizarre side door that folded down into a ramp, but drivers discovered the truck’s fatal flaw quickly: with the engine in the back, the bed couldn’t handle much weight without making the front wheels dangerously light.

Handling like a drunk penguin on roller skates, these quirky haulers earned Ralph Nader’s wrath in his book “Unsafe at Any Speed.” Most have rusted away, unloved and unmourned by the collector community.

2. 1957-1959 Ford Ranchero First Generation

Ford’s identity-confused creation wasn’t sure if it was a car or truck. Essentially a station wagon with the back chopped off, the Ranchero tried to deliver car comfort with truck utility but failed spectacularly at both.

Payload capacity? Laughable. Towing ability? Forget about it. While later generations improved, these first attempts remain automotive outcasts. The styling hasn’t aged well either, with those massive chrome grilles and fins looking more like a parody of 50s excess.

3. 1978-1979 Dodge Li’l Red Express

Gaudy doesn’t begin to describe this automotive eyesore. Sporting vertical exhaust stacks like a semi-truck and wood paneling straight from your grandma’s basement, the Li’l Red Express screamed “midlife crisis” before that was even a thing.

Dodge marketed it as the fastest American-made vehicle of its time, which says more about the sad state of 70s performance than anything else. Gold pinstriping and excessive badging completed the tacky package. Today, they’re more punchline than collectible.

4. 1982-1984 Dodge Rampage

Desperate times called for desperate vehicles during the gas crisis, and Dodge answered with this front-wheel-drive abomination. Based on the Dodge Omni economy car platform, the Rampage combined the worst aspects of both cars and trucks.

Underpowered doesn’t cover it – its puny 2.2-liter engine wheezed out a pathetic 96 horsepower. The plastic-fantastic interior disintegrated faster than ice cream on hot asphalt. Most Rampages lived short, unloved lives before being crushed into cubes.

5. 1983-1984 Dodge Ramcharger Custom SE

Chrysler’s answer to the Bronco and Blazer was this ungainly, gas-guzzling beast that combined the worst of 80s automotive design. The two-tone paint schemes haven’t aged well – think brown and beige or maroon and silver, paired with vinyl seats that stuck to your legs in summer.

Electrical gremlins haunted these trucks from day one. The notorious 318 V8 from this era was a masterclass in mediocrity, offering neither power nor efficiency. Most rusted through their frames before hitting 100,000 miles.

6. 1960-1962 International Harvester B-Series

Farm equipment companies should stick to tractors. International Harvester’s B-Series pickups featured styling only a mother could love – boxy, upright, and about as aerodynamic as a brick outhouse. The dashboard appeared designed by someone who’d never actually seen a car interior before.

Creature comforts? None. Reliability? Questionable at best. These agricultural workhorses drove like tractors and sounded like washing machines filled with wrenches. Parts availability today is so limited that owners often resort to fabricating replacements from scratch.

7. 1977-1979 Ford F-150 Explorer Package

Ford’s “lifestyle” package for their F-150 exemplified everything wrong with 70s truck design. Vinyl bodyside decals in brown, orange, and yellow stripes screamed “disco fever” while special plaid seat inserts assaulted your eyeballs every time you opened the door.

Underneath the gaudy cosmetics lurked Ford’s notorious 351M engine – a fuel-thirsty, power-starved compromise that pleased nobody. The Explorer package added nothing functional while somehow making these workhorses look like rolling shag carpets. Pure automotive embarrassment.

8. 1974-1978 Datsun 620 King Cab

Rust doesn’t sleep, but it works overtime on these Japanese mini-trucks. Datsun’s 620 pickups dissolved faster than aspirin in hot water, especially in states that salted their roads. The “King Cab” name oversold the extra 6 inches of storage space behind the seats.

Gutless 4-cylinder engines struggled to maintain highway speeds, especially when loaded. The interior featured plastics so brittle they’d crack if you looked at them wrong. Finding one today that isn’t more oxide than metal is nearly impossible.

9. 1982-1984 Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup

Germans building pickups makes about as much sense as Texans crafting fine cuckoo clocks. VW’s attempt at truck-ifying the Rabbit hatchback resulted in this front-wheel-drive oddity that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

Owners quickly discovered its limitations: minimal payload capacity, laughable towing ability, and diesel engines so slow they made glaciers look speedy. The Rabbit Pickup (or “Caddy” in Europe) became the preferred vehicle of college students with more plants than furniture.

10. 1978-1979 Dodge Warlock

Marketing magic couldn’t save this gaudy stepchild of the truck world. Dodge’s “Adult Toys” line (yes, that was the actual campaign slogan) included this gold-striped, wood-trimmed monstrosity aimed at urban cowboys who never ventured beyond the suburbs.

Fake oak sideboards and tacky gold wheels made these trucks walking fashion disasters. Under the hood lurked Chrysler’s notoriously unreliable emissions-strangled V8s.

Most Warlocks cast their final spell in junkyards decades ago, unmourned by all but the most dedicated Mopar fanatics.

11. 1963-1965 Studebaker Champ

Desperation has a face, and it’s the Studebaker Champ. As the company circled the drain financially, they cobbled together this Frankenstein’s monster of a truck. The cab came from their 1959 Lark sedan, hastily grafted onto an older truck chassis.

The resulting proportions looked all wrong, like a child’s drawing come to life. Sliding rear windows leaked in the rain, the heater barely functioned, and rust consumed them with spectacular efficiency. By the time production ended, even Studebaker employees weren’t buying them.

12. 1979-1982 Plymouth Arrow Pickup

Plymouth’s badge-engineered version of the Mitsubishi Forte/D50 might be the most forgotten pickup in American history. Neither fish nor fowl, the Arrow combined anemic power with catastrophic rust issues in a package that excited absolutely nobody.

The “jet age” styling aged poorly, looking dated even when new. Interior plastics cracked within months, while the tiny bed proved useless for actual work. Finding parts today requires archaeological skills.

13. 1982-1984 Isuzu P’up Diesel

Marketing geniuses at Isuzu decided “P’up” (short for pickup) was a brilliant name for their small truck. The diesel version combined glacial acceleration with the reliability of a politician’s promises. 0-60 times weren’t measured with a stopwatch but a calendar.

Cold starts in winter often required ritualistic prayers and sacrifice. Black smoke billowed from exhausts like Victorian factories. Interior comfort matched medieval torture devices, with seats apparently designed by chiropractors seeking future business.

14. 1974-1976 GMC Sprint

Chevrolet’s El Camino has a cult following, but GMC’s identical twin – the Sprint – remains the forgotten stepchild. These car-based pickups suffered from GM’s notorious build quality issues during the malaise era, with gaps you could stick your finger through.

Vinyl roofs peeled faster than sunburned skin, while emissions-strangled engines wheezed out pathetic horsepower numbers. The plastic dashboards warped dramatically in sunlight. Even GMC seemed embarrassed by them, with minimal advertising and quick model name changes.

15. 1957-1959 Dodge Sweptside

Chrysler’s answer to Chevy’s Cameo and Ford’s Styleside was this cobbled-together fashion disaster. Unable to afford new tooling, Dodge literally took station wagon quarter panels and grafted them onto regular truck beds. The result looked exactly as awkward as it sounds.

Production numbers were tiny because, surprise, they looked ridiculous and cost too much. The two-tone paint schemes and excessive chrome trim haven’t aged well. Finding replacement parts today is virtually impossible, making restoration a nightmare that few brave souls attempt.

16. 1960-1962 Jeep FC-150

Form follows function, except in the Jeep Forward Control trucks. These cab-over-engine nightmares placed drivers directly above the front axle, creating a driving position that felt like sitting on the edge of a cliff. One pothole could send your spine through the roof.

The FC-150’s stubby wheelbase made for a truck that handled like a shopping cart with a wobbly wheel. Off-road capability was compromised by poor approach angles.

Most rusted away decades ago, their awkward proportions and punishing ride quality unmourned by all but the most masochistic collectors.