 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Dodge C series" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Dodge C series | |
|---|---|
 1957 C-100 Sweptside | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Chrysler Corporation |
| Production | 1954-1960 |
| Assembly | Warren, Michigan,United States Los Angeles, California,United States (until 1955)[1] |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Full-sizepickup truck |
| Body style | 2-doorpickup truck |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 230 cu in (3.8 L)I6 315 cu in (5.2 L)V8 318 cu in (5.2 L)V8 331 cu in (5.4 L)V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speedautomatic 2-speedPowerFlite automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 108 in (2,743 mm) 116 in (2,946 mm) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Dodge B series |
| Successor | Dodge D series |
TheC series is a line ofpickup trucks sold byDodge from 1954 until 1960. It replaced theDodge B series of trucks and was eventually supplanted by theDodge D series, introduced in 1961. Unlike the B series, which were closely related to Dodge's prewar trucks, the C series was a complete redesign. Dodge continued the "pilot house" tradition of high-visibility cabs with a wrap-around windshield introduced in 1955. A two-speed "PowerFlite"automatic transmission was newly available that year. TheDodge Town Panel and Town Wagon also used the new design.
Chrysler called theHemi-powered Dodge trucks "Power Giant" in 1957, and introduced power steering and brakes, a three-speedautomatic, and a 12-volt electrical system. From 1957 to 1959, Dodge offered the Sweptside pickup, a rival to theChevrolet Cameo Carrier, but it never became a bestseller.[2] A flat-sided (and thus wider) "Sweptline" cargo box came in 1959. The company also adopted the standard pickup truck numbering scheme, also used by Ford and GM at that time. Thus, the ½ ton Dodge was now called the D100. The traditional separate-fender body "Utiline" version remained available, with aGVWR of up to 9,000 lb (4,100 kg) on 1-ton models.
After an agreement between Dodge andStudebaker, the C-Series' pickup bed also saw use in theStudebaker Champ pickup truck range.[3][4][5]
.jpg)
Starting in the 1957 model year, factory four-wheel-drive versions of the Dodge C series trucks were produced and sold as the W-100, W-200, W-300, and W-500, alongside the older WDX/WM-300 "Military Style"Power Wagon. The latter had the "Power Wagon" badge on the fender.[6] The heavy-duty four-wheel-drive W-300 and W-500 trucks were marketed as "Power Giants".[6][7]
Since it still used the older cab design, the C series name was continued for Dodge's line of medium- and heavy-duty trucks (better known as the LCF series) through the 1975 model year, long after most of Dodge's other trucks had moved to the newer D series designation.
Four Wheel Drive also utilized the C series cabs for many of its medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Because Chrysler needed plant capacity for its newer light-duty truck models, manufacture of these later C series cabs — for both Dodge and FWD — was outsourced toChecker in Kalamazoo, MI, beginning in 1962.[8]
