If you like the looks of blacked-out badass trucks but don’t want to fork out big bucks for a no-compromise off-road desert racer, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has a truck for you. FCA announced the 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Warlock, a special edition pickup truck built to attract the same buyers Chrysler wooed with the 1976 to 1979 Dodge D10 Warlock. As with the 1976 version, the 2019 Warlock focuses on appearance with only a touch of additional off-road capability.
“The Ram 1500 Classic Warlock is proof positive that value never goes out of style,” said Reid Bigland, Head of Ram Brand, FCA. “With its sinister monochromatic exterior, award-winning interior and great price, this mean machine is certain to resonate positively with consumers.”
So ‘sinister’ style is today’s target for what Chrysler referred to as an Adult Toy for “fun trucking” in the 1970s (see below).
The 2019 Warlock special edition is available only with the previous generation 2019 Ram 1500 Classic version, not the redesigned Ram 1500 introduced for this model year. Because buyer demand for Ram pickups outpaced supply, Ram continued to run the older version production line along with the newer manufacturing facilities for the redesigned truck. If you want a Warlock, you’ll have to stick with the last generation Ram 1500 pickup, called the Classic.
Signature details on the new Ram Warlock include huge R-A-M lettering on the front grille, powder-coated bumpers front and rear, a 1-inch ride lift, and Warlock decals. You can also order an optional Sport hood. The truck will come with 20-inch semi-gloss black aluminum wheels, LED fog lamps, dark-bezeled projector headlamps, LED rear tail lamps, tow hooks, and heavy-duty rear shocks. The shocks and extra-inch clearance could help off-road travel, but if you plan to drive in the thick and sticky, you’ll want to choose liberally from the FCA option list or save some money for aftermarket goodies.
The Warlock comes standard with the Ram 1500 Classic’s Luxury Group so you’ll get a leather-wrapped steering wheel, auto-dimming rearview mirror, overhead console, 7-inch cluster display, LED bed lighting, and foldaway power mirrors, all without checking off a single option — an easy budget-exploder with trucks. Diesel Grey cloth seating and ParkSense rear park assist are also standard equipment.
Power plant choices include FCA’s 360-horsepower 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 or the 395-hp 5.7-liter Hemi V-8. Both engines pair with an eight-speed automatic transmission. You can choose 4×2 (Really?) or 4×4 with quad or crew cab 4-door bodies. If you select the crew cab version (bigger rear doors and more seating area), you’re restricted to a 5-foot 7-inch truck bed.
Special edition vehicles often come in just one or two colors, but FCA uncovered the paint pots. You can select from Blue Streak, Bright Silver Metallic, Bright White, Diamond Black, Delmonico Red, Flame Red, Granite Crystal Metallic, Maximum Steel, Pearl White, and True Blue. It’s a style edition so have at it, though some of the color choices don’t score very high on the “sinister Warlock” meter.
According to FCA, the 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Warlock will be available starting in the late first quarter of the year. The Warlock’s starting price including the destination charge will be $37,040.
Breaking ground in the 1970s when ‘motorized wheelbarrows’ morphed to ‘fun trucking’
The Warlock Macho Power Wagon was one of three vehicles in what Chrysler Corporation called its line of “Adult Toys.” In a 1977 press release announcing the models’ continuance for the 1978 model year, Al D. Imber, Chrysler’s manager of truck sales at the time said, “People make a personal statement about themselves with the vehicle they drive. And we think our Adult Toys help them make that statement — fun trucking.”
“The Dodge Macho units can be the answer sought by buyers who are looking for different ways to express their love of vehicles and driving,” Imber continued. “They are ‘tough’ and sporty looking on the street as well as off-road.”
Imber recognized the Warlock wasn’t for men only, despite the “Macho” model designator. He noted that women drove trucks, too, one of three major changes in the light duty trucking market at the time. The other two shifts were a growing interest in 4×4 vehicles for a range of recreational pursuits and a transition to personal use trucks from the traditional view of a pickup truck as a “motorized wheelbarrow.”
