Cruising in a 1966 Dodge A100 pickup

In the late 1960s a young Tim Kinslow had a model of The Little Red Wagon, which was a 1966 A100 Dodge utility pickup that had a large drag racing motor and was set up to do wheel stands or a wheelie all the way down the drag strip. Bill “The Maverick” Golden did exhibition events at drag strips all over the country with the real one.

In the early 1970s, Tim got a chance to see The Little Red Wagon at Indianapolis Raceway Park; he was hooked. He knew that someday he would want one, although he probably wouldn’t be doing wheelies with it.
In about 2000, Tim’s friend Ben Roberts moved to Los Angeles. Ben attended many car shows in California and saw this A100 street rod, although it was not for sale. Ben saw it for sale online in 2009 and called Tim about it. 

Tim contacted the owner many times over the next couple of years, but they could never get together on a price. During the late winter/early spring of 2013, Ben once again called Tim and informed him that a gentleman in Detroit had purchased the 1966 A100 and had it for sale on Craig’s List.

Tim contacted the man in Detroit and discovered that he had installed a new Dodge 360 V8 Magnum crate motor and a dual 3-inch Flowmaster exhaust system; the price was even higher now. However, now Tim could easily travel to see the hot rod and would be saving several thousands of dollars in shipping costs.

He was able to strike a deal with the owner and bring it home to Indianapolis. Tim replaced the Keystone wheels with new Crager wheels. He and his wife have driven their cool cruiser to the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Ky., and the Hot Somernites Cruise in Sommerset, Ky. They also have shown it locally, where it is quite a crowd pleaser.

Most Dodge A100s were bought by utility companies and not by the general public. Utility companies liked them because their short 103-inch wheelbase made them easily maneuverable in the city. Consequently, most were used up and scrapped. The Kinslow’s A100 is probably the only one I have seen in 30-plus years.
It is also a low-mileage-original-never-rusted example. With only 83,000 miles on the odometer, it is a true survivor. There were few options available on the A100s. This one has a Loadflite automatic transmission, rear quarter windows, a heater, a windshield defroster and an AM radio, which it still retains.

Tim has had his cool cruiser to one of our previous cruise-ins at The Southsider Voice and hopes to bring it to Friday’s event, weather permitting. I would like to invite all of you to the show, which starts at 6 p.m. 
Until next week, keep on cruising!