Truck trends are always evolving, from the custom Mini-Trucks that dominated the scene in the ''80s-'90s to today's high-performance factory offroad trucks like the Ford F150 Raptor the only thing is constant is the enthusiasts who love their trucks. In the early 1990's sports trucks became the latest trend embraced by the manufacturers, trucks like the GMC Syclone, Chevy S10 Xtreme, and Ford SVT Lightning all offered a high-performance sporty truck to the masses, but if you ask someone to name Dodge's hotrod pickup truck they are likely to point to the 2004-2006 Dodge Ram SRT-10, but Dodge's first factory modern sport truck was the often forgotten Dakota R/T.
Built from 1998-2003 the Dakota R/T took Ram's smallest pickup, added a Magnum 360 cubic-inch V8, and a heavy-duty 46RE automatic transmission to create a potent pickup truck on the drag strip. Plus thanks to borrowing some Viper parts for the frontend, a limited-slip rear-end, and performance springs and struts, the R/T could lay down track times comparable to many sports sedans of the time. When Hot Rod Magazine took it to the drag strip in 1998 the bone stock Dakota R/T ran a 14.85 at 91mph on the factory tires. While that might not sound super impressive in today's world of ultra-high performance cars, in 1998 a Mustang GT was putting down 15.1 seconds at 92 mph.
This Solar Yellow Dakota R/T was purchased by Jeff Curtis Jr. brand new and he has no intention of selling it. Jeff saw an R/T at a dealership when he was looking for a WS6 Trans Am.
"After Reading the Window Sticker and Discovering it’s Sleeper performance potential, basically because nobody knew what it was, plus the insurance savings, I ordered one without even test driving it from a family friend that was a salesman at my local Dodge Dealer."
Since buying his truck Jeff has put just over 25,000 miles on it and has taken full advantage of the aftermarket support for the truck. He has upgraded the cam, heads, pushrods, added a 52mm throttle body, Mike Leach midlength headers, High Flow Catalytic converter, MBRP Exhaust, Hotchkis Suspension, and even a 150-shot of Nitrous to name just a few of his modifications. His plans down the road include forged internals and forced induction, but for now, he is just enjoying having the perfect sleeper that can run a 12.72 without the nitrous.
If you want to see more of Jeff's truck check out his Instagram page @rattler360.
Photos by Jeff Curtis Jr. and Bearded Mug Media
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