I'm really coming in late on this, but I wanted to answer your gas mileage question. Thank you for making this video, as well as thanks to the kind gentleman who graciously supplied his Plymouth Scamp. I do recall that 54 MPG figure. It was highway MPG, during the early years of production, and the best I can tell the 54 MPG was with one particular engine combined with a 4-speed manual. I explain which engine/trans combination I think it was and why. This happened in the time prior to the EPA MPG figures being posted on window stickers and published by the EPA. People learned of a given cars' MPG by what the manufacturer published, this via television commercials, billboards, magazines, and newspaper ads. The reason for this was that the EPA figures being listed on window stickers, and the (then) EPA's annual booklet of gas mileage figures (available at car dealerships as being one source) didn't come around until somewhere between 1982-84, as I recall. The Omni/Horizon was released in 1978. Getting back to the 54 MPG Omni/Horizon. The story goes that, when the first Dodge Omni's and Plymouth Horizon's were released, they were only available as the 5-door (Hatchback) as the 3-door versions and the trucks didn't exist. The demand for these new cars was so strong that Chrysler couldn't build enough engines. So they started buying engines from whoever could supply them and as a result during the first few years the new little hatchbacks were coming through with different engines. Chrysler was buying engines from, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Simca, (Mitsubishi?) Whatever their own engine was I've forgotten any data on that, as I believe the eventual 2.2 was still on the drawing board. There may have been more manufacturers involved, I'm recalling the ones I can since I never had a list. I believe the 54 MPG cars were the ones that came through with the Simca engine and the 4-speed manual trans. Chrysler had some association with Simca, I never knew if Simca was owned by Chrysler and serving as their European branch, or if it was an association like that with Mitsubishi of Japan. With Simca being European, they knew how to stretch MPGs and particularly for the Omni/Horizon cars going to the European market. The Simca engine going into the Omni/Horizons was a 1.6L, whereas other engines being supplied were bigger, I referenced the engine Volkswagen had supplied and it was a 2.0L. I didn't reference further as this piece was becoming long. Going back to at the time, it was quite a scene as salesmen had to learn to identify whose engine was in a given car to answer the customers that asked. (I was one of those customers.) And the mechanics had to learn whose engine was in a given car to reference which shop manual was required to work on it. Whereas most customers didn't care about the engine or who built it, they were buying these cars based on the published MPG figures. That, and because they were beautiful little cars that drove great. And as someone who was there at the time, I have to say that Chrysler built the Omni and Horizon to be appealing to the eye, the feel, and the wallet. They succeeded. Those little cars along with their variants were everywhere in the 1980s and into the '90s. I don't think it's possible for any of us Americans to watch a film made between 1980-92 and not see Omni's and Horizon's in outdoor scenes. They were an incredibly successful car. If I could buy a brand-new one today, I wouldn't be able to get my money into the sales manager's hands fast enough.
Awesome thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that insight and information. Greatly appreciate it. It’s amazing they can’t offer that fuel economy now.
@@What.its.like. The only reason "they can’t offer that fuel economy now" is because they don't want to. They want us to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for an electric car. But understand that we had incredible gas sipping cars back in the 1980s. In 1987, I bought a brand-new Chevrolet Sprint E/R. A GM labeled 3-cylinder Suzuki that was as cute as can be, especially in vivid red. The base Sprint cost $5300. I wanted and bought one of the cars that had the E/R option ($200), so the sticker cost was $5500. E/R stands for Extended/Range and put out and additional 10 MPG, in turn boosting the highway gas mileage to about 50 MPG. We had other cars in the '80s that got really good MPG, even the Oldsmobile Cutlass 2-door with the 305 V-8 would get 30 MPG on the expressway. I don't think GM published that, but GM knows how to squeeze gas out of an engine, and they let word of mouth get the message out. Yes, in the '80s there were plenty of cars available in the USA that got really good gas mileage. That started changing in the '90s and the '00s so that if you wanted a car with high gas mileage you had to pay more money for it, eventually it became substantially more for it. Moving on, I don't recall if in the past I filled you in on the farce that electric cars are. The amount of pollution they cause in various forms of built them and raw materials for the batteries, is sickening--EVs are damaging the planet, not sensibly built ICE cars. As well, after EVs are built the electricity to charge them is pollution too and it's looking that that pollution with be in another location than where most EVs will be charged.
My 1984 Rampage with a Weber carb and a 5 speed out of a gas miser Omni gets 36 mpg over average. Pretty good, might get a little more in perfect conditions. These got good mileage especially with manual trans because they were so light weight.
I had a used 1986 or 1987 Plymouth Turismo, (same as a front wheel driver dodge charger) with the 2.2 auto. both used the Chrysler L plat form. i wanted the rampage but only found the a black Plymouth Turismo, i drove it a lot to school, to work, out of town, in town the basic distance for the most part was 20 plus miles at a time. gas was not a problem, mpg was great. i easily got 45 mpg or better. this the one i wish i could find and get back. i fond and good memories of that car. selling was one of my biggest mistakes i ever made. i wish i could say the same for the ford escort i had. but, i can't it was a POS. great video
This is PJ, the owner. The wheels are also aftermarket and like you said, they only made 3500 and, of those, there were only 1400 of the GT''s like mine. You did a fantastic job on this video. Thank you so much.
Thank you I saw you drive by in it in koppel I tried waving but I don’t think you saw me... that day when it was 45 degrees and felt like 55 lol. I had the green machine out when I saw you Thank you so much I’m glad you liked the video
My first new car when I was 21 was a 1983 Rampage red on red. It only had 3 options listed on the build sheet. A right hand mirror, bed side rails and a 5 speed manual. The base trans was a 4.speed manual. There was only one cab size but mine did not have a shelf just a carpeted floor. I loved that car, I traded for a 1985 Charger 2.2 and wish I hadn’t. I am 6’3 285 lbs a few times me, my friend and both our girlfriends squeezed into that cab, you could never see that in a Fiero!
Owned several early to mid 2.2l vehicles early to mid 80s incl an 83 scamp 4 spd. Never ever got 50 mpg with normal use. Only car in that era I remember getting a legit 50 mpg was a VW rabbit and Jetta..smaller engine and little power but mpg all day 😆
I had 5 Rampages and a Scamp GT .. All mint more or less.. Drove them as everyday vehicles for years.. I will say I want one again so BAD... !! But will not do an auto... They are extreme dogs .. 5 speed the only way to go .. Not even the 4 speed.. Looking here I am trying to figure what is with the red paint under the black? But glad to see it being alive and well..!!
Yeah I kinda want to drive the 5 speed to see if there is that much of a difference.. the Hudson cross country accelerated faster than this.. this accelerated about as fast as dial up internet found the site you were looking for... lol fuel economy was the biggest highlight
I'm really coming in late on this, but I wanted to answer your gas mileage question. Thank you for making this video, as well as thanks to the kind gentleman who graciously supplied his Plymouth Scamp.
I do recall that 54 MPG figure. It was highway MPG, during the early years of production, and the best I can tell the 54 MPG was with one particular engine combined with a 4-speed manual. I explain which engine/trans combination I think it was and why.
This happened in the time prior to the EPA MPG figures being posted on window stickers and published by the EPA. People learned of a given cars' MPG by what the manufacturer published, this via television commercials, billboards, magazines, and newspaper ads. The reason for this was that the EPA figures being listed on window stickers, and the (then) EPA's annual booklet of gas mileage figures (available at car dealerships as being one source) didn't come around until somewhere between 1982-84, as I recall. The Omni/Horizon was released in 1978.
Getting back to the 54 MPG Omni/Horizon.
The story goes that, when the first Dodge Omni's and Plymouth Horizon's were released, they were only available as the 5-door (Hatchback) as the 3-door versions and the trucks didn't exist. The demand for these new cars was so strong that Chrysler couldn't build enough engines. So they started buying engines from whoever could supply them and as a result during the first few years the new little hatchbacks were coming through with different engines. Chrysler was buying engines from, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Simca, (Mitsubishi?) Whatever their own engine was I've forgotten any data on that, as I believe the eventual 2.2 was still on the drawing board. There may have been more manufacturers involved, I'm recalling the ones I can since I never had a list. I believe the 54 MPG cars were the ones that came through with the Simca engine and the 4-speed manual trans. Chrysler had some association with Simca, I never knew if Simca was owned by Chrysler and serving as their European branch, or if it was an association like that with Mitsubishi of Japan. With Simca being European, they knew how to stretch MPGs and particularly for the Omni/Horizon cars going to the European market. The Simca engine going into the Omni/Horizons was a 1.6L, whereas other engines being supplied were bigger, I referenced the engine Volkswagen had supplied and it was a 2.0L. I didn't reference further as this piece was becoming long.
Going back to at the time, it was quite a scene as salesmen had to learn to identify whose engine was in a given car to answer the customers that asked. (I was one of those customers.) And the mechanics had to learn whose engine was in a given car to reference which shop manual was required to work on it. Whereas most customers didn't care about the engine or who built it, they were buying these cars based on the published MPG figures. That, and because they were beautiful little cars that drove great. And as someone who was there at the time, I have to say that Chrysler built the Omni and Horizon to be appealing to the eye, the feel, and the wallet. They succeeded. Those little cars along with their variants were everywhere in the 1980s and into the '90s. I don't think it's possible for any of us Americans to watch a film made between 1980-92 and not see Omni's and Horizon's in outdoor scenes. They were an incredibly successful car. If I could buy a brand-new one today, I wouldn't be able to get my money into the sales manager's hands fast enough.
Awesome thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that insight and information. Greatly appreciate it. It’s amazing they can’t offer that fuel economy now.
@@What.its.like. The only reason "they can’t offer that fuel economy now" is because they don't want to. They want us to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for an electric car. But understand that we had incredible gas sipping cars back in the 1980s. In 1987, I bought a brand-new Chevrolet Sprint E/R. A GM labeled 3-cylinder Suzuki that was as cute as can be, especially in vivid red. The base Sprint cost $5300. I wanted and bought one of the cars that had the E/R option ($200), so the sticker cost was $5500. E/R stands for Extended/Range and put out and additional 10 MPG, in turn boosting the highway gas mileage to about 50 MPG. We had other cars in the '80s that got really good MPG, even the Oldsmobile Cutlass 2-door with the 305 V-8 would get 30 MPG on the expressway. I don't think GM published that, but GM knows how to squeeze gas out of an engine, and they let word of mouth get the message out.
Yes, in the '80s there were plenty of cars available in the USA that got really good gas mileage. That started changing in the '90s and the '00s so that if you wanted a car with high gas mileage you had to pay more money for it, eventually it became substantially more for it. Moving on, I don't recall if in the past I filled you in on the farce that electric cars are. The amount of pollution they cause in various forms of built them and raw materials for the batteries, is sickening--EVs are damaging the planet, not sensibly built ICE cars. As well, after EVs are built the electricity to charge them is pollution too and it's looking that that pollution with be in another location than where most EVs will be charged.
My 1984 Rampage with a Weber carb and a 5 speed out of a gas miser Omni gets 36 mpg over average. Pretty good, might get a little more in perfect conditions. These got good mileage especially with manual trans because they were so light weight.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing that information =)
I had a used 1986 or 1987 Plymouth Turismo, (same as a front wheel driver dodge charger) with the 2.2 auto. both used the Chrysler L plat form. i wanted the rampage but only found the a black Plymouth Turismo, i drove it a lot to school, to work, out of town, in town the basic distance for the most part was 20 plus miles at a time. gas was not a problem, mpg was great. i easily got 45 mpg or better. this the one i wish i could find and get back. i fond and good memories of that car. selling was one of my biggest mistakes i ever made. i wish i could say the same for the ford escort i had. but, i can't it was a POS. great video
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us =)
I learn to drive on a Dodge Rampage 1983. This car is emotional for me.
Awesome it’s never too late I see these pop-up for sale all the time on Facebook marketplace in my area for like 3500 bucks
@@What.its.like. In Canada, I think it's probably way more difficult to get one. I see an old one in a remote region, but they don't want to sale it.
Possibly EPA mileage was calculated differently during that time. I recall there was a period with outrageous mileage claims.
This is PJ, the owner. The wheels are also aftermarket and like you said, they only made 3500 and, of those, there were only 1400 of the GT''s like mine. You did a fantastic job on this video. Thank you so much.
Thank you I saw you drive by in it in koppel I tried waving but I don’t think you saw me... that day when it was 45 degrees and felt like 55 lol. I had the green machine out when I saw you
Thank you so much I’m glad you liked the video
No, it’s not a truck, it’s a Coupé Utility. True trucks are body on frame.
My first new car when I was 21 was a 1983 Rampage red on red. It only had 3 options listed on the build sheet. A right hand mirror, bed side rails and a 5 speed manual. The base trans was a 4.speed manual. There was only one cab size but mine did not have a shelf just a carpeted floor. I loved that car, I traded for a 1985 Charger 2.2 and wish I hadn’t. I am 6’3 285 lbs a few times me, my friend and both our girlfriends squeezed into that cab, you could never see that in a Fiero!
Awesome information/ story thank you so much for sharing your experience with us =)
The normal scamp actually does have the back shelf in the back
Awesome thank you =)
Milage is decent maybe low to mid 30's, nowhere near 47 as Chrysler
suggested
I had a 5 speed and wore the shifter bushings out.
Don't feel bad dude. I've had buddy's like that too. Get buzzed, won't shut up,🤣🤣🤣
Passenger really needs to shut up. I know that it is his car but “ yeah, yeah” gets old fast
He was a great guy =)
Its a car based truck
I had one exactly like yours, black w orange stripped. Was in rough shape but drove it for about 3 year's
Owned several early to mid 2.2l vehicles early to mid 80s incl an 83 scamp 4 spd. Never ever got 50 mpg with normal use. Only car in that era I remember getting a legit 50 mpg was a VW rabbit and Jetta..smaller engine and little power but mpg all day 😆
I have two Rampages
Sweet what do you think of them?
30iles per gallon
Has a brake valve above rear axle w/ a spring to compensate brakes when bed is loaded
I had 5 Rampages and a Scamp GT .. All mint more or less.. Drove them as everyday vehicles for years.. I will say I want one again so BAD... !! But will not do an auto... They are extreme dogs .. 5 speed the only way to go .. Not even the 4 speed..
Looking here I am trying to figure what is with the red paint under the black? But glad to see it being alive and well..!!
Did the 5 speed give it as much pro as the ads claimed?
Pro? Just a better driving machine all around.!! It worked so well for all of mine..!!
It was supposed to say pep does it have as much pep as the ads claimed sorry must have autocorrected
GT was used on the Plymouth only
Thanks for the cool vid! We just got a Rampage to wrench on!
That’s awesome. I wish you could ad pictures on here would love to see it.
These things are a blast!
I have a 89 dodge caravan turbo for sale if anyone is interested.
Awesome
Does it have ABS?
Not sure
Don't think they made extended cab just different interior trim. GT auto what a dog! need 5 spd!
Yeah I kinda want to drive the 5 speed to see if there is that much of a difference.. the Hudson cross country accelerated faster than this.. this accelerated about as fast as dial up internet found the site you were looking for... lol fuel economy was the biggest highlight
Sat in a vw pickup once, talk about small, the scamp / rampage is much roomier
All had the rear shelf, all the same size
It wouldn't hurt to clean the vehicle before the video
go wash it for the owner.