Dodge Sportsman
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The Dodge Sportsman was a full-sized passenger van built by Dodge, which replaced the flat-nosed A100. It was the same vehicle as the Dodge Tradesman except for passenger seating and side windows absent in the Tradesman. In the 1970s, it was also marketed as the Plymouth Adventurer and also as the Plymouth Voyager previous to the development of the minivan by the same name. It used the same gasoline-powered I6 and V8 engines as the Dodge D Series pickup truck.
The Sportsman adopted the engine-forward, driver behind the front wheels, and short nose of the revised short-nose Ford Econoline, and later adopted an even longer nose. For the last two years, the nose would again get a restyling with the trademark horizontal and vertical split bars. The body behind the cab would remain essentially unchanged until replaced by the 2003 Sprinter. It pioneered the extended-rear 15-passenger van favored by school and church groups and dominated it until overtaken by Ford in the 1990s. It introduced a sliding side door, and also a unique side-swinging tail door with a full-width window.
It was also popular in early class-C RV conversions. The minivan, perfected by Chrysler, eventually took over the passenger wagon market. With the Sprinter, Chrysler basically abandoned American-style full-sized vans in favor of smaller, more fuel efficient European-style models, but never regained the market share in passenger vans.
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Dodge Vehicles | ([http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit]) | |
| Current: | ||
| Cars: | Avenger | Caliber | Charger | Charger Daytona | Magnum | Viper | |
| Vans/SUVs: | Nitro | Caravan/Grand Caravan | Durango | |
| Trucks: | Dakota | Ram | SRT-10 | Sprinter | |
| Historic: | ||
| Cars: | 024 | 330 | 400 | 600 | 880 | Aries | Aspen | Avenger | Challenger | Charger (B-body) | Charger (L-body) | Colt | Conquest | Coronet | Custom 880 | Dart | Daytona | Demon | Diplomat | Dynasty | Intrepid | La Femme | Lancer | Matador | Mirada | Monaco | Neon | Omni | Polara | Shadow | Sierra | Spirit | SRT-4 | St. Regis | Stealth | Stratus | Super Bee | |
| Vans/SUVs: | Mini Ram Van | Raider | Ramcharger | Ram Van | Ram Wagon | Sportsman | Town Panel | Town Wagon | Tradesman | |
| Trucks: | 50 Series | A100 | B Series | C Series | D Series | Power Wagon | Rampage | Ram 50 | |
| Corporate: | Fratzog | John Francis Dodge | Horace Elgin Dodge | |
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