Car of the day- Dodge Raider (1987-1989)

The mini-SUV wars were just heating up in the United States back in the mid 1980s.  GM and Ford were going head to head with it's S-10 Blazer/Jimmy and Bronco II.  At first, Chrysler wasn't on board with this new fad.  Their impression was that people would grow tired of 4x4s and return to driving passenger cars such as their K cars and Caravan/Voyager minivans.

But by 1987, Chrysler realized how profitable these new SUVs were and knew they had to get in on the action.  Rather than put time and effort into designing an SUV from scratch, Chrysler (specifically Dodge) reached out to their Japanese partner, Mitsubishi.  The result was a re-badged Mitsubishi Montero two door SUV that Dodge called the Raider.

The truck itself was relatively simple.  It was lightweight, came equipped with a 4-cylinder engine, and had a very no-frills interior (which was typical of a 4x4 in the 80s).  There isn't much to say in terms of reliability, but with what little information I was able to glean from forums, the biggest issue of these things was rust.

The lifespan of the Raider was relatively short, lasting only three model years.  There aren't many records indicating how many were sold in those three years, but I assume there were few of them.  One possible reason for this car's short  lifespan was Dodge's other, larger stablemate, the Ramcharger.  Dodge was still making some decent money off their Ram-based SUV and felt that it would be a much more feasible idea to update the Ramcharger rather than import more Raiders.  Another reason was the Jeep.  In 1987 (same year as the Raider's introduction) Chrysler purchased the dying American Motors Corporation.  In that deal, Chrysler acquired the Jeep division, which included the Wrangler, Cherokee, Wagoneer, and Comanche.  These new step-siblings also conflicted with Raider sales.

I personally like the Raider because it's such a fun and simple truck.  There weren't many power options available, which means less electronic malfunctions.  The interior is very basic, meaning it wouldn't be the end of the world if I spilled something on it.  And due to it's small engine size and weight, the Raider gets fairly decent gas milage.  And let's not forget the 4x4!

(photo courtesy of vwvortex.com)