Dodge 50 truck

Production period:	1979 to 1993
Class :	Commercial vehicles
Body versions :	Truck
Engines:	various
Length:	various
Payload	3.5 to 7.5 tonnes

The Dodge 50 was a light-weight truck that was introduced in 1979 and built in the UK by Dodge .

History

The Dodge 50 , later also Renault 50 , was a series of light trucks that Chrysler Europe manufactured under the name Dodge in the UK . Later, Renault Véhicules Industriels (RVI), formerly part of the Renault Group, now part of Volvo , took over the manufacturing. The series was offered in the model years 1979 to 1993.

The Series 50 was available in a variety of chassis and body combinations - including special and two completely different cabs - with a gross vehicle weight rating of 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes. Various engines were offered, including the Perkins Phaser. There was also a version with four-wheel drive . Bodybuilders offered a variety of bodies, including dump trucks and minibuses , various engines including a electric version.

Many vehicles were delivered as chassis cabs and then provided with box bodies; such wagons have been widely used by transportation companies in the UK. Also, they were often provided with compressors or generators. Slowly, however, the popularity of these vehicles declined, especially because of the unreliability when additional units were connected to the vehicle drive. (The vehicles themselves had no reliability issues!) Today, haulage companies prefer smaller cars with attached generators. The four-wheel drive version was used by the British Army as it was one of the few trucks in the country in its size and could carry far more weapons and equipment than even the largest Land Rover .

Chrysler was backed by the British government, which wanted to help the ailing British Motor Industry . Chrysler, however, was struggling to get back on the profit track, having inherited from Rootes a number of problematic car and truck brands (and factories), namely Commer and Karrier , plus several Frenchoperations. In 1978, Chrysler ceased all its European activities and sold them to Peugeot . The cars and vans were offered under the brand name Talbot .

However, Peugeot had little interest in the truck and the heavier model factory was operated together with Renault Véhicules Industriels (RVI), which was looking for a British manufacturing facility for its own models. They made the series 50 on, as well as the small Dodge (formerly Commer) Spacevan and the larger series 100 . During this transition phase, there were vehicles that still had the Dodge designation, but also the Renault rhombus.

In 1987, the series 50 was revised and now uniformly referred to as Renault 50 . The name Dodge no longer existed in the UK. (Chrysler retained its Dodge division in the US and reintroduced US Dodge models into the UK in 2006). Renault manufactured the 50 series until 1993, but it was never a great sales success, also because it had to compete with other Renault products such as the Master Renault much preferred to export.In 1994, Renault, which now needed the factory for a major engine production, sold the 50 series crimping tools to a Chinese manufacturer.