| CSS\Adventurer Trucks | Sweptline Power Wagons | Medium/Heavy Duty Trucks |
Leading up to the year 1961, Dodge had a strong history of tough and well
refined pickups. Power Wagons, Fluid-Drive, Truck-O-Matic and Sweptside
trucks all contributed to the legacy of these vehicles. Under the
Chrysler Corpration, Dodge, Fargo, and De-Soto Trucks were
manufactured with the same parts but marketed differently with
different nameplates. Fargo trucks were generally sold in Canada while
De-Soto trucks were sold in other countries.
These early 1960 Dodge Truck ads show the "Double Life" that later ads
touted. Engineered to handle rigorous duty and combine comfort with good
looks in the entire package made these pre-Sweptline Era trucks excellent
vehicles. By this time, however, the share that Chrysler posessed in truck
sales had declined since the mid-fifties and management wanted to increase
sales by offering an entirely new vehicle for the '61 model year.
Larger commercial rigs under the C designation still utilized the cabs
from the late fifties until the mid-seventies. Also, Town Panels and Town
Wagons were manufactured with the same parts until the mid-sixties.