This full-size pickup nameplate launched for the 1961 model year as an all-new replacement for Dodge’s earlier light-duty trucks. The first generation introduced a lower, broader look and a more modern truck architecture, and it quickly became the basis for a long-running family of two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive pickups that enthusiasts often refer to as the D/W series. Over time, the line expanded across multiple payload ratings and body styles, including regular-cab, crew-cab, and club-cab configurations, helping establish the truck as one of the more versatile American pickups of its era.
A major redesign arrived for 1972 and set the basic cab-and-bed shape that would carry the line for many years. That generation became especially familiar to buyers and remains one of the most recognizable versions today. In 1981, the pickup line was reorganized and took on the Ram name for the new model year, but the underlying full-size truck lineage continued through the early 1990s. The final trucks of this long-running era were built for the 1993 model year before a fully new Ram pickup arrived in 1994.
The nameplate is important in truck history because it bridges several generations of Dodge pickup development: early postwar utility trucks, the squared-off 1960s and 1970s era, and the transition into the Ram identity that followed. It is also remembered by collectors for durable mechanical simplicity, broad parts interchangeability across many years, and its role in shaping the full-size Ram trucks that came after it.