Welly 1:24 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport and Custom

Once again, hitting the Rite-Aids for some more cool 1:24 scale models.  Now I found two more trucks, and we start with this eye-catching yellow of the Dodge Ram Sport.

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More doors, brighter color

Needing a much needed change for the Dodge truck family, the long-awaited 1994 Dodge Ram appeared with revolutionary semi-truck styling, wide array of cab, model, bed, and chassis choices.  Since then the Ram has moved from the mist of the bottom to just right up to the current top-selling vehicles in the US, the Ford F-series and Chevy Silverado.  However, the competition wasn't going to sit down on its laurels for long, as a new car-like F-series debut in 1997, a new Silverado on the way, and the sudden appearance of extended cab models with rear-hinged doors (starting with Chevy) that was preparing to go from three to four.  Dodge made a mid-cycle refresh to keep up with the competition.

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For 1998, the Ram finally gained two rear-hinged doors, beating Ford to the market by a year and earning the name Quad Cab.  This was also a needed effort since the new Dakota introduced a year prior was caught off-guard with the rear half-door revolution by introducing the club cab without any rear doors.  Also new was redesigned exterior mirrors from old-fashion truck-like chrome to a more modern modular unit, a revised front bumper with outer foglights (the original foglight locations still exists), and a new Solar Yellow color that was for a limited time only but became so popular that it was continued for another year.  The interior was redesigned with more modern amenities like dual airbags, rounder dash, new gauges, relocated cupholders, and new front seats on Quad Cab models featuring integrated seat belts just like the Chrysler Sebring convertible.

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The engine include a series of Magnum V6, V8, and V10 engines for 1500 models, with the Sport gaining a 5.9L V8 producing 245 hp. and 335 Ib-ft. torque through a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic.  Four-wheel drive system is a part-time 2-speed with a floor-based shifter and live front and rear axles.  Even with major revisions, the classic look of the 1994 Ram still continues unchanged, even today.

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Yellow with envy

I must say this yellow looks mighty good on this casting.  It's a real looker!  This Welly version is one of the earlier Welly's that featured less details and simplistic construction, but still the Ram stands out.  Offered in Sport trim, this Quad Cab has a monochrome look in either Red, Blue, Black, or Yellow.  The headlights, grille, and bumper are all plastic, but well integrated into the front-end (and much better than the Maisto 1:24 Ram).  The sides have the door and trim lines, while Ram 1500 and Sport are the graphics.  The rear has DODGE on the tailgate, colored-bumper, and nicely-integrated taillights with color-matching outer frame (rarely seen since most castings in this scale either have clear red or blacked-out surrounding frame).  The bed is plastic, but nicely resembles a bedliner, though the tailgate lacks the inner bedliner panel and looks off-set when closed.

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The same goes for the doors that look a bit off, the rearview mirror stickers look like foil, and it lacks the opening quad doors at the rear.  The wheels are the new 3-spoke torqued units that resemble the 1994-1996 Viper RT/10's; not one of my favorite stock Ram wheels, but it looks good here in chrome on meaty rubber tires.  The base is nicely done with the correct drivetrain, exhaust, rear axle, and spare tire in the rear (though it doesn't use the standard steel wheel like the actual Ram uses), but the front is a mess with an engine block pushed too-far forward from the front axle, and the suspension has lower A-arms like the two-wheel drive model instead of the proper live axle, coil springs of the actual 4x4 models.  The interior is nicely done in black with the correct black front and rear benches, door panels, and dashboard details, but once again a few problems:  The transmission tunnel is rather large, offsetting the accelerator and brake pedals, the transfer case shifter is missing, there's two turn-signal stalks on the left-side of the column, and the gauges look nothing like the actual truck's unit.  Oh and my tester had a cracked driver's side door panel from being pressed too hard, but hey the panel is still there and the crack is only noticeable up close.

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The even sportier side of the Ram

Long before I obtained the yellow Sport I had this awesome lowered Quad Cab Ram in black with white, yellow, and purple flames.  It's soo cool that the only request was maybe some orange in the mist of the flames.  The base is redesigned to lower the suspension (though barely noticed on the base), the wheels are mags with super-slim tires, and a tonneau cover is placed over the bed.  The latter is missing on most of these custom Ram Quad Cab's by Welly, offered in more color options than black, but with the same awesome look and wheels.

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I'm a big Dodge Ram collector, and i'm pleased to have this yellow one, along with the custom black one, joining my collection!