I got a wild hair across my ass that I needed to address two shortcomings in my garage:
1.) I needed a truck. I was sick of hauling tires / wheels / car parts / etc. in my Eurovan, which is really in pretty nice shape. It felt like I was junking it up with the crap I would haul that didn't easily fit in my wagon.
2.) I missed the V8 from the Audi. I did not miss the Audi V8 in any capacity. But I liked the way it sounded, I liked the torque, and I felt like any true gearhead really needs eight cylinders somewhere in their fleet.
I had my eye on the Dakota R/T for a while. Historically speaking, the factory hot rod trucks have all done very well in the marketplace, especially when found in near-stock condition. The truck I found came out of Florida, after a chance encounter on Manheim.com. It was listed as a solid driver that had a respray to address the common clearcoat failure issue that plagues Mopar products of this era.
Combined with the fact that the dealer was run by guys from North Attleboro who had a buddy making a run up to Maine the next night, I made and offer and struck a deal. I got enclosed shipping for roughly $500 all the way from Port Charlotte. Overall, it's pretty good - the paint job is decent but also looks way better than a truck with zero clearcoat - and it sound gnarly.
Immediate plans are to refresh the interior with new carpeting and some Corbeau seats; Belltech lowering kit; and some general maintenance. I already love this thing way too much and may even find a way to sneak a Fox body into the garage before too long....