If you were a Mopar guy in the late 1970’s and really had it out for smokin’ Corvettes, there was only one new “Adult Toy” from Dodge that you were interested in, and that was a Li’l Red Express Truck. These fire engine red pickups sported vertical stacks, wooden bedliners and more style crammed into one car for a whole industry to take. Today, Li’l Red’s are becoming more and more valuable for their impact on the scene.
With machines like this finally getting their due, companies like Classic Exhaust Systems, LLC is giving them the restoration parts they deserve. CES told Mopar Connection, “The Li’l Red Express is one of the most recognizable American trucks of the late ’70s. Finding an application-correct dual — H-pipe, intermediates, S-pipes, stand/stack pipes, and real muffler choices — has been nearly impossible. We built the kit.”
Although these are reproduction system and not NOS or factory-original parts, they’re as close to the “real thing” as you’re gonna get. And note that the 1979 kit includes catalytic converters because that is how the truck was built. It is not an emissions certification. And just to keep the lawyers at bay, Classic Exhaust Systems wanted us to note that CES is not affiliated with or endorsed by Chrysler/Stellantis. They just make killer products.
Here’s the original press release from Classic Exhaust Systems:
Classic Exhaust Systems LLC is now building OEM reproduction dual exhaust systems for the 1978 and 1979 Dodge Li’l Red Express. The kits are available now at classicexhaust440.com.
Each full dual kit includes the H-pipe, stock mufflers, intermediates, S-pipes, and the stand/stack pipes. The kits are sized to OEM 2-1/4″ diameter throughout and are year-correct:
- 1978 (no catalytic converters) starting at $1,215
- 1979 (catalytic converters in the intermediates) starting at $1,820
Kits come in aluminized steel or 304 stainless. Muffler choices run from pipes only to stock, turbo, or glass-pak. Options include OEM hanger kits, polished stainless tips (+$416 pair), and stainless stack shields with bolts and anti-rattle washers (+$695). Tips and shields together are +$1,111.
Classic Exhaust Systems is the only shop it knows of building these kits, in exclusive partnership with DodgeConnection.com.
Every system is made to order in Madison, Ohio. Lead time is 1–3 weeks for aluminized and 3–5 weeks for stainless. The tubing is compression-bent to reflect the factory method.
WHY IT MATTERS
In 1978, Dodge put a police-spec 360 four-barrel into a short-wheelbase D150 Utiline, painted it Canyon Red, and stood a pair of chrome stacks behind the cab. With no catalytic converters, the ’78 ran true duals, and period tests put it among the quickest American vehicles on sale that year. Dodge built 2,188 trucks for 1978 and 5,118 for 1979. The ’79 gained cats but kept the stacks. Finding a year-correct dual that fits has been the missing piece for restorers.
CONTACT
Classic Exhaust Systems LLC
25 Edwards Street Suite D, Madison, OH 44057
440-466-5460 | sa***@***************40.com | classicexhaust440.com
