Where is the dodge deora

The result, with clamshell top and center swivel bottom, was much more spectacular. Mike Alexander The history of the Deora dates back to …in the early 60, Detroit's three major automakers showcased vans, la Dodge A, Ford Econoline and Chevrolet Handy-Van with Corvair vans which also had cab driving positions. The Alexander brothers were intrigued by the possibilities of building a radical sports pickup on one and commissioned car designer Harry Bentley Bradley to design what became the Deora..

Mike and his brother Larry have made some of the most famous and influential customs of the years and because of a new toy called Hot Wheels and a Beach Boys song and album, "A Bros" ultimately influenced American culture and the way the world sees us. I had the great privilege of interviewing Mike Alexander last year on a project I'm working on on the Dodge Deora demo car, then meet him in person at It was a good time to attend the signing of Ford GT designer Camilo Pardo Mike a blue ribbon for the Deora, who was on display as part of an Alexander Brothers car group at this show.

Mechanical engineers and manufacturers, Mike and Larry were perhaps the most skilled technician of all manufacturers during the golden age of custom cars. It was unveiled in their hometown during the Detroit Autorama in , where he won nine awards, including the Ridler Award. The Deora is based on the compact Dodge A pickup.

The rear hatch of a Ford station wagon from served as a windshield. He was cut, sectioned and channeled to create the fully functional and futuristic pick-up.

The car entrance is by lifting the windshield, and pivoting the bottom door when entering from the front. Concept car designed by Harry Bradley and built by brothers Mike and Larry Alexander, hot rod specialists, the Dodge Deora was produced at the request of Chrysler on the basis of a Dodge A van from This concept of has the distinction of not being fitted with side doors but with a pivoting door at the front giving access to the interior of the vehicle.

This door was actually the rear door of a Ford Station Wagon from but returned to degrees. All rights reserved. More on this:. Car reviews:. More than once, we've talked about how cabover trucks should make a comeback, now that the market is all about big-nose designs.

And what better way to lure aficionados into the forward control realm if not a modern-day interpretation of the Dodge Deora? You know, the cabover-truck-gone-show-car that can easily be used to define the styling exuberance of the era. Well, the rendering that now occupies our screens introduces just that.

The Dodge A that served as a base for the concept already showed a strong personality, but the dramatic transformation it received was unprecedented. The ingenious answer was through the front window, which in execution, became a large, forward-opening glass hatch that the clever "A Brothers" fabricated using the lift-up rear window from a donor Ford station wagon.

More about that in a moment: The Alexanders liked Harry Bradley's radical design. To everyone's surprise and delight, so did the powers that be at Chrysler, who donated a stripped A as a sacrificial lamb. Mike and Larry began by whacking off the stock cab completely, right down to the floorpan. When the new roof section was tack-welded into place, it rested just about where the stock steering column had been.

Bradley's original vision was that the front-opening hatch would be a one-piece unit, hinged at the roof's leading edge, like the tailgate of a hatchback or the liftgate of a modern station wagon. But the stock A's flimsy A-pillars would never have supported that arrangement, so Mike and Larry ingeniously crafted a split door setup.

The rear section of the Ford station wagon, rotated degrees, became the new cab roof. What had been the Ford's rear window, was now the Deora's new windshield.

Hinged at the top, it was controlled by an electric motor that activated an hinged arm that was plated for looks and drilled for lightness. The "A Bros" hand-fabricated a lower front panel that fit neatly between the headlights.

That panel, which became the lower portion of the cab's only door, was hinged on the right side for ease of entry and exit. Transforming Harry Bradley's futuristic sketches into a working trucklet took all the ingenuity the Alexanders possessed.

They may have used a BMW Isetta for inspiration. The stock steering column was replaced with a folding horizontal strut that rotated forward from the left side of the body to let the driver in and out. It locked into place when the driver was seated.

The steering wheel was a stylish butterfly-shaped yoke, reportedly made from an Oldsmobile steering wheel, which would have been right at home in a small aircraft. The steering box itself is a modified Chevrolet Corvair unit. The vertical steering column runs up and out of sight through the left cab body panel. A small sprocket on top of the column is connected via a roller chain to another sprocket about 12 inches to the right, on the end of the swiveling bracket, which in turn, is connected to the steering wheel.

A finger-operated latch mechanism locks the wheel in front of the driver. During entrance and egress, the steering column tilts forward so the driver can squeeze by. The stock A foot pedals were already mounted in the floor, so they didn't need to be relocated. Engineers at Hurst Performance Products developed a custom floor shifter for the stock Dodge three-speed manual transmission. The Alexander brothers wanted the occupants to sit low, inboard of the front wheel wells, so the slant-six was moved rearward about 15 inches to make room for the bucket seats.

The engine now protruded into the pickup bed, but the show truck was never really designed as a practical hauler, so it wasn't a problem. There was never a plan to stuff a big V-8 in this vehicle. Its sleek silhouette requirement would not have tolerated it. In order to achieve that ultra-low look, the radiator was relocated in the bed as well, just ahead of the rear axle.

Twin air intake holes were cut into the bottom of the bed, and an electric fan was used to draw in cooling air. That meant that the fuel tank had to be moved from its stock location behind the rear axle to a new position just behind the reconstituted cab. The pickup bed itself was covered with a hard tonneau that was secured by chrome hood locking pins, so no one could see the magic that went on beneath it.

To effectively lower the chassis, the Alexander's raised the front frame rails and ran the front springs through the axle.

Short-coupled industrial shocks replaced the original tubular shock absorbers in front. They also modified the rear suspension. The overall height of the truck went from about 72 inches in stock form, to just 57 inches after modifications — that's a 15 inch difference!

Contoured bucket seats leaned rearward just a little to accommodate the Deora's two stylish occupants. The cockpit itself was trimmed in pleated leather. In keeping with this car's atypical design, the instrument panel was relocated to the driver's side door, and a center console held a speedometer and the tachometer.

At the Detroit Autorama, the Deora completely swept the show, winning nine trophies plus the coveted Don Ridler award for the best new custom car.