"Breaking the rules"
By Michael Strong

Let me tell you the story of my
"Da'cuda R/T"..........

I was out looking for a Dakota to replace my 92 Dakota Sport, So naturally the only replacement was a new Dakota. So as I started my quest I had my mind set on a Dakota R/T Club Cab (I needed the extra room).
After seeing how little room there was behind the front seats I started looking at Durango R/T's but a new problem arose. I teach Scuba Diving so I end up hauling gear on long and short trips, well let me tell you how it smells .....maybe not, so I needed the back end of a Dakota.
I also had one more dilemma, I am currently restoring my 1969 Dodge Charger R/T so I needed the ability to tow it to the body shop and eventually to out of town Mopar Shows. (what better of truck to tow my Charger, and this was before Dodge made the commercial with the guys towing the 68 charger and the guy in the car next to him says "that thing got a HEMI" )
Those obstacles made the decision for me and the only choice I had was the Dakota Sport Quad Cab, but no R/T's were offered for that model (why had the Dodge Boys left it out, you can buy every model that Dodge made in the R/T option, Neon R/T, Stratus R/T, Intrepid R/T, Durango R/T I even once heard that Dodge was considering a Quad Cab R/T but it never happened).
I then remembered an ad campaign by Dodge called "Breaking the Rules" so I decided to "break the rules" and build my own Dakota Quad Cab R/T.

I ordered my Dakota with all the options you could get on the R/T but I had one last choice, the 5.9 or 4.7 (I also had heard about the all new yet to be released 5.7 HEMI) hard choices, I love the 5.9 after building and racing 340's and 360's I have a lot of respect for small block mopar engines. The life of the 5.9 was also in danger by the Dodge Boys so I looked at the 4.7 and saw the engine was potent and had lots of potential. I made the choice and the 4.7 won out, I wanted to break the rules.
I took delivery of my Dakota April 2002 and loved it but the only thing that disturbed me was that it really was not a true R/T and I know that the R/T purists would think I was trying to pass my truck off as a real R/T, I can respect that after all I do own an original R/T Charger and not some clone.
So in keeping with the theme of "Breaking the rules" and all the nostalgia of the motor company's reinventing and reviving the muscle cars I thought, what if Dodge combined it with the style of a 70 cuda and merged it with the Dakota.
So I found all parts that would make a Da'cuda R/T. The hood was from AAR Quality Fiberglass, and the rear Roll Pan was from Terry at Profinish-Proglass. (I loved his Shaker Hoods but seeing to many around I choose AAR) So here is the result.
my version of a Da'cuda R/T

I hope you enjoy.

One last comment build your truck the way you want it, and enjoy it for yourself and if others enjoy it, that's great! if not oh well, you built it for yourself.