Dodge Sweptside: A Fan’s Perspective

I was mesmerized the first time I saw a 1957 Dodge Sweptside pickup. As an eight-year-old boy, I thought putting tailfins on a truck was a bold advance in design. The Sweptside inspired me to put cardboard tailfins on my bicycle, but instead of the Sweptside Dodge fins, my bike’s fins looked like cartoonish shark fins. Even so, I thought flying personal transportation was just around the corner.

The 1957 Dodge truck’s front fenders reminded me of the 1956 Plymouth front fenders. Both vehicles had a forward-leaning edge that housed deeply hooded headlamps. Both vehicles looked as though they were in motion, even when parked. On the truck’s