Dodge discontinued the Dakota pickup truck due to poor sales, which were partly Dodge’s fault but also a result of customers’ move toward full-size pickups.
The first-generation Dodge Dakota pickup had an undeniable allure. It debuted in 1986 as a midsize truck, slotting between the compact Dodge Ram 50 and full-size Dodge Ram in the automaker’s truck lineup. Soon enough, it quickly grew in popularity because of its car-like cabin. The truck also stood out for its ability to carry more than other compact trucks, such as the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet S-10, while still being easy to drive around town.
Its engines were impressive, too. The Dakota truck launched with either a 2.2-liter inline four-cylinder or 3.9-liter V6 engine, but Dodge later added a 5.2-liter fuel-injected V8. Somewhere along the line, the 2.2 inline-four ultimately made way for a larger 2.5-liter Trenton four-cylinder engine, which was replaced in turn by an AMC-sourced 2.5-liter four-cylinder in 1996.
As the first-gen engines were quite popular, Dodge retained all three engines for the second generation but eventually added the 250-hp 5.
