washingtonpost.com's view

SCORE another one for those people at Chrysler Corp. They’ve come out with a mid-size pickup truck in an overcrowded truck market, and the darn thing, the 1987 Dodge Dakota SE, is likely to sell well.

The Dakota SE is different enough to attract attention, and competitive enough to outrun most of its rivals in terms of overall quality and performance. Throw in Chrysler’s proven marketing skills and you’ve got a winner.

That doesn’t mean the Dakota SE is flawless. There are some flubs, two of which could affect occupant safety.

But this machine — with its excellent front and rear suspensions, its tightly constructed full-length frame, and its optional 3.9-liter, V-6 engine — is about as good a pickup truck as you can get.

That’s great news for the consumer. But I’ll bet that some folks at Ford, Nissan, Toyota and General Motors are gritting their teeth over the Dakota SE and wishing that Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca would quit the wheels business and do something non-competitive like run for president.

Outstanding complaints: Too much play in the shoulder-harness portions of the seat belts. This truck stops quickly in emergency situations, but the properly belted passengers inside don’t. Several adjustments did little to tighten the shoulder harnesses to the point where they would grab occupants and pull them back quickly in panic stops. This might be a test-model problem only, but it bears watching.

Also, the Dakota, like many other pickups, lacks headrests. Yeah, yeah, I know. “Real men” and “people who know trucks” don’t want or need wimpy headrests in their macho machines. Baloney. Real men have real heads, and a number of safety studies have shown that those unprotected heads can go smashing through the rear windows of pickups in rear-end collisions. Put headrests in there, Chrysler.

Outstanding praise: The Dakota SE’s suspension system. Pickup trucks are notoriously bouncy vehicles, particularly when there’s nothing in their cargo boxes to hold down their rear ends. This truck does not have that problem.

The company put extra-long leaf springs — longer than those used in its full-size pickups — in the Dakota’s rear suspension, and added computer-designed coil springs with rubber-isolated control arms in the front. Fully telescoping shock absorbers are installed at all four wheels. The upshot: A firm, but pleasant lightly loaded ride, uninterrupted by encounters with most bumps and potholes.

Acceleration and handling: Excellent speed. That 3.9-liter V-6 is a hummer. Almost drives like a large sedan. Excellent handling on wet and twisty roads at legal highway speeds.

Cargo box dimensions: 6 1/2-foot box on tested model; 8-foot box available.

Head-turning-quotient: Easily among the best in the compact/mid-size pickup truck class.

Sound system: AM/FM stereo radio by Chrysler. Okay.

Mileage: About 16 to the gallon (15-gallon tank), combined city-highway, running with two occupants, less than a hundred pounds of cargo most of the time. No air conditioner in test model.

Price-as-tested: $8,558, including $555 for automatic transmission, $386 for the optional 3.9-liter V-6 (a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder engine is standard), and $279 for the AM/FM stereo radio.