A friend of mine was really into Mopars right as these limited editions came out, and I'm fairly sure that he said that they were equipped with the same high-output 360 that the Lil Red Express had.
Keep in mind, in '78, the Lil Red Express was the quickest American assembly-line produced vehicle produced even beating the Corvette, as the half-ton trucks had lesser emissions restrictions than passenger cars. I would be surprised if they made a big block version for such a limited run, given the poor performance of the big block that year.
Same friend who talked about the limited edition '78 vehicles has a '78 Magnum XE with the 400 4bbl factory towing package and only about 8000 miles on it, and it was so weak from the factory that it couldn't spin a tire with the open differential. He has since rectified that, but if that's indicative of the performance at the end of the '70s, then I would be greatly surprised if the Midnite Express, the Midnite Charger, or any other limited edition vehicle was any better than the Lil Red Express.
Keep in mind, in '78, the Lil Red Express was the quickest American assembly-line produced vehicle produced even beating the Corvette, as the half-ton trucks had lesser emissions restrictions than passenger cars. I would be surprised if they made a big block version for such a limited run, given the poor performance of the big block that year.
Same friend who talked about the limited edition '78 vehicles has a '78 Magnum XE with the 400 4bbl factory towing package and only about 8000 miles on it, and it was so weak from the factory that it couldn't spin a tire with the open differential. He has since rectified that, but if that's indicative of the performance at the end of the '70s, then I would be greatly surprised if the Midnite Express, the Midnite Charger, or any other limited edition vehicle was any better than the Lil Red Express.
