I don't even remember how or why this week's automotive fun thread popped into my head, but it did. Sometimes a car manufacturer comes out with something so deliciously weird that you have to just savor it for a moment before going "ewwww". These are the truck versions. Here are Jay's Top Ten Weirdest Trucks.
1. Cadillac Mirage. Yes, "mirage", as in, "did I really see that?". The Mirage is a specialty vehicle built to haul flowers for funeral processions and is rarely seen without a bed full of floral arrangements.
2. Volkswagen Type 2 pickup. Take a perfectly good VW MicroBus. Saw the rear 3/4 off. Put on a utility body 8½' bed. Then add hinged sections that created a cargo area. The Type 2 pickup had to be one of the oddest ways to turn a perfectly good van into a pretty lousy pickup truck, especially when you factor in the anemic engine powering said truck...
3. Dodge Rampage. Take the Dodge Omni. Turn it onto a coupe. Give it a former muscle car name. Then hack the back off and call it a "truck" and you have the Rampage. I always wanted to pick up a Rampage and a Shelby Charger, mate the two, and produce a Shelby Rampage. Well, then I sobered up.
4. Navistar CXT. I always thought that this was an internet hoax until I saw one on the road. Navistar actually took their super duty line of haulers, slapped a pickup bed on it, and sold it to the general public. This pretty much epitomizes the concept of "Just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be done."
5. Plymouth Trailduster. Not so much weird as just plain rare, the Trailduster was the Plymouth version of the much better known Dodge Ramcharger. Much like the GMC Caballero was the lesser known twin of the mulletastic El Camino, the Trailduster languished in the shadow of its more popular sibling.
6. Austin Mini pickup. Proving that, yes, any car on the planet can be turned into a pickup truck with a sawzall and some bondo, the Austin Mini is perhaps best known as the pickup that will fit in the bed of most other pickups.
7. Ford Econoline pickup. Borrowing the bizarre concept of the van-based pickup from Volkswagen, Ford introduced the Econoline van-based pickup in the mid 1960s. Ford kept the design for 6 years, proving that they're not too stubborn to let silly ideas die...
8. VW Caddy. Like the Rampage listed above, the VW Caddy was a front-wheel drive truck, which is rather odd when you consider that the weight is carried in the rear. What this means is that when you go to Home Depot to get a load of bricks for the front walkway, you can't steer. This actually happened to a friend of mine...
9. Porsche 944 pickup. One of the Scandanavian countries (Denmark?) had such a high tariff on sports cars that folks were hacking the liftgate off 944s and importing them as light duty trucks. Ah, yes, the sawzall loophole rides again.
10. GMC Syclone. One of my all time favorite vehicles, the 4.3L turbocharged motor propelled this all-wheel drive, automatic transmission pickup from 0-60 MPH in a blistering 4.6 seconds. It was faster off the line than the standard Porsche 911. Tell me that doesn't smart for the Porsche owner...
Thanks for joining me as I take a trip through the weird world of unusual pickups. There's not too much weirder we can get than the idea of a Porsche pickup or a Cadillac built to haul.
That is all.
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19 comments:
Can't leave the Brat out, Subaru's great addition to the pickup line.
What about the Chevy SSR "truck"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_SSR
I consider myself lucky to make it another week and not have any of my fleet featured on your blog !
How about the Jeep FC series ?
Wow. I actually haven't seen most of those. I'm lost...
Here's one in response to the new government CAFE standards :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reluctant_paladin/2571878090/in/set-72157604624444264
Corvair Rampside, the rear-engined pickup with the tailgate on the side.
I have the fortune to work with a cousin of Carol Shelby and danged if he doesn't drive a Rampage! Just too funy that you mention them together. Never have gotten out of him why he drives that micro beast.
Moar Rampside!
Tam, that Corvair wins for weirdest, hands down...
The Brat is a good addition, too.
The SSR's not a bad choice, although I think that's more of a retro, boutique car appeal than weird.
As for the FC, that's another good contender. That weird little truck looks like it would land on it's grill if you hit the brakes too hard...
And Sabra, you haven't seen most of these because you're too young... ;)
Looove the Freightliner PU. I'm guessing that's a specialty fifth wheel hauler - that's where most of the Navistars went.
And the Shelby Rampage... Heh. I also wanted to take a VW Caddy and turn it into a 16V GTI Caddy...
Lincoln Mark LT. A living Room on wheels, with a truck bed.
http://trucks.about.com/od/fordtruckpictures/l/bl_lincoln_1.htm
Tam, that Rampside has got to be the weirdest looking truck I've ever seen.
Jay, once again you've shown me how incredibly minuscule my vehicle knowledge really is. Thanks for the weirdness, it made me *lol*!
The Cyclone is the only GMC truck I've ever wanted to own...
... ever since one of the automotive mags described it as "basically a Corvette, but with a patio."
Have we done the Lincoln Blackwood yet?
I was keeping the list to weird trucks, not stupid ones...
Otherwise the Explorer Sport-trac, Honda Ridgeline, and Chevy 454SS would have made the list, too...
It's just an extended cab F150 with a non-removeable tonneau and styling done on psylocibin.
...and the C1500 SS454 isn't any stupider than a Cyclone or Lightning! Suppose you need to get that lawn furniture home really fast?
Heh.
The 454SS was stupid because they didn't drop it down an inch or three and crank 475+ horsepower out of that engine.
210 HP? Are you freakin' KIDDING ME?
Tam wins the prize for mentioning the Corvair pickup. My father "had" one, well if you consider that the family ran a salvage yard and one was there for a few years before it was crushed.
That's the only one I ever remember seeing.
The Blackwood is a good mention too, since I think Lincoln sold maybe five of them.
It wasn't a production model mind you, but someone in our town had a jacked up, 4x4 60's Mustang pickup. Almost as tall as it was long.
And Sabra, you haven't seen most of these because you're too young... ;)Yes, yes I know that, but I grew up around gearheads and spent a good part of my weekends in high school going to car shows. I'm actually familiar with 2, 4, & 7, but not the rest. Much as Texas is truck country, we seem to tend towards cars for our classics/antiques.
I suddenly have this burning desire to restore a Rampside and get back in to the car show circuit.
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