useless pickups

[cfesmire]

I saw a Cadillac EXT today on the highway and it struck me that this was by far, one of the most useless vehicles one could imagine. Has our penchant for the pickup in the U.S. gone so far overboard that we can't tell when we are being laughed at? I realize there have been other useless trucks on our highways (anyone remember the Brat?), but I am seeing these empty beds on the back of oversized SUV's with the badge of just about every car manufacturer out there.
Are our European folks as madly in love with the pickup or is this another case of Americans only (remember the station wagon thread)?

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

Two words: Lincoln Blackwood. Well at least only few of these were made. But do not fear, Lincoln is releasing another (crew cab) pick up. It is almost a copy of the Ford unit,but I doubt that anyone will carry lumber with these.

In all, to my view, in America since the SUV is such a popular item, manufacturers not only carry one on their line-up, pick ups are just a natural following.

In Brazil, they are recognized as that what they are. In another words, since the roads are at times, shall we say a trail opening, one has to have vehicles that can cross these with getting stuck. Hence, pick us at times were considered as cars and the double cab models were popular due to their primary abilities. 1960 Ford F 100 was sold as double cab in there; never in the US. Also, that was sold as a SUV but por police or emergency forces. The 1958 Chevrolet graduated as 3-door suburban in there and in recent times, the Chevy S-10 offered a double cab before its American counterpart. Hence, in there, these vehicles are considered as useful contaptions because they can do things that usual automobiles can not and I do not think that an Escalade or Blackwood would make any sense in there. Also goes without saying that police forces and Emergency services were and are good costumers for these vehicles due as stated to road (and at times lack thereof) conditions.

Australia thinks that the UTE (pick ups derivated from their Holdens and/or Falcons) are also popular. Is twenty years since el Caminos left the market (these are,in a sense,the American version of a Ute) yet in Australia these are still being sold. Pehaps because of the severe conditions of that continent.

As I heard and may be wrong pick uos in Europe are mostly used for what these are able to do: cross rough terrain or do a job normal automobiles can not.

[Christian]

Some people buy cars to get efficiently from A to B. Those people buy a Toyota Camry or a VW (sorry Marc). For other people getting a new car is connected with a number of psychological (not necessarily related to "logical", mind you) factors. Those buy a Mercedes CLS, a Saab or a Lancia ... or a Cadillac EXT as I see it.

And no Chester, I hardly see any privately owned "trucks" on our roads in my part of Germany. A few Ford Rangers, some Grand Cherokees perhaps, but really not many. Then again, I see a lot of BMW 7-series, Mercedes CLK, even the occasional Maserati Quattroporte. Wouldn't we all be better off if those people drove VW Passats instead? Yes, no, maybe .... If I ever had a point I think I have just lost it.

[Sylvain]

Here also in France, very, very few pick-ups, even in the country. Of course, a few people (very few) have some of these oversized SUV-pick-up. But they are still very scarce, and look rather silly in our cities streets. Let's hope it will stay like this. Already too many SUVs!

[Lee]

Lots of empty two and four door pickups around here. Seems like one of the requirements to working in the construction trade is having a full size pickup. ;D

[Marc S.]

Christian said:

Some people buy cars to get efficiently from A to B. Those people buy a Toyota Camry or a VW (sorry Marc).

Hahaha!

Marc S. (having fun with 228 lbs.ft of torque at 1900 RPM in a compact car)

[Christian]

Well, I wrote something about "efficient", didn't I?

[Alan]

Here in the UK we have a phenomenon known as the "School run", where parents drive their children to school in huge off-road vehicles (Range Rovers and the like). This can even happen in the middle of the big cities, where such vehicles have rarely seen a grass verge, let alone been off road! The big truck thing is not just confined to the US.

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

Well, be as it may, pick-ups are, as I been told, quite popular in places like Texas and nearby places; almost every county song mentions it. Bill may enlighten me about that.Also,on TV, there is a show that concerns pick-ups - old,new,in between you name it - and how to take care of these and/or rebuild them or make 'em peppy,so to speak. Also,as I learned with this show, there is a huge aftermarket catering for parts of any kind imaginable of pick-ups (I love the circa 1950 Studebaker myself). So one can do the appropriate math and figure what is going on.

Myself,I am not much of a truck person,but love most of the crew cab pick ups avaliable nowadays. One of my first loves was the brazilian 1960 Ford F-100 crew cab pick ups that were offered there. These were three doors because the gas tank cap was located at the driver's side 'C' pillar. But,as I heard this dealer could convert these to 4-door items and the bed would be locked,as a car ( or like the circa thrity years later Lincoln Blackwood).If that ever came out,I will never know. These - the three door versions - were used by the Highway patrol of Sao Paulo state and this particular model, after at least three different front ends and several improvenments such twin I-bean suspensions carried on until 1969.

[cfesmire]

Well, perhaps it is because I use my pickup bed almost every time I drive that I find it so ridiculous to own a pickup and not use this space. I, in fact, can't get a big enough bed to suit my purposes. When searching for a new truck, I was taken by the size of the Dakota from Dodge and inquired about a full size bed with a crew cab. Alas, this was not available and so I went with the full sized Ram. I cannot imagine the purpose of a bed in a truck that measures only 3 or 4 feet in length. I sold my Ford Ranger only because the bed was so small and went back to the full sized bed.
My neighbor (who owns a Nissan pickup) believes that I waste a lot of gas running a large truck. Recently we split the spoils of a wood lot and created 2 equal piles of firewood. I managed to get my pile back to the barn in 2 trips while he had to make 3 and left a few odd pieces still there. Who used more fuel on this seven mile trip? The question is rhetorical really, the point being that the smaller truck could not complete the task any more economically.

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

Car and Driver magazine has a TV show as well and they had reviewed the 500 hp Dodge Ram pick up. Well, one of the editors who drove that vehicle did not found it that useful (why one needs 500 bhp on a truck to start with?) and made it commentary quite clear on screen. Also, he also did not knew how one classify this kind of vehicle. Of course - and that was mentioned - the bed at this vehicle can not be used for much and as Chester mentioned, we talking four unused feet in here.

Dear Chester:

When hauling loads is a main concern, at times fuel economy is the least factor of the equation. The third trip of your buddy was mostly a waste of time. But that is my thinking,you know. In all,most transportation agencies also want to the best timing possible and their deliveries/transportation needs.

[BillC]

Chester:

I have always thought the whole Cadillac EXT/Chevy Avalanche concept was stupid, but it was years before I saw someone in the motoring press mention that the "convertible" function was only usable in moderate weather. Imagine hauling the Christmas tree during a Minnesota winter with the rear of the cab open to the elements. Try using the pickup bed in a hot, humid Houston summer while running the A/C and you'll have local weather somewhere between the front and rear seats.

In addition, this "feature" was a boon to thieves, who found it easy to dislodge the rear glass, giving them access to the interior.

The Lincoln LT is not quite as silly, but I have always figured that someone who was really well-off would buy a luxury car or SUV and a regular pickup they could get dirty without qualms. Even a plebian F-Series, Silverado or Ram has a pretty nice cab these days, a far cry from the spartan pickups of years ago.

Incidentally, every truly rich person I have ever known who owned a pickup had a reasonably well-equipped model that showed a lot of use. And I have known a few (though not well enough to do me any good).

American pickups are a phenomenon limited pretty much to the U.S., Canada and some places in Latin America. For one thing, they are far too big to comfortably operate on rural European roads. For another, I have a hunch the fuel and licensing expense would make most buyers think twice.

Considering your profession, Chester, a full-size pickup makes sense. You need the bed and hauling capacity often enough to make owning more practical than renting. Sadly, it's the twits who haul nothing more than their egos who give pickup owners a bad name. And the silly exercises in juvenile fantasy fulfillment like the Ford Lightning and Dodge Hemi don't help.

FYI: Texas accounts for about one of every seven full-sized pickups sold. It is far and away the leading market for such vehicles. Heck, even I have owned a couple.

Bill C.

[cfesmire]

I was not aware of the "convertible" use of these vehicles (I must live a sheltered life) and it makes me even more suspicious of the validity of them. Seems one must reside in Calif. only to be able to get any use out of them.
BTW, not to toot my own horn but my clients are the wealthiest of the rich for this area. Almost all of them own beautiful Land Rovers, Lexus and the like but also own an old beater pickup for the salted winter roads. My most recent customer should be shot, he drives a 1954 Chevrolet pickup as his beater.

[skunk]

Interesting, I missed this whole debate. And I had so much to say, too, but you guys already covered all of it.

My only additional nugget of info is that Thailand is the world's second largest market for pickups. The Ford Rangers that sell in Europe are actually Mazda B-series trucks built in Thailand - and here in the states the "actual" Ford Ranger was also sold as the Mazda B-series. Some serious cross-pollination going on there.

Does anyone remember the VW Taro? The Toyota "Hilux" Pickup truck (pre-Tacoma days) was sold as a VW in Europe. It was quite popular in Sweden due to some tax-loopholes, but I have never seen one anywhere else in Europe.

[stanhas87]

skunk said:

My only additional nugget of info is that Thailand is the world's second largest market for pickups. The Ford Rangers that sell in Europe are actually Mazda B-series trucks built in Thailand - and here in the states the "actual" Ford Ranger was also sold as the Mazda B-series. Some serious cross-pollination going on there.

Dear Skunk:

Thanks. Thing is,I have a photo of the Argentinian Ford Ranger Crew cab and noticed that it was visibly different than the US version. Further,Guisval - from Spain - did produced an 1/43 scale version of the crew cab and this seems to be the Mazda Version as well. I would think that in Europe this is the version sold in there. According to Autoindex.com Ford Rangers are sold in many other countries.

Well,now I know better.

Nick K