Tim Blair

a chick magnet tim, a chick magnet.

I saw one of these parked over the weekend and thought "what the hell is that... looks like some guy put a pickup bed on a big rig".

I wouldn't expect this to catch on, the Hummer has a certain mystique about it, being a relative of military vehicles. The Navistar really does look like a big rig and their isn't too much positive imagery about that.

"SUPER-SIZE ME!"

>The Navistar really does look
>like a big rig and their isn't
>too much positive imagery about
>that.

You must not be writing from the States. Years ago, when Dodge first introduced the pickup truck (the name escapes me) that has a front end that looks like a Peterbilt, I told my wife it would be a big hit because of that. Big rigs DO have a very positive image among the NASCAR/WWF/country-music set that buys pickups.

I take a helicpoter to work every day.

Why walk/drive/cycle on those dirty streets with the rest of the plebs?

Yikes - I just saw the price.

Think Leno will get one?

Except for the price, that thing would look right at home next to a doublewide.

It's not exactly aimed at the consumer market. It's a Class 7 commercial truck. A few people will buy one to tow a motorhome or other giant trailer. Everyone else buying one will be doing so for commercial reasons.

Dave: Considering the way that Big-3 full-size pickups are selling, I'd suggest trucks have a much larger set of buyers than the "NASCAR/WWF/Country Music" set. Either that or that set is very large and very wealthy, which is also quite possible.

You must not be writing from the States.
I am in California... not considered NASCAR country, however the local NASCAR race at Sears Point ranks as one of the highest attendance events of the year.

Years ago, when Dodge first introduced the pickup truck (the name escapes me) that has a front end that looks like a Peterbilt,

Dodge Ram, and while you may think it looked like the front of a Peterbilt, the designers drew on the imagery of retro trucks from the 40's and 50's. The Dodge PowerRam from that era specifically

I told my wife it would be a big hit because of that.

it was a big hit, but because of the retro styling, not the size. The retro theme went on to become a staple for car designers in recent years, everything from the PT Cruiser to the Mini embrace it.

Big rigs DO have a very positive image among the NASCAR/WWF/country-music set that buys pickups.

I have a pickup truck... and no interest at all in NASCAR/WWE/country music (WWF is the World Wildlife Foundation). Considering the number of pickup trucks annually that are sold, I'd hazard to suggest that they are a lot more mainstream than you give credit to.

I'm sure Navistar will sell a good number of these, especially in rural areas where they may in fact have a lot of practicality, and the issues around parking etc. are that severe. Keep in mind that the volumes for a vehicle like this don't need to be large. For all of the attention that the Hummer gets, it's still a low volume vehicle.

by the way, GMC and Ford both have supersize trucks that are essentially commercial rigs repurposed for personal use, here's a photo of the GMC Topkick

http://www.gmc.com/gmcjsp/lightduty/images/brand_photo12.jpg

The Dodge PowerRam from that era specifically.

Umm, no. No such creature. The 'Ram' crap wasn't attached to all Dodge trucks until the early 80s, 1982 update methinks. I think you may mean the Dodge Power Wagon, but I have heard from folks at Dodge that the Big Rig looks was part of the Ram redesign.

I had to say it, but the Germans still make one of the finest trucks on the planet with the Unimog. Not only is durable as hell, it sounds like it swallows large patches of Belizean rain forest any time you drop into into first gear.

yeap, you are correct. Power Wagon, not Ram. My mistake.

btw, I recently saw a restored Power Wagon, it's still a good looking truck.

I'm partial to the Pinzgauer myself. Built to carry 12 dudes armed to the teeth and tow a howitzer. I love my Pinz. A Unimog probably inches out a win, but if we're going to talk real hardy trucks, nothing beats the deuce and a half. It's the truck that beat Hitler.

CANYONERO!