Vellum Venom Vignette: In Praise of The Regular Cab

Sajeev Mehta
by Sajeev Mehta

Cafe regulations be damned, the regular cab truck is a fantastic design. It deserves a better rep: working for people with multiple vehicles, value-conscious fleet buyers, and bottom-tier credit risks dying for a cheap new non-econobox. Or a new lease on life, after an unexpected trip to the hospital.

(photo credit: www.foxeyephoto.com)

I’ve never regretted regular cab ownership: it’s right for my wallet and clutter-free lifestyle. But after a few laps at a local Rallycross (seen here at full ABS braking) the lighter, shorter regular cab became a Miata with a Bed. But I digress…that Time In The Hospital Thing.

After getting progressively weaker/sicker for no reason, as I lay circling the drain for hours in a hospital bed, the diagnosis of Stevens Johnson Syndrome came for an allergic reaction to over-the-counter medicine. (NOTE: watch where you Google, S.J.S. isn’t a pretty sight.) YES I’m making a full, 100% back-to-normal recovery: the on-call allergist was Johnny-on-the-spot and my family supports me. While never missing a beat for TTAC, I couldn’t function elsewhere for a week.

Later I drove in a mere car with a large cabin and a huge cab-forward windscreen. Then the Houston heat/sun adversely mixed with my healing skin: to the point I was boiling in my own flesh. The pain from just being in the sun, from wearing non-cotton clothes, from lying on a warm bed, from trying to do anything…it was frustrating. Cue my friend, the Regular Cab’d Texas Ranger.

With a certain foreboding-yet-southern-fried Jan Hammer tune in my ears, I learned why I love this body style of pick ’em up truck.

The Ranger’s HVAC normally freezes me, no matter the outside temperature. It was enjoyable for long days of outside labor, I reckon many truck owners understand that. But now it was to the point fingers must freeze to the shifter and glasses shall fog after leaving the regular cab…and re-fog after the first wipe.

Anywhere I went, I felt better than before I left.

There was no place more comfortable for my Stevens-Johnson Syndrome affected skin than my silly regular cab Ranger.

So what’s the point of this self-pity infused blathering?

  • Full Size or no, the regular cab pickup is one of the best designs on the planet.
  • Regular Cabs do not deserve their endangered species designation.
  • Feng Shui isn’t just for new-age types, it’s for right-sized truckers that need no CUV in their pickup.
  • Space Efficiency isn’t just for architects, car designers must know that “ cab forward” windshields literally bake our interiors.
  • Trucks work extremely well in their “original” configuration for the previously stated reasons…BUT…
    • …let’s also add a little known allergic reaction to ordinary medication to the list.

[Lead image: Shutterstock user Art Konovalov]

Sajeev Mehta
Sajeev Mehta

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  • -Nate -Nate on Nov 09, 2014

    Sajeev ! take care , you're very much needed ! . I prefer the regular cab pickups too ~ My 1931 'A' Model Ford pickup's cab was really narrow and tight , I never tried to squeeze three people into it . my 1946 Chevy 3100 OTOH , made plenty of trips near and far with three of us jammed in tight , musta been funny looking . I like the width of my current 1969 Chevy C/10 , as I'm now old & fat , the new cab I'm having painted and installed right now , is an AC one , I look forward to feeling cool in there in the Mojave Desert . I've owned dozens of trucks over the years , I don't recall ever having or wanting a space cab although my brother's 1979 Dodge D (?) I forget , it's a 3/4 ton , crew cab is nice to go camping in . -Nate

  • Rocketrodeo Rocketrodeo on Nov 10, 2014

    I always keep a small truck around. My Y2K Ranger succeeded a pair of 22R Toyotas and a Datsun 720, all three regular cabs. The Ranger is a supercab, though, and I'm darn glad of it. Fits me way, way better. Loved the efficiency of the RCSBs, but being able to recline the seat is a supreme luxury in a truck that doesn't have many others. I have upgraded wear parts with quality replacements--good tires, Bilstein shocks, and Moog suspension components, as well as the Roush handling kit that HIllbank was blowing out for $45 for several years. BTW, I see that you have installed the Alcoa 8-hole forged wheels--did you have to machine them at all to fit? That's high on my list of things to do as the steel wheels have taken to deforming between alignments. Never knew wheels to be a wear item.

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