What If Jeep's Mid-size Pickup Was a Ram Instead?

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Like an NFL expansion team in Los Angeles, music in the hallways during passing periods, “welfare queens” and the full-time McRib, Jeep’s mid-sized Wrangler-based pickup might be the only thing we ever talk about. Guess which one may happen now?

According to Automotive News, the Wrangler-based pickup may make an appearance in 2018-ish, after the iconic Jeep platform gets is overdue overhaul, moves to an 8-speed automatic (maybe diesel, too) and incorporates more aluminum into its structure.

The General Motors twins prove there’s room in the segment for something not called a Tacoma or Frontier, so a mid-size makes sense — but a seven-slot grille up front may not.

According to the 2014 long-range plan for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ram doesn’t have a mid-size on its radar until beyond 2018, at least, to replace its defunct Dakota. And Ram doesn’t have what it needs right now to make it happen — officially, at least.

“The formula hasn’t changed. The (North American) customer expects four elements in a compact or midsize pickup truck: the right size, right capability, right fuel efficiency and right price. We have yet to find a way to build a truck that meets all four of those criteria,” a Ram spokesman told us.

(Fiat will have a new mid-size pickup in 2016, but we’re more likely to get Elvis back from the dead than that car.)

The minute you start talking about a Wrangler-based pickup, Grandad’s fishing truck comes to mind; an upright-grille, standard cab and probably two-tone red and white paint with flannel-colored interiors. In other words: nothing like what mid-size pickups need to be today to satisfy fuel economy standards and expectations.

Ram has more flexibility with its design language to sculpt a body that makes more sense than a Jeep pickup ever would. Ram is also the caretaker of FCA’s trucks last I checked.

And in the words of Jack Baruth, “You really don’t want a Jeep pickup, you pansy.”

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

More by Aaron Cole

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 55 comments
  • Wstarvingteacher Wstarvingteacher on Sep 01, 2015

    FWIW, my wife likes it. Scoff if you choose but that's important because I would like to get down to one vehicle. We will see how big it becomes but Dakota or smaller might get my $.

  • FJ60LandCruiser FJ60LandCruiser on Sep 02, 2015

    I'm guessing it will be some streamlined mid-size pickup body on a chopped RAM frame probably running the V6 Pentagram engine (or some fruity 4 cylinder turbo Italian POS grenade). It will only be a Jeep by the logo on the hood and some garish styling cues. The odds it will be factory production version of the AEV double cab monster are infinitely low.

    • Vulpine Vulpine on Sep 02, 2015

      I think the odds are higher than you think, but I do hope they leave the double-cab to AEV and build an updated version of the Gladiator concept--the size and configuration are almost perfect for my needs and desires. A four-foot-wide flat-bottomed bed with a drop tailgate would be the perfect bed style. Leave the crew cab to the people who want a people hauler more than a truck.

  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
  • Corey Lewis Think how dated this 80s design was by 1995!
Next