QOTD: Which Trucks Are Least Likely to Be Used Like Trucks?

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

We’re forever hearing the tap-tapping of superior keyboards around here and elsewhere on the wild and crazy interwebz, condemning those who drive CUVs for not having a real SUV, and those who have SUVs for not having trucks. And if you have a truck and don’t use it for these paramount truck activities, then you should be in a small sedan. End of discussion.

But since this is (North) America and freedom of choice abounds, I want us all to play a trucky little game for today’s Question of the Day.

I theorize there are certain truck models much less conducive to truck activities. Whether that means family hauling duty, puttering around to your early 4:15 p.m. dinner at the Cracker Barrel, or perhaps taking up too much room at the golf course, there are more non-truck activities than the inverse. Those last two duties used to be reserved for the Personal Luxury Coupe, for those of you old enough to remember Dallas or whatever.

How often do you see an F-150 Limited out on a farm track (if you happen across a farm)? How about a two-wheel-drive Tacoma with a cap, hauling anything but air? And obviously the Lincoln Blackwood above isn’t too prepared for real work. It has a mandatory two-wheel-drive configuration, four doors, carpeted cargo area, and hard-shell powered tonneau.

My charge to the B&B today is to submit a list of the five trucks you see (regularly, so Blackwood goes bye-bye) not being used for anything remotely near to truck use. Go as far as you like on the specifics with trim. No list of rules. Let’s see if you’re responsible with some free will. I’ll be around later to chastise your selections gather the results.

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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  • Ajla Ajla on Jan 25, 2017

    In honor of this thread, I'm going to go buy this Stinger Yellow Ram 1500 on Saturday and a get a personalized plate that says "AIR HLR" for it. tinyurl.com/guyprtn

  • Lightspeed Lightspeed on Jan 25, 2017

    anything with a hard bed cover

  • WallMeerkat WallMeerkat on Jan 26, 2017

    From a UK/Ireland perspective: - Nissan Navara. Mostly because if they were used for anything strenuous, the chassis cracks in two. - Isuzu D Max. Usually with big chrome wheels. The commercial vehicle tax family car special. - VW Amarok. See D Max, but with the VW snob badge to impress the neighbours. - Ford Ranger. Especially the customised. Bought by those who envy the US midwest lifestyle, but live in the English Cotswolds. - Skoda Felicia Fun. OK a bit of a cheat this as it is no longer on sale, and was never really intended as a serious workhorse. But this is not the type of vehicle you will see doing heavy graft. Vs The grafters: - Mitsubishi L200. Has been on the go for years, usually driven by building contractors with a truck bed full of timber. - Toyota Hilux. Legendary for being indistructable, another vehicle that is at home on a bumpy building site pulling a trailer with a digger on. - Great Wall. Sold in rural showrooms, a Chinese copy of the Isuzu D Max. No image, but cheap, usually seen as a farm machine.

  • MercerTransit MercerTransit on Jan 28, 2017

    I spent the first part of the week at an enormous open pit mine in Mexico. The kind with those dump trucks the size of a 3-story house. The majority of the workers have VW Amoraks and there must have been 400-500 around the site, all doing truck jobs. One of the geologists i worked with explained that everyone is assigned an Amorak and they're driven until they break, at which point they're replaced by another Amorak. Apropos of this thread, I'm the third owner of a 1997 rebuilt-title Tacoma v6 4x4. I bought it from an OCD Boeing engineer who used it to haul his boat and camp. I added a lumber rack and an extra leaf in the back, and it hauls and pulls. It's not my daily driver but when it works, it's working. When it's not working, it's a petri dish for Northwest moss species. The daily is about to change: the '11 STi is sold and the '17 Holden Commodore arrives in 8 weeks. And i expect the Commodore to haul as well.

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