Old Truck, Hot Package

You’ve probably just read about the Performance Appearance Package foisted on the doomed Chrysler 300. Now that your heart rate has returned to a resting level, here’s another Fiat Chrysler options bundle for your consideration: the Ram 1500 Classic’s Sub Zero Package.

The first new Ram grab bag offered to customers in what seems like eight minutes, ticking the box for Sub Zero prepares customers for a season literally no one wants to think about in mid-June.

One assumes the Ram 1500 Classic Express Night Edition excitement has subsided at FCA Canada, prompting the need for a new bit of tinsel to throw over the brand’s older-generation full-sizer. Yes, this is a Canada-only package.

Starting right away, $1,495 adds a host of wintry goodies to the Classic’s Tradesman, ST, and Express trim levels. Included is a heated front bench seat that seems tailor-made to boost the country’s flagging birth rate, a heated leather-wrapped steering wheel, 115V power outlet, remote start (to prevent cracked dental fillings while shivering behind the wheel in your driveway on cold mornings), and a bunch of things that have nothing to do with cold weather.

Of that category, expect SiriusXM satellite radio (a 1-year subscription), a Uconnect 3 infotainment system with 5-inch touchscreen, 10-way power driver’s seat with lumbar adjustment, an overhead console, and a security alarm.

With the 1500 Classic serving as the more affordable alternative to the new-for-2019 1500 line, targeted packages like this help Ram milk a little more cash out of its long-paid-off old-gen pickup. It’s also a bundle of features certain customers, especially Canadians, might indeed desire if allowed to add equipment a la carte.

Content levels vary wildly between the U.S. and Canada on most models, with heated seats understandably serving as a noteworthy standard perk. (This writer missed out on that luxury by choosing GM over Hyundai in his last vehicle purchase.)

The package comes with a caveat, however — one must choose a quad or crew cab model that sends power to all four wheels. Bargain basement Classic buyers can forget about enjoying a roasted rump.

The Sub Zero package is on sale now; exactly how long the Classic itself will linger in the Ram lineup is TBD.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]