What Ever Happened to the Affordable Pickup Truck? - Car and Driver (blog)
In 1987, my parents bought their first new truck, a Dodge Ram D150. The Big Dodge Ram, as it came to be called, was so sparsely equipped that it should have come with a vow of celibacy. As a teenage driver, my opinion was probably a little different, but the Dodge served nobly during the winter months when my IROC was encased in an ice fortress. No, the Ram wasn’t four-wheel drive. But I’ve found that if you drive fast enough toward an obstacle, it’s kind of like having four-wheel drive. Now, not to sound like Grumpy McGrandpa, but these days trucks are different. The Ram cost $9995, which means that today it would cost a little less than $21,000. A few months back I drove a rear-drive, cloth-seat Chevy Silverado V-6 that cost $36,000. Extended cab, not even a four-door. Throw four-wheel drive on it and you crowd the price of a Mercedes-Benz C-class. I just drove a Ford F-150 King Ranch that cost more than $60K. The cowboy motif—evoking the wide-open spaces of your wallet—isn’t really my thing, but the EcoBoost King Ranch is one gorgeous truck. When you’re helming the (heated, multifunctional) wheel of the mighty King Ranch, all other drivers are knaves. One time I drove the Ram through a chain and didn’t notice. The school had a new chain across one of the parking-lot entrances, but there was no flag or sign on it, so I didn’t see it as I pulled in. I heard it, though,. Source: www.caranddriver.com
