QOTD: You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone?
Two days ago we brought you a crop of spy photos of the next-generation 2019 Ram 1500. It won’t be long until we see the real thing in the flesh, either — the Detroit show’s just a month away.
As expected, the truck’s appearance in TTAC’s Slack chatroom caused no shortage of opinion. Negative opinion. Fiat Chrysler’s build quality and innovation never ranks high compared to its rivals at brand ranking time, but there’s no denying the company knows a thing or two about style. About designs that stand the test of time.
The fourth-generation Ram 1500, looking much like the third-generation Dodge Ram (itself not all that removed from the second-generation model) is one of those models. Joke all you want about quality and resale values, but in many eyes, including those of several TTAC writers, the truck just looks like a truck should.
There’s simplicity at work. That crosshair grille, those flowing front fenders — what’s not to like? To this author, the 2018 refresh of the Ford F-150 was a facelift too far. Give me a 2017 body any day. And to many authors here at TTAC, the 2019 Ram 1500, arguable the model’s largest change since the famous 1994 redesign, gets it wrong.
We’ll reserve our last word until we’ve seen the production model completely uncovered, but from what we’ve seen so far, it’s not a pretty story. Change for the sake of change. A design lacking cohesion, missing a central ethos. To these eyes, the Ram’s design, once self-assured, now lacks confidence.
Think of the teen who makes it as far as high school unbullied, only to discover — to his or her horror — that the qualities that kept mean-spirited people away no longer work the same magic. With so much riding on this new personality and wardrobe, FCA must feel that the redesign stands to attract at least as many new buyers as the group that now feels alienated.
What’s your take on the matter? Was Ram right to shed a design that’s served it well for decades, or is the 2019 styling revamp a mistake? Let your emotions guide you.
[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
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I certainly remember when the 1994 Ram trucks came out. At the time I had a lowered 1971 Dodge half-ton, and it was a complete change from the low, squared hood of my 71 to climb up into the 1994 truck and look out and down over that huge rounded thing. But I liked the style of the 1994 and still do, better than the subsequent generations.
True compact pickups are gone and there are a LOT of people complaining about it--even more now that the mid-sized trucks have grown to near full-sized proportions.