A Trio of Trucks - Concepts from Days Gone By
The last two galleries have been filled with concept cars of varying sizes, so we decided to close out the week with a trio of pickup trucks which made the auto show rounds in past years.
It’s interesting to examine these concepts through the lens of today, knowing what we know now about various and sundry styling decisions that made their way into showrooms. It was also around the time two of these concept trucks showed up that Americans were beginning to press increasingly fancy pickups into duty as family vehicles. We’d argue the 1997 Ford F-150 was the model which popularized such a notion - but that’s a gallery for another day.
[Images: Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet]
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Ford F-350 Mighty Tonka concept
The mighty (and eye-poppingly yellow) Ford F-350 Mighty Tonka concept embodied the late ‘90s / early ‘00s era, really leaning into the big rig styling cues made popular by the 1994 Dodge Ram nearly a decade prior. There’s no denying its association with what we now recognize as a Super Duty.
Ford F-350 Mighty Tonka concept
Yet, this concept is said to share not one single solitary body panel with any production vehicle. Under the hood was a 6.0L PowerStroke diesel, an engine which eventually earned an infamous reputation once it entered production.
Dodge Power Wagon concept
Dodge was (and still is, really) known for its over-the-topiary personality as a brand, a notion on full display with the 1999 Dodge Power Wagon concept. The retro-inspired fever was in full effect around Detroit at this time, explaining this truck’s headlamps drawn from a ‘40s Dodge truck - yet, its overall design still seemed aggressive enough that it would have looked at home on jobsites.
Dodge Power Wagon concept
If Dodge had actually pulled the trigger and pressed it into production, that is. Remember, this was a brand which was pushing out retro-themed rides like the PT Cruiser and Prowler at the time, so building this thing wouldn’t have been a stretch of the imagination. Material from the day says this concept was hammered together on top of a contemporary Ram half-ton chassis.
Chevrolet Beast concept
Our last entrant is far more recent, showing up at the SEMA show about five years ago as part of a toybox that General Motors brought to the annual desert soiree. Billed under a couple of names - Chevrolet Off-Road Concept and Chevrolet Beast Concept, to name two.
Chevrolet Beast concept
It was based on a regular cab short-bed Silverado 1500 and motivated by an in-house 6.2L V8 engine, though suspension dampers were sourced from Fox to save time on the build instead of tuning and using GM’s own frankly excellent DSSV dampers. A massive track width measurement was some six inches wider than a Silverado ZR2.
