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10th
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It's no secret that I've never been what you'd call a true fan of the North American pickup. Oh sure, they have their playtime uses, such as carrying dirt bikes, ATVs and the like, but in my opinion, other than being a work tool they border on the pretty much useless.
You see, coming from Europe where we would rather park up the dirty old workhorse in the evening and hop into a smart little hot hatch, I have a little difficulty fathoming why anyone would choose to spend 24 hours a day piloting a work truck.
Whereas we Europeans believe in making life simpler for ourselves by creating large rear beds with drop-down sides and tailgates and often tipper facilities, you crazy North Americans seem to enjoy loading everything from the rear end. By the time you've completed your loading, I've already delivered mine and I'm well into my second cup of tea.
We then come to my biggest bugbear of all, that of engine sizing. Why are nearly all North American pickup trucks powered by honking great V8s when most Euro-trucks manage quite comfortably with a small 4-cylinder unit or a diesel lump? What's that, you may one day wish to haul a trailer? Well, perhaps you wouldn't need to if you owned a vehicle with a truck bed slightly larger than the business end of a station wagon.
Still, even I have to admit that these trucks do have a certain Cool Joe factor, and none come much cooler than the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor I recently drove. Yes, in a week, its 6.2L V8 raped my wallet to the tune of a months' worth of pocket money, but for those few short days, I was King of the Hill and Master of all.
However, I'm still trying to fathom the actual reasoning behind this product. Yes it's big (and big is beautiful here), and it's extremely capable off-road, but so is a farm tractor and those things run on subsidized diesel, or even chip fat. The Raptor, on the other hand, drinks fuel like a vampire sucking the very blood from your veins. So what is the point?
Well, I'm hoping that this is simply a styling process to test consumers for future products. I hope I'm right on this as the Raptor's design would be perfect for the next revamp of the F-150. It's in-your-face, brutishly handsome, and perhaps even capable of bringing an old sceptic like me on line. If they truly wanted to turn me, they should offer a 2WD version with a 2.0L EcoBoost under the hood. After all, it would supply roughly the same power as a V6.
So come on Ford, I've made up the game plan for you. I simply want a Full-size diesel Transit drop-sided tipper for work, a fuel-efficient Raptor for playtime, and while you're at it, let's throw in an EcoBoost Mustang convertible for those warm summer nights.
You see, coming from Europe where we would rather park up the dirty old workhorse in the evening and hop into a smart little hot hatch, I have a little difficulty fathoming why anyone would choose to spend 24 hours a day piloting a work truck.
Whereas we Europeans believe in making life simpler for ourselves by creating large rear beds with drop-down sides and tailgates and often tipper facilities, you crazy North Americans seem to enjoy loading everything from the rear end. By the time you've completed your loading, I've already delivered mine and I'm well into my second cup of tea.
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| Photo: Kevin Corrigan |
We then come to my biggest bugbear of all, that of engine sizing. Why are nearly all North American pickup trucks powered by honking great V8s when most Euro-trucks manage quite comfortably with a small 4-cylinder unit or a diesel lump? What's that, you may one day wish to haul a trailer? Well, perhaps you wouldn't need to if you owned a vehicle with a truck bed slightly larger than the business end of a station wagon.
Still, even I have to admit that these trucks do have a certain Cool Joe factor, and none come much cooler than the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor I recently drove. Yes, in a week, its 6.2L V8 raped my wallet to the tune of a months' worth of pocket money, but for those few short days, I was King of the Hill and Master of all.
However, I'm still trying to fathom the actual reasoning behind this product. Yes it's big (and big is beautiful here), and it's extremely capable off-road, but so is a farm tractor and those things run on subsidized diesel, or even chip fat. The Raptor, on the other hand, drinks fuel like a vampire sucking the very blood from your veins. So what is the point?
Well, I'm hoping that this is simply a styling process to test consumers for future products. I hope I'm right on this as the Raptor's design would be perfect for the next revamp of the F-150. It's in-your-face, brutishly handsome, and perhaps even capable of bringing an old sceptic like me on line. If they truly wanted to turn me, they should offer a 2WD version with a 2.0L EcoBoost under the hood. After all, it would supply roughly the same power as a V6.
So come on Ford, I've made up the game plan for you. I simply want a Full-size diesel Transit drop-sided tipper for work, a fuel-efficient Raptor for playtime, and while you're at it, let's throw in an EcoBoost Mustang convertible for those warm summer nights.