The Svelte 1994 Dodge Ram Pickup

I seldom write about trucks here, only doing so when something really interests me. Such is the case with the redesign of the Dodge pickup truck line for the 1994 model year.

The 1981 first-generation Dodge Ram design was typical of pickup styling in those days -- a squared-off body sporting a bold grille.  The Wikipedia entry on "Ram Pickups" notes how the redesign for 1994 came to be.

What Chrysler stylists did was create a more rounded, more graceful shape.  One might expect that this "feminized" effect would run counter to expectations of trucks having rough 'n' tough "masculine" personalities.  What made the design truck-like was the bold, Dodge "gunsight" grille that served to counteract the curves.  The result was a huge sale success, an increase of about six times between 1993 and 1996.

General Motors and Ford eventually redesigned their pickup lines and Ram sales levels retreated.  Future Ram styling moved in a more powerful, less graceful direction.  That evolution does not detract from the 1994 Dodge Ram's important place in transportation design history.

Gallery

Front view of the newly designed for 1981 Dodge Power Ram Royal SE W150.  Note the rectangular headlights and the strong, rectangular theme of the frontal styling.

The same truck as seen from the side in this public relations photo.  Very rectangular and very pre-aerodynamic.

The 1994 Dodge Ram 1500.  More rounded with a suggestion that the design might have had some wind-tunnel testing.  Headlights are similarly rectangular.  But though the frontal theme remains basically rectangular, this has been softened.

What struck me when the '94 Rams appeared was the fadeaway front fender crossing over onto the door.  It reminds me of front fenderlines on 1946-48 Dodges, DeSotos and Chryslers.  There is a slight fenderline echo in the sheet metal above the rear wheel opening.

First-Series Ford Ranchero: Half-Car, Half Truck

Ford revived the 1920s practice of creating pickup trucks from sedan platforms with its Ranchero line (1957-1979; first series in the 1957-59 model years).  Some background can be found here.

The link suggests some reasons why Ranchereos were phased out at the end of the 1970s.  I'd add that Ford Motor Company was entering a period of financial losses and was motivated to trim its product line.

First series Ford Rancheros sold well enough (140,000 over the three model years) that the concept was continued.  Chevrolet got into the same concept in 1959 with its El Camino line that lasted through the 1987 model year, with a 1961-63 interruption.

So far as styling is concerned in the abstract, the concept of a Ranchero-like vehicle is that of a low, sleek pickup truck.  Both Ford and Chevrolet stylists were able to design somewhat sleek versions now and then over the lives of the models.  But the basic architecture of a pickup truck works against sleekness, and for that reason none of those vehicles can be considered a design classic at the level of a 1940 Lincoln Continental or a 1936 Cord 810.

Gallery

1957 Ford Ranchero ad card
One might also say "Less than a car!" (you only get half of one) "Not much of a truck!" (compared to a regular Ford F-Series pickup).  Note the modernistic ranch house in the background, an effete touch to the marketing

1957 Ford Ranchero - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
Trim and tail fins are from Ford Custom 300 Tudor sedans, the middle Ford models.  Rancheros also were available with entry-level Custom sedan trim -- or actually the lack of any trim on the sides.

1957 Ford Ranchero - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
The tailgate is down, showing the truck bed.  Not very deep, but fairly long for late-50s pickups.

1957 Ford Ranchero - Mecum auction photo
This shows a Ranchero with the tailgate closed.

Pickup Trucks with Panoramic Windshields

Panoramic or "wrap-around" windshields were a 1950s styling fad in America and elsewhere.  The American version first appeared in the 1953 model year on expensive, low-production General Motors convertibles such as the Oldsmobile Fiesta.  Then, for 1954, GM unleashed futuristic looking Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs, all with panoramic windshields.  For the 1955 model year, all American manufacturers had wrap-arounds on most of their brands.  (Yes, Kaiser-Willys did not, but it wasn't major, being in the process of closing up shop aside from the Jeep line).

Somewhat surprisingly, GM, Ford and Chrysler rapidly followed up on their pickup truck lines.  I say "surprisingly" because in those days pickup truck styling took a distant priority compared to the firms' passenger cars.

Gallery

Advertising illustration of 1955 Chevrolet Task Force pickup truck.

Photo of 1955 Chevrolet 3100 Series pickup.

1955 GMC 100-Series Deluxe pickup truck. Both GM divisions marketed pickup trucks, but each brand's styling was distinctive.

Dodge C2-GL pickup. Panoramic windshields were introduced during the 1955 model year as a running change.

Ford F-100 for 1956.  Ford and Mercury sedans got their wraparound windshields for 1955, so Ford was lagging GM by one model years for both passenger car and pickup truck panoramics.