{{{Dodge Ram 1500}}} Club Cab Sport, {{{Ford F-150}}} XLT SuperCab, & {{{GMC Sierra}}} Club Cab 1500America loves pickup trucks. In fact, for more than a decade the Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the country. Trucks in general, and full-size pickups in particular, are big business and getting bigger every year.
How big? Last year the Ford Taurus was America's best-selling car, with an impressive 397,037 units sold during the calendar year. But that figure is dwarfed by the staggering 646,039 F-Series trucks Ford's assembly lines cranked out.
General Motors reports its Chevrolet and GMC Truck pickup sales separately, so it can't claim the top-vehicle sales spot although both iterations share a common platform. But you won't find anyone at GM crying with combined GMC (189,283) and Chevrolet (580,445) pickup sales of 769,728 units.
A few years ago Dodge had roughly seven percent of the full-size pickup market. Dodge insiders admit that that thin sliver of the pie was mostly attributable to high-load, commercial buyers shopping for the monster torque of the optional Cummins diesel inline-six powerplant. The redesigned-in-'94 Ram changed all that: Last year Dodge dealers sold a respectable 232,092 of their bulge-fendered haulers.
You would think that truck manufacturers would be satisfied with their awesome sales numbers; however, the rise in popularity of "personal use" pickups is forcing them to make vehicles that are even tougher yet ride smoother, are more spacious, and contain the latest electronics in an effort to woo more and more people out of their passenger cars. In fact, Chrysler Corp. President Bob Lutz estimates that by the year 2000, the domestic market will be 80 percent trucks and only 20 percent cars.
Two years ago, Chrysler created a sensation when it debuted the Dodge Ram with its outrageously macho design. But the Ram was more than just a styling tour de force. This heady hauler came equipped with powerful, newly created multipoint fuel-injected versions of the existing V-8 engines, vastly improved ride quality, and an interior layout that reflected a serious appreciation for the "rolling office" requirements of business folks.
The fresh kid on the block this season is the Ford F-150, which was last fully redesigned back in '80. For the early-release '97 model, the Blue Oval engineers completely overhauled the previous structure, suspension, exterior sheetmetal, and powertrains. And this Ford will also be the first pickup on the market with a rear side passenger door on its extended cab.
GMC Truck sticks with the basic design it created in '87. According to Detroit insiders, a serious engineering and styling redo of the popular C/K platform isn't scheduled until '99. For '96, the GMC offers a range of powerful new Vortec V-8 engines and 4L60-E four-speed automatic transmission shift improvements. A third door will arrive midyear, but unfortunately, our test was too early to secure a sample model. And keep in mind that if you can't find the vehicle you're shopping for at a GMC dealer, the full-size Chevrolet pickup is the Sierra's virtual twin.
All three of our test trucks were ordered as two-wheel-drivers with extended cabs, V-8 engines, and 6.5-foot-long by 5-foot-wide beds. The Ford and the GMC featured four-speed automatic transmissions, but the Ram, because of a Chrysler ordering quirk, arrived with a five-speed manual.
Dodge Ram 1500 Club Cab SportWithout question, the broad-shouldered Ram is the styling bad boy of this trucker's trio-we can almost picture a Harley-Davidson tattoo on its rear flank. The Sport model we tested came with a body-color front bumper and grille, but we prefer the standard truck's more dramatic chrome front end. Still, the body-color treatment was nicely set off by the chromed steel wheels that come with the Laramie option package.
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