The Ram Truck brand has announced this morning that production of the 2021 MotorTrend “Truck of the Year®” – the Ram 1500 TRX performance off-roader has begun at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Production began with VIN #001 of the quickly sold out, Launch Edition in Anvil Gray, rolling down the assembly line. The truck will be auctioned off for charity, with more details coming early next year.
“We’re ecstatic to announce the start of production of the award-winning all-new 2021 Ram 1500 TRX,” said Mike Koval Jr., Head of Ram Brand. “The Ram 1500 TRX bolsters the brand’s strong history of high-performance trucks while expanding Ram’s light-duty lineup with the segment’s best combination of performance, capability, luxury, and technology.
The TRX has been a long time coming with a TON of interest since the TRX concept was first shown back in September of 2016. That truck was based on the old fourth-generation Ram platform, as that’s what was on sale at the time but did preview some of the changes coming to the fifth-generation trucks. There were many who doubted that Ram would actually build such a truck, but it seems that Ram has surpassed expectations with the production truck.
Instead of just sticking the 702 horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8 into the truck, Ram completely revamped its fifth-generation Ram 1500 to make sure they were engineering a truck that would greatly outperform any other truck on the market and still be able to handle anything thrown its way with extreme durability.
The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX begins life with a unique frame, composed of thicker, optimally shaped, strategically placed high-strength steel, and a unique suspension system featuring Bilstein BlackHawk e2 adaptive performance shocks allowing for over 13-inches of wheel travel at all four corners. Combined with the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8, TorqueFlite 8HP95 8-speed automatic transmission, and unique widebody bodywork, and you have a monster of a truck.
Keep in mind, there is still much more that sets the TRX apart from the standard Ram 1500.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) invested nearly $1.5 billion into the SHAP plant to build the fifth-generation Ram 1500. SHAP was built in 1953 as a jet engine plant and was operated by the Army as the Michigan Ordinance Missile Plant. In 1980, Volkswagen converted the plant into an automotive plant, which was then purchased by then Chrysler Corporation in 1983.
Many of the Chrysler Corporation’s passenger cars have been built at the plant, with the most recent being the short-lived 2015 to 2017 Chrysler 200 midsized sedan, with the last unit rolled off the production line on December 2nd, 2016. After the nearly $1.5 billion investment into the plant to build the fifth-generation Ram 1500, SHAP currently employs more than 7,200 people and is the only facility building Ram’s newest award-winning half-ton offering.
There has been a lot of speculation about the production of the all-new TRX over the past few weeks, but now with the start of production on the new trucks officially being announced and trucks rolling down the assembly line, this special version of the Ram 1500 should start appearing in dealer showrooms, shortly.
While we haven’t had an opportunity to get behind the wheel of the new TRX yet, we did get a chance to drive a custom-built Hellcat-powered Ram 1500 Rebel earlier this year. That opportunity was an absolute blast, which you can check out on our 5thGenRams.com’s YouTube channel.
2021 Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition VIN #001 Image Gallery:
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