Is the Ram brand looking at building a street-based performance pickup? According to sources from within Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), the answer is YES! With the Ram Rebel TRX already slated for production, our sources are indicating that the Ram Truck management team is discussing on re-entering the street-based performance truck market.
Ram has had a lot of success in it’s past with street-based performance pickup, when it was part of the Dodge brand. Trucks like Lil’ Red Express, Warlock, SS/T, SRT-10 and Rumble Bee, all come to mind when you speak of Ram performance trucks. In the 1990s and early 2000s, street-based performance pickups were all the rage in the world of front-wheel drive sedan. Unless you had a Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro or Pontiac Firebird, affordable American rear-wheel drive V8-powered muscle was out of the question.
With the truck market picking up more of the market-share than ever before, automakers are dumping cars for trucks, crossovers and SUVs. While Dodge offers the Charger and Challenger for the car segment, people who want performance and the function and utility of a pickup are left out in the dark.
Our sources, didn’t specify if such a truck would be powered by the rumored new 7.0-liter “Banshee” 426 cubic-inch HEMI V8 or a 6.2-liter supercharged “HELLCAT” HEMI V8. But don’t expect it to be limited to a regular cab only. More than likely the truck would be based on a Crew Cab or Quad Cab layout, considering only 5% of Ram Trucks sold are regular cab models.
If the truck is green-lighted for production, don’t expect it to come to market until sometime after the 2021 Ram Rebel TRX makes it’s debut in late 2020.
Ram has teased the public with several performance based concepts over the past decade. Some equipped with 6.4-liter “Apache” 392 cubic-inch HEMI V8 power and some with the 5.7-liter HEMI V8.
We think a return of the Rumble Bee name, would be a great fit for a new street-based performance pickup from Ram.
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