(energetic percussive music)
- Like America herself, the pickup truck has become
the melting pot of the automotive world.
(engine roaring)
Everyone has their own idea of what the pickup should be,
but some people like to hate on
the scenes they're not part of.
And that bugs the sh (missing audio) out of me.
So, today I wanna answer the question:
What makes a truck
a truck?
Today we're going to look at the some of the most
misunderstood trucks on the road today.
First up is the mini truck.
Back in the 80's and 90's,
when the compact pickup truck was still a thing,
(funky electronic music)
bed-dancing trucks emerged from the low rider scene.
Like their low rider counterparts, these trucks borrowed
hydraulic actuators that were installed
under a detached truck bed
and operated with a remote controller
the size of a DJ Hero board
that they used to make these custom trucks dance.
Chevy S10's, Mazda B2200's, Datsun 720's,
they were all fitted up with tilt-bed technology.
Some people will say that this old-school trend
doesn't make sense.
I mean, what's the point?
Take the functionality out of a truck bed,
just so you can make the bed dance?
But guess what?
That's exactly the reason I love these things.
This is America, man! ("Star-Spangled Banner" plays)
Live free, die young,
(eagle screeching) do whatever the heck you want
with your car.
Don't tell people what to do with their truck.
Anyway, moving on. (eagle screeches)
Going from low to high is a truck that shares some of the
so-called "lack of functionality" with mini trucks.
This is the show truck.
(smooth hip-hop music)
These trucks are purpose-built showpieces
meant to make you ooh and aah as they roll by.
I mean, look at this bed.
It's so high up, it's completely impractical.
The owner even says he never puts anything back here.
But I think that's cool.
Very punk rock.
SEMA show trucks
are some of the most tricked out vehicles around.
Custom paint job, intricate lighting setups,
modified engines, and, yes,
really, really big wheels, really tall suspension.
Driving through the mud in rough terrain
isn't what this truck was designed for.
It was made to show off and get your attention.
Which it does.
It's also very good at blinding you,
if you're driving in front of it, but
that's another story. (smooth hip-hop music)
Sure, you might think it's too masculine, too machismo.
After all, what's the point
of making a truck look off-road-ready
if the wheels have three coats of polish on them?
But again, that's not the point.
The point is the passion and work
that the owners put into their cars.
You don't have to like it,
but I love the craftsmanship that goes into these things.
Both mini trucks and so-called "bro dozers" like this one
might be looked down on by certain people, but
that doesn't really matter.
(laughs) Because
once you get up here,
(clunk) you feel good.
Jacking up a truck and throwing mud tires on it
was initially used out of necessity.
The boggy swamps and muddy country roads of the South
stranded drivers more often than they'd like.
And because of this, the first monster truck was born.
You might've heard of it.
(engine roars) Bigfoot.
The big blue Ford that now lives
in the Smithsonian.
Bob Chandler, the creator of Bigfoot,
owned a 4x4 business in the 70's,
and used it initially to advertise his business.
Bigfoot started out as a '74 Ford F-250
that Bobby threw a camping shell on the back of,
that he used for weekend trips with his old lady.
He then got a knack for customizing his truck,
and started off by throwing bigger tires on it.
He went as big as he can go until he started to break axles,
so naturally, he threw bigger axles on it.
But with bigger tires and bigger axles,
you need a bigger engine to spin those tires,
and his obsession of creating the biggest and baddest
car-smashing truck in the world began.
After Chandler videotaped himself
smashing two cars in the middle of a field,
he was approached by a motorsport promoter
to reenact the stunt in front of a crowd.
And the rest is history.
- [Announcer] (shouts) Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
- This historic truck not only spawned
the current-day monster truck scene,
but it also popularized mud bogging.
Lifted trucks with high horsepower motors
race through man-made mud pits,
and if they make it through,
the truck with the quickest time wins.
But making it to the end of these mud bogs
was difficult for even the most powerful trucks.
If you've never been to a mud bog race,
put it on your bucket list.
It might look "simple,"
but you gotta see it for yourself, really.
It's loud, it's dirty,
and it's a staple of the South.
(engine barks and stalls) (crowd cheers)
I once saw a guy mud bog a Subaru Forrester
with a straight pipe exhaust, it was awesome.
They had to pull them out with a deuce-n-a-half,
but that was a really awesome day.
Anyway, (suspenseful string music)
back in November of 1991, Congress enacted
a whopping 10 percent luxury surcharge tax
on cars over $30,000.
But that luxury tax didn't apply to trucks.
So, car manufacturers took advantage of this
and started making luxury trucks.
One of the first real high-end luxury trucks
that was incredibly popular in the early 2000's
was the Cadillac Escalade EXT.
With an MSRP of $49,000, it was crazy expensive for a truck.
And it didn't even have a full-size bed.
They're also very ugly.
For comparison, the standard top-of-the-line
Ford F-150 Lariat was $31,000.
But what might be more surprising
is that people bought them, a lot of them.
And they continue to buy luxury trucks to this day.
You can easily walk into any major dealer
and find a decked out truck that's close to a hundred grand.
People might say that these trucks
are more on the passenger car side of things
than the trucks of yesteryear,
because you can daily them and they're comfortable.
But I say, look how many different roles
one vehicle can play.
They can be comfortable,
they can have dope entertainment systems,
but you can also tow a house
and haul anything you want with them.
And that's why people don't hesitate to spend so much.
The high-end truck we have today
might not fit perfectly into that
classic high-end truck category you think of
when you imagine a luxury truck.
But it is the most bad ass factory off-roader
the world has ever seen.
It comes in ice blue, my favorite Gatorade flavor,
and it's named after my favorite dinosaur.
This
is the Ford Brachiosaurus.
I'm k,
Ford Raptor (grunts mildly) you know it's the Raptor, c'mon.
(smooth electronic music)
You get a twin turbocharged, 3.5-liter, V6 EcoBoost
squeezing out 450 horsepower and 510 foot pounds of torque.
You get Fox Live Valve shocks,
Recaro front seats,
Terrain Management System, aluminum alloy body,
and a ton of other fancy features
that don't come on the bare-bones XL F-150.
It's the ultimate flex truck.
In LA, I've seen more of these Raptors
waiting in elementary school pickup lines
than I have seen with actual mud on them.
(slurps unduly loudly)
It's like the pickup truck equivalent of owning a
Lamborghini or a Ferrari.
(smooth electronic music)
This truck is capable of some truly insane things.
And most drivers will never find those limits.
But that's okay.
Because they're
bought it.
So they're entitled to drive it how they want to.
It's their truck!
(motor snarls)
(jazzy electronic music)
In 1958, Datsun started exporting their 220 series,
becoming the first Japanese truck
to hit the market in the USA.
It took some time for the Japanese compact trucks
to earn the respect
of classic American full-size truck owners,
who doubted a tiny Japanese machine could do
what they wanted.
But the practicality and quality of these Japanese imports
finally won them over.
The evolution of trucks has gone
from functional to fun to fancy,
but the heart of the pickup truck
is still the humble work truck,
like this one. (smooth hip-hop music)
You can ask anyone who has a truck now,
and chances are, their first ride
was a good old-fashioned, beat up, hand-me-down pickup truck
(taps door) just like this one.
Trucks like these aren't flash.
They don't have a rear swing-arm suspension
with 12 inches of travel.
There's no full-length moon roof or heated and cooled seats.
It doesn't have rich, castano leather.
The bed doesn't dance around like it's a 90's break-dancer
on a piece of cardboard on the sidewalk.
But you can count on it to get the job done.
It's the simplest, purest, most awesome truck.
This truck belongs to our good buddy, Gabe.
And at one time, this Toyota would be scoffed at
by any truck purist.
It's small, has a four-cylinder motor,
and it's two-wheel drive.
What's the point of a two-wheel drive truck?
I love trucks like these
because they don't have all the bells and whistles.
They're the purest distillation of what a pickup should be.
They just work.
(smooth hip-hop music)
America the beautiful.
Home of the free,
land of the truck.
It started out as a vehicle for people to easily
tote stuff around.
And it's transformed into the ultimate bed-dancing,
low-riding, mud-crawling, car-smashing, off-roading,
highway-cruising, grocery-getting vehicle
that brings all sorts of folks together.
There's no wrong way to be a truck.
Just like there's no wrong way
to be an American.
("Star-Spangled Banner" plays) (eagle screeches)
I'd like to thank Omar at SoCal Auto Paint
for bringin' out his enormous show truck.
That thing is awesome.
I'd like to thank Gabe for letting us borrow his work truck.
And I'd like to thank Ford
for givin' us that Raptor for a few days.
That was really fun.
'Ey, this episode of Wheelhouse
is brought to you by Shine Armor.
Shine Armor is a ceramics-infused waterless wash.
That's a three-in-one compound - Ew!
- That washes, shines, and coats your car
to protect it. (shimmery spell chimes)
So you don't need a hose to wash your car anymore,
unless it's super muddy.
Things splash on there and just drip right off,
doesn't leave any residue.
I live in an apartment,
I don't have a hose hook up in my place.
Shine Armor lets you just do it in your driveway
with a bottle of water for your damp cloth.
Click the link in the description.
Get yourself some Shine Armor.
I was super surprised at how well it worked, honestly.
Can't wait to wash my car again.
Thanks, Shine Armor.
What's your favorite kind of truck?
Let me know in the comments.
I really hope I've kinda
helped you change your mind on some trucks.
Everyone has their own taste, and I think they're all valid.
Follow me on Instagram @nolanjsykes.
Follow Donut @donutmedia.
Check out this episode of Up To Speed.
Check out this episode of Wheelhouse.
Ah, I really appreciate you.
Thanks for watchin'.
Be nice, I'll see ya next time.