Tough Wheels

Call it the most unexpected twist in American automotive enthusiasm since the country went cuckoo for gocarts, but the fact remains that this nation's good burghers--known far and wide for their fierce loyalty to vehicular plushness and comfort--have gone bananas for trucks. Yep, trucks. Everything from 18-wheel, twin-stack, 13-speed diesel KWs and Peterbilts (which they do not drive) to endless legions of pickups and other utility vehicles of all shapes and sizes (which they do drive, in stupefying numbers everywhere, from fiestas to funerals, from grocery stores to grand opera). Nobody has quite figured out why all this is happening. Surely, some of the phenomenon is related to the entire leisure-time expansion in America--pickups and other recreation vehicles are well suited to all sorts of weekend utility, from hauling or carrying various camper units to trucking motorcycles and lumber for the do-it-yourselfer. But there is more to it, vaguely related to America's shift toward the heartland and the hoary traditions of down home, as interpreted by such latter-day balladeers as Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels and, in a broader sense, the country boy from the fleshpots of Texas, John Denver. What all this means is as yet unclear, but there is little mistaking the fact that the corn-pone nostalgia craze has set hundreds of thousands of Americans loose on the highways in trucks and fantasy tough-guy vehicles of all types. From Sunset Boulevard to Fifth Avenue, one can witness the amazing sight of otherwise sane adults who have forsaken their Buick Electra 225s, with the quadraphonic sound and the tilt-and-telescope steering wheels and the crushed-velour upholstery, lumping along in short-bed pickup trucks and towering four-wheel-drive behemoths that look as if they ought to be hauling pipe on the North Slope. What in hell is going on here?

"It's a weird thing with me and my pickup," says a young Upstate New York banking executive. "For years, I was into sports cars--MGs and Porsches--but I had this buddy who had an old International pickup that he used for everything. It was his sports car, only the thing could actually be used in dozens of situations where I wouldn't dare take my (text continued on page 196)Tough Wheels(continued from page 171) Porsche. One day I said to myself, 'He's having twice the fun for half the trouble,' and I've had a pickup ever since. It's the best machine I've ever owned."

This testimony seems a trifle overstated when one considers the general vehicular enthusiasms of the American populus. After all, aren't big, soft cars as endemic to our lifestyle as hot dogs, apple pie, baseball and .357 magnums? How could anyone imply that a mere pickup would be a candidate in a best-vehicle contest here in the U.S.A.? A great number of citizens, actually, if the sales figures from Detroit and the imported-car people mean anything. As it turns out, light trucks (which include most forms of pickups, four-wheel-drive vehicles, etc.) are the fastest-growing segment of the American car market and have a vast army of aficionados from coast to coast. To put all of this in perspective, one should recall that the largest-selling single model passenger automobile in America during 1976 was the Oldsmobile Cutlass, with 514,593 deliveries. However, Ford and Chevrolet pickup trucks sold over 600,000 models each, which places them in a nose-to-nose race for the honor of having the number-one-selling model, not only in the United States but in the entire world!

Yes, light trucks are where it's at, and there is no telling where it will peak out. Sales of these vehicles have grown at double the rate during the past five years, as in the previous five, and in 1976 all brands and types totaled 2,900,000 sales! Indications are that 1977 will be even bigger, which implies either that an absurd number of Americans are turning to farming and small business or that these vehicles are taking the place of conventional automobiles. The latter is the case. At least 50 percent and perhaps as many as 75 percent of all light trucks are being used for personal, nonbusiness applications, according to the best industry sources.

Therefore, the next pickup you see trundling along the interstate, its aluminum camper top bolted in place, twin C.B. antennas sprouting from its cabtop, will be driven not by the local plumber on an emergency call but by an insurance salesman from Toledo, "truckin' West" in imaginary legion with the 18-wheelers. He will be bellied up to his steering wheel, chattering on his C.B. in his best Tennessee truck-stop drawl, operating in some fantasy nomad's state that is such a part of the American psyche.

For most of its history, the pickup has been built for pure utility; a cramped, Spartan cab connected to a steel box and little else. But in the late Fifties, Detroit truck builders discovered that certain pickup customers were interested in the same creature comforts to be found in passenger cars. Hence, pickup trucks began to appear with optional air conditioning. AM/FM radios, automatic transmissions, power steering, etc., and the race was on to create the most luxurious, carlike pickup. This contest resulted in the Ford Ranchero and the Chevrolet El Camino, which were quasi pickups fashioned on passenger-car chassis, but neither model has ever seriously threatened the hard-core pickup market. By the early Seventies, safety and antipollution legislation, as well as extravagant insurance rates, was limiting "muscle cars" and car enthusiasts were turning toward the whole new world of recreational vehicles, which included vans. four-wheel-drive machinery, motor homes and pickups. Utility was being crossbred with performance and suddenly pickup trucks began to appear in off-road contests such as the Baja 1000 and the Mint 400, decked out with monster tires and roll bars and fitted with thumping, megahorsepower engines. The cosmetic trappings of these supertrucks were soon transferred to their counter-parts on Main Street--first via astute accessory manufacturers, then by the manufacturers themselves. Now one can walk into a Ford, Chevrolet or Dodge agency and order the most incredible--and expensive--pickup truck imaginable. If one is willing to unload as much as $8000, he can buy himself a pickup with almost every luxury option he might get on a Seville or a Continental, as well as custom wheels and tires, roll bars, bucket seats, etc. What's more, he can still buy old-fashioned performance in a pickup. Due to a loophole in the Environmental Protection Agency regulations that exempts vehicles of more than 6000 pounds gross vehicle weight from the stringent, power-cutting emission regulations, one can purchase a pickup with a 400-plus-cubic-inch engine that will be a real stormer in terms of top speed and acceleration.

While Ford and Chevrolet are strongest among the pickup vendors, Dodge has appeared on the market with what may be the neatest, most civilized package yet. Called the Warlock (an optional package including special wheels, paint, trim, wooden side rails, etc.), the Dodge is a sort of ultimate statement of the kind of luxury/fantasy pickup that is captivating America. Unlike the pickups of yesteryear, which operated on beam axles and leaf-spring suspensions inspired by buckboards and Conestoga wagons, the Dodge and its Ford and Chevrolet counterparts are suspended by independent front suspensions and well-engineered solid rear axles that provide handling and ride softness comparable to the best passenger cars. Add to this front disk brakes, three-speed automatic transmissions, power steering, etc., and these once-archaic machines become nearly as sophisticated as sedans. However, the Warlock maintains a link with tradition by utilizing what Dodge calls the Utiline cargo-box treatment (Chevrolet calls its counterpart the Stepside; Ford, the Flare-side). This is simply the aged pickup configuration, where a small cargo box is slung between a pair of bulging rear fenders. In the Fifties, Detroit pickup manufacturers converted to straight-sided boxes, because they provided substantially more carrying capacity, but the old-fashioned version lingered on, and now, as the pickup craze accelerates, it is regaining popularity despite its limited usefulness.

The Warlock comes with luxurious bucket seats, a small sport steering wheel heretofore found only on racing cars and radical road machinery and a stylish paint treatment featuring pinstripes and bold colors. Add-ons such as a removable glass sun roof and a variety of drive trains, ranging from two- and four-wheel drives powered by six- and eight-cylinder engines from 225 cu. ins. to a whopping 440 cu. ins., can be obtained. Similar setups can be purchased by Ford and Chevrolet fanciers, but--at about $7000--the Dodge Warlock may be the best expression of the over-the-counter pickup in the pure American idiom.

While the pickup has not caught on in Europe, the Japanese have found its combination of utility and fun a great source of profit both in the home market and in America. Datsun, Toyota and Mazda all sell small pickups here, while Chevrolet has its LUV, which is made in Japan by Isuzu, and Ford its Courier--manufactured by Toyo Kogyo. These so-called minitrucks are just that--midget replicas of the full-size domestic machines that inspired them. Most are roughly 2500 pounds lighter and have wheelbases 18--24 inches shorter than the conventional American Pickups. They are powered by small-displacement four- and six-cylinder engines of the type that propel the economy sedans manufactured by the same Japanese companies (with the exception of Mazda, which produces a powerful rotary-engine version--the undisputed performance king of the minitrucks).

Datsun is the dominant company in the minitruck field with its line of Li'l Hustler trucks: tiny, neatly styled pickups that first caught on in Southern California among the surfers and dirt-bike contingents and spread out among campers--who attached condensed camper bodies to them--and the general public, many of whom never carried anything larger than a bag of groceries in them. The Datsun Li'l Hustler is rather typical of the breed, coming with a four-cylinder, 119.1-cu.-in. engine mounted on a compact 100-inch wheelbase. A four-speed transmission is standard, though a five-speed manual and a three-speed automatic are optional, as are a 110-inch-wheelbase "stretch" bed for more carrying capacity and an extended cab for more room (most of these minitrucks are a tight fit for six-footers). While all sorts of comfort and custom-decor options are available, from both Datsun and a legion of after-market manufacturers, the basic Li'l Hustler can be purchased for under $4000 (as is true with its competitors) and, therefore, provides some of the cheapest utility transport in the world, especially when its gasoline mileage in the 25-mpg range is considered.

Pickup trucks of all sizes are booming in America, but they remain only a segment of the phenomenon known as the R.V., or recreational-vehicle, market. This catchall category is sort of a collection depot for all the vehicles that are not pure passenger cars yet do not qualify as outright commercial trucks. Therefore, this subspecies includes such variations as motor homes, campers, vans and four-wheel-drive machinery, as well as pickups. Of course, when one thinks of R.V.s and four-wheel drive, visions of Willys Jeeps come to mind, leaping and bucking over sand dunes and scrambling through wooded streams. The Jeep was developed during World War Two (originally by the American Bantam Company and later by Willys) and stands for G.P., or general-purpose, vehicle. After plunging into relative obscurity following the end of the war, the Jeep has blossomed into one of the great cult vehicles of the modern day. Old versions are being collected and restored and Willys--now a profitable division of American Motors--is laboring hard to keep up with demand for its latter-day CJ-5 and CJ-7 models, both of which maintain a strong styling and engineering link with the first models, which became as much a part of American World War Two legend as "Kilroy was here," Betty Grable pinups and GI Joe himself. It is the shorter (83.5-inch wheelbase) CJ-5 that can claim direct lineage to the old war horse, but it is the longer--by ten inches--CJ-7 that is clearly the more appealing of the pair. The CJ-7 (CJ stands for Civilian Jeep) comes equipped with full-time four-wheel drive. Add the optional three-speed automatic transmission, power steering, fiberglass hardtop and 304-cu.-in. engine and the CJ-7 becomes nearly civilized in terms of broad appeal as an off-road sportster and a quick, maneuverable and thoroughly enjoyable road machine. It is also expensive. A heavily equipped CJ-7 can cost well over $7000 and a Spartan CJ-5, with rag top, manual three-speed transmission and standard six-cylinder engine, is about $2000 less. While one is hardly purchasing commodious interiors and silent highway running for these prices, the CJ-series Jeeps offer a special brand of fun and a strange sense of omnipotence that comes only to drivers of four-wheel-drive machinery, who feel that no snowbank is too deep or trail too rutted to impede their progress. Also, there is a certain satisfaction to be gained from the pure functionalism of the machine--the stark simplicity of the device that creates an aura of indestructibility. As one automotive writer put it, "In a CJ Jeep, you're constantly reminded of its toughness, the heavy-handed use of exposed hex-head bolts and blacksmith-simple angular fittings assuring you that nothing is going to fall off."

Nothing is going to fall off--that is the underlying message of all the ultrarugged, semimilitary four-wheel-drive vehicles that have followed the Jeep into the market place. Willys produces a series of four-wheel-drive pickups and other vehicles, as do International Harvester, Ford, Chevrolet, G.M.C. and Dodge. An amalgam of the Jeep and the pickup is the Chevrolet Blazer, which is larger than a Jeep and has more people-carrying capacity than a pickup. Using Chevrolet truck components for the most part, the Blazer has been a rugged and particularly successful addition to the recreational field since its introduction in 1969. It and its twin, the G.M.C. Jimmy (which shares everything except the name plate), have been refined over the years to a point where they are large and comfortable vehicles both on and off the road and are employed by many purchasers as full-time family sedans. The Blazer--like virtually every other entrant in the R.V. field--is available with endless numbers of options; but the best basic configuration utilizes the wonderfully smooth and reliable Chevrolet 350-cu.-in. V8 in combination with the G.M. three-speed Turbo Hydra-matic transmission. This, in conjunction with the full-time four-wheel-drive system, makes for an ideal setup, simply because one does not have to shift in and out of four-wheel drive depending on conditions. The one penalty, as in all vehicles of this type, is gas mileage, which seldom exceeds 12 mpg, regardless of how conservatively one drives. The Blazer comes equipped with front disk brakes and a steel canopy with built-in roll bar that covers the two front seats. A removable fiberglass hardtop encloses the rear portion of the machine. These combination station wagon/trucks are available in a variety of forms; from Willys as the Wagoneer and the Cherokee, from Chevrolet as the Suburban (similar to the Blazer/Jimmy but longer overall and more closely related to the station-wagon concept than to a pickup) and from Dodge and Plymouth as the Ramcharger and the Trail Duster. All are expensive, ranging from $6000 to $10,000, depending on options, but they provide uniquely functional vehicles for all manner of driving conditions.

Perhaps the most unusual variation on the four-wheel-drive theme is the Subaru four-wheel-drive station wagon, with its simulated-wood side paneling and roof rack that make it appear more suited to supermarket shopping than to off-road stump jumping. The Subaru is, in fact, a modified version of the conventional wagon that is powered by a water-cooled, opposed-four-cylinder, 56-hp engine driving through the front wheels. Its general styling themes and performance make it closely related to Datsuns and Toyotas of similar size and cost, but the addition of four-wheel drive (accomplished by fitting a transfer case and drive shaft to transmit power to the rear wheels) turns the Subaru into an especially appealing small station wagon. Far from fast (0-60 in about 18 seconds) but strong and reliable, this particular vehicle may be the forerunner of a whole new generation of compact four-wheel-drive passenger cars and station wagons that will offer mileage in the neighborhood of 30 mpg with supertraction on ice, snow, sand and mud tossed in as a bonus.

The Subaru four-wheel-drive wagon costs around $4200, including radio, four-speed transmission, full carpeting, rear-window defogger, wiper and washer, heavy-duty suspension, reclining bucket seats, tinted glass, etc., which add up to create a substantial automotive bargain. Thanks to its ultraefficient 1600-c.c. engine, which meets both the Environmental Protection Agency's and the more stringent California Air Resources Board's exhaust-emission standards without a catalytic converter, the Subaru provides an extra bonus by being operable on low-cost regular-pump gasoline. In terms of versatility in a small automotive package, it is hard to surpass this boxy but boldly different little wagon.

None of the major manufacturers have yet made the rather obvious connection between four-wheel drive and the immensely popular vans that are swarming across the nation, but several custom builders are making conversions of this nature and there is enormous activity in the entire field. Probably the most advanced concept comes from Ford, which introduced a model in 1974 that placed the engine farther forward than in conventional vans. This engine placement added to interior space and provided more crash protection than normal vans, which placed the power plant between the driver and the front-seat passenger and therefore left them vulnerable to head-on collisions. As we said, accessories are the life source of all recreation vehicles and, like its competition from Chevrolet, Dodge, Plymouth and G.M.C., Ford makes its van available in a variety of styles, ranging from the normal cargo type with no side windows to a club van with windows all around. Wheelbases are 124 or 138 inches and power plants vary from a 300-cu.-in. six-cylinder to a 351-cu.-in. V8. Both a three-speed manual and a three-speed automatic transmission are available, as is a variety of exotic interior packages. One of the neatest options is Ford's swiveling front chairs, with immense padded backs and armrests that rival anything to be found in the cabins of executive jets. Regardless of the form in which the Ford is delivered--as a $5000 stripped version ready for customizing or a $9000 beauty loaded with every conceivable goody--it is a machine beautifully suited to the hard realities of American motoring and to the fantasies surrounding the world of trucks.

So pick a machine, a fat-tired, Oh-my God four-wheel-drive monster or a throwback pickup or a loaded van, plug in an eight-track of C. W. McCall, light up the old C.B. and start modulatin' on channel 19. Start truckin', good buddy, because, like the man says, getting there is all the fun.

"Light trucks are where it's at, and there is no telling where it will peak."