10 Concept Pickup Trucks Most Enthusiasts Forgot Existed
This article covers a developing story. Keep checking back with us as we’ll add more information as it becomes available.
Pickup trucks have been America’s preferred mode of transportation for decades, and it’s perhaps because of this enduring success that manufacturers have generally been reluctant to advance many radical innovations in the segment. It took a wave of electric vehicle startups like Rivian and Bollinger to get anyone to start taking the idea of electric pickups seriously, and the small pickup truck market has just been revived with the arrival of the Ford Mavericks and Hyundai Santa Cruz.
That’s not to say any of these innovations hadn’t been thought of before, in fact in many cases there are concept trucks that date back decades and feature similar ideas. It’s just that the makers never seem too eager to push them through to production, instead leaving them to be consigned to the archives and eventually forgotten by enthusiasts. Of course, for every potentially game-changing concept pickup, there are some that showcase ideas that would never work in the real world. But, whether it’s plans for the future or just offbeat design studies, these mics aren’t worth forgetting.
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Toyota Tundrasine
If there’s one thing Americans love more than pickup trucks, it’s wholesale vans. The Toyota Tundrasine is exactly that, a Tundra transformed into a limo. It was designed as a show truck for SEMA, but it’s not as pointless as it first appears.
There are already plenty of stretched Hummers and other SUVs doing daily limo service, so why not expand the market to limo pickups? Obviously, Toyota didn’t think there was any money to be made in the idea, and after making the rounds at auto shows in 2015, it faded into obscurity.
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Dodge Sidewinder
Another SEMA special, the 1997 Dodge Sidewinder combined the practicality of the Dodge Dakota with the brutal V10 power of the Viper GTS-R. It produced 640 horsepower and 530 lb-ft of torque, and all that power was transmitted only through the rear wheels.
Dodge eventually entered the street truck segment with the Ram SRT-10, but the Sidewinder’s unique design never made it into a production vehicle. In fact, the whole idea of a convertible pickup was largely abandoned after the 90s.
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Chevrolet XT-2
Almost every pickup on the market today features a boxy, non-aerodynamic design, but Chevrolet envisioned a rather different future for the segment in 1989. It took the El Camino and combined it with the sleek design of a sports car, and public response was generally very positive.
It saw active service as a pace car in the CART PPG IndyCar World Series and was fitted with a racing V6 engine that put out 360 horsepower. Its unusual design meant that the windshield lifted on gas struts to act as a hatch, allowing the driver to enter and exit the car.
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Skoda Montiaq
Skoda isn’t very well known in the US, but in the UK and Europe it’s a household name. The Czech automaker is part of the VW Group and focuses on making affordable and reliable cars that are a cheaper alternative to VW’s main lineup.
The Mountiaq was the result of a student project to design a new Skoda, and it was based on the brand’s existing Kodiaq SUV platform. VW already has expertise in making small, inexpensive workhorses thanks to its decades of making the VW Rabbit, but unfortunately the Mountiaq was never considered for production.
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Chevy E-10
A common complaint about electric cars is that they don’t look as good as their gas-powered counterparts, but the Chevrolet E-10 concept is surely the exception to the rule. It’s a classic-style C-10 pickup with an all-electric powertrain, and it debuted in 2019.
It received good media coverage when it debuted, but opinions were divided on whether a classic truck like this should have received an electric powertrain. Although, with 450bhp on tap, we doubt anyone who’s actually driven the E-10 would complain.
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BMW X7 Pickup Truck
Another student-led design, the BMW X7 Pickup does exactly what its name suggests. It takes the company’s flagship luxury SUV and adds a cargo bed that’s about big enough for a motorcycle.
BMW has no plans to put the truck into production, but previous high-end pickups like the Mercedes-AMG G63 6×6 and Tesla Cybertruck have proven to have plenty of consumer interest. for the luxury pickup segment. So maybe BMW is missing out by not capitalizing on this early design.
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Rinspeed Tatooo.com
Most of the trucks featured here might have had some dealership potential, but the Rinspeed Tatooo.com is like no other. In fact, it’s not like any other pickup ever made. It features a miniature cargo crane in the cargo area and an underwater scooter called “BOB” in the back that comes with a diving helmet and is supposed to help novice divers swim faster. Now that’s a one-sentence roller coaster.
It’s pretty clear to any sane person that this technology wasn’t exactly useful in the real world, but that didn’t stop big names like Continental and Sony from sponsoring the car when it debuted in 2000. Which is even weirder is that it’s not the craziest Rinspeed concept ever, because there are so many more.
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Dodge T-Rex
The idea of the 6×6 pickup isn’t new today, but back in 1997 it was still a very new proposition. The Dodge T-Rex was one of the first concepts to feature such a setup, as it took the chassis of a Ram 2500, lengthened it, and added an extra pair of wheels.
Parent company Daimler Chrysler never considered putting the T-Rex into production, but its design would later be used as the basis for the Mercedes-AMG G63 6×6 that is loved by celebrities and oil moguls around the world.
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Chevrolet Silverado 427
Most of the time, the reason concept trucks get overlooked is that they were too far ahead of their time, but with the Chevy Silverado 427, the opposite is true. The truck was first unveiled in 2006, designed to compete against other street trucks like the Dodge Ram SRT-10 and Ford SVT Lightning.
The problem was that by the time Chevy had started developing it, the street truck market was starting to cool down and sales were plummeting. The company decided there was simply no business case and it ended up being consigned to the archives.
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Jeep M715 five quarter
Restored pickups are almost always very cool, but the Jeep M715 Five-Quarter stands out as one of the best. It was built for the 2019 Moab Easter Safari and uses a Wrangler Unlimited chassis with the body of a classic M715.
Power is provided by a supercharged 6.2L Hemi Hellcrate V8 and 40-inch tires give the Jeep unbeatable levels of off-road capability. It’s not the first retro-modern Jeep concept the company has unveiled, like a few years ago they also revealed the Chief Concept and the breathtaking Mighty FC. So far, however, Jeep has refused to consider putting any of these examples into production, much to the disappointment of fans everywhere.
This article covers a developing story. Keep checking back with us as we’ll add more information as it becomes available.
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