Our man in Russia, Stanislav Alexeyev has posted some shots at the Cohort, including this one of a Ram pickup with a bed style I’ve never seen here in the US. It’s a bit like the the traditional old “stepside” beds in the US, but decidedly different too. I can’t tell if this is a common commercial bed, or a well-done one-off.
Flat beds with fold-down side are popular in Europe, but this one is down between the wheels, so it lacks the advantages of that. I’m not sure just what to make of it, but it definitely looks…different. Maybe someone should offer these here just for that reason alone.
This is the Ram Whitewood. It competed for marketshare with the Lincoln Blackwood.
In this case, it looks like he accidentally backed into an IKEA store…
Probably a chassis cab with no bed, so the owner fabricated their own.
I can’t imagine much reason for Ram to offer that bed commercially as it’s pretty narrow. But you could definitely save some money doing that yourself. The wheels would seem to indicate it is not used for work.
AFAIK, 1500s were never offered in chassis cab form, though you could possibly get a bed delete from the factory (more common on 2500 and 3500s).
More likely is that the bed rusted out prematurely, as is typical of these Rams.
I ran into this thread on a Dutch US-truck forum, 10 years old by now, but nevertheless.
The Dodge Ram 2500 was imported from the US with the bed/body as pictured in the first photos. That was removed here and the truck got a new, typical Euro-flatbed with dropsides. The 2500 also got a crane and air brakes to increase the legal maximum towing capacity substantially.
http://www.usatrucks.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3204
Is it true that Renault is taking to Fiat to take over Chrysler?
I must add that it is not finished yet, and lacks a tailgate (I’m actually tasked with finding suitable latches for it, which is not an easy task because wooden truck beds are out of production for several decades; the owner wants something looking retro, like the Model T latches shown on the attached image). AFAIK it had a regular steel bed originally and was not a bare chassis (but I may be wrong). The Porsche 928 shown on another Cohort photo is owned by the same person.
Stanislav-
I searched for “corral latch” in Google images, and found this option. Not as retro as the Model T latches, but in the same vein.
Instead of the stamped steel horseshoe used in the picture, I’d be tempted to get a couple real horseshoes and have a copy built locally.
That bed looks more accessible to someone standing on the ground than the bed it normally comes with.
The newest ones come with a fold out step in the tailgate, and my thought is that if they didn’t make these the size of semi-trucks, then folks wouldn’t need that. If I have to have a Dodge pickup, I’d have a 90s Dakota with the 318.
I recently saw a 2nd Generation Dodge Club Cab that looked like it had the frame swapped with a standard cab-short box frame. The back wheels were just behind the rear wall of the cab with maybe enough exposed frame for a 3 or 4 foot box. Very odd looking indeed!
The only truly effective method eliminating rust over the rear wheel arches.
Respectfully, sir, you are assuming that this is not the end product of a radically ineffective method of eliminating said rust….
Sure looks neat! Were these Dodges sold new in Russia?
The way it fits down between the wheels coupled with those highish sides reminds me of the old covered wagon/prairie schooner.
Here in the land of rust, I used to see things like this done to pickups all the time. It was usually though with a flat deck that went over the wheels. I did see a early 2000’s Ford pickup done up similarly last year (those trucks are horrendous rusters), but I have rarely seen it done to a pickup in the last two decades.
This is very common in Atlantic Canada. So much salt is used on the roads that truck beds just don’t last. Late model Tacomas and full sized trucks up to about the past 10 years are notorious for this.
We have yearly safety inspections too, so if it’s too badly rusted, it will fail. It’s just cheaper to build your own replacement than try to source a new or junkyard one.
I see trucks like this all the time. There are 3 or 4 in my small town alone. It’s kind of unique that the fenders are not under the flatbed though.
I’m 99% sure this is a private gray import to Russia. Very few US pickup trucks were sold officially in Russia during several model years, and sales figures were close to zero.
you see pickup bodies like this Portugal.