Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Dodge MAXXcab-what do you think?

tgr1tgr1 Member Posts: 92
edited March 2014 in Dodge
Saw a spread on this new concept truck in Open
Road magazine. I think it looks great. The writer
thinks it doesn't have much chance of actually
making it to production though, at least not in a
form substantially like what they show. But if it
comes within the next couple years with the new
5.7L hemi engine, and gas isnt $4 a gallon by then,
Ill be placing an advance order. Does anybody out
there know anything more about this truck?

Comments

  • moparmadmoparmad Member Posts: 197
    The ugliest truck I have ever seen.Looks like a Mercedes with a bed.Not even the 354 Hemi will save it.Just my opinion,for more information check out Mopar Action(June 2000).
  • themacguythemacguy Member Posts: 417
    but I think the 'thing' has at least ONE endearing feature: it's not available - 'yet'... ;-P
  • LohengrinLohengrin Member Posts: 84
    Interesting idea-cab forward on a pickup. But it is incredibly ugly. Quite frankly, it would be a travisty if Dodge trucks start looking like Dodge cars. Ugh.
  • astaasta Member Posts: 122
    Keep an open mind, guys - when I first saw an early version of the Dak Quad my gut instinct was: that thing is a complete mutant! you would never catch me driving a pickup with a sawed-off bed! Well, a year and a half later, I'm close to putting down an order for a 2001 Dak Quad (or a Ford Supercrew - I still can't make up my mind, Macguy- re our emails several months back). Point being - maybe the Maxx has a place???? 2 cents worth (or perhaps much less in this case)
  • towcrazy2towcrazy2 Member Posts: 337
    To All:
    Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...

    I recall falling in love with the Dodge Ram 6 years ago... Ordered a '95 SB, loaded, and recall the look of horrer on my Dad's face when I drove out to his place in it... "That's not a TRUCK!... It's a gaudy, ugly chunk of metal," I recall him saying.

    5-1/2 years later (last weekend), Dad drove me out to the dealership to pick up a loaded Dakota Quad Cab... Four of us piled into the truck and went out to dinner (quite comfortably)... He took the wheel on the way back to to his place... We got out of the thing... He walked around the front of it (which is virtually the same as the Ram)... Remarked, "You know? This is a very good looking vehicle!!"

    The point? Actually two of them:

    Chrysler has a knack for designing what I call "love-hate" vehicles... Either you love'em or you hate'em (e.g., the PT Cruiser). But somehow, those guys have been better able to anticipate the "future tastes" of buyers, and their sales fugures/profits will attest to that.

    Two years ago I was working on a training project for Dodge. Knowing that I wanted to replace my Ram with a smaller, more user-friendly pickup in a year, I asked the client whether they'd be adding a third door to the Dakota X-cab in '99... His very blunt reply was "NO... Wait 'till 2000."

    So... Here comes 2000. I expected to see a third or possibly fourth door in the Dak X-Cab, and agonize over stepping down from the 5.9 V8 (which I need for trailering) to the 5.2.

    Instead, I find a beautifully-engineered Quad Cab available with a 5.9 V8!

    I work for ALL of the "big three"... And I'm not sure what it is about the Chrysler design teams... But they've repeatedly demonstrated a talent for staying a step ahead of the competition.

    As to the prototype pickup... I haven't seen it. But I'd wager that Dodge will gather A LOT of feedback from potential customers and come up with another winning design when it goes into production.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    it is different looking, doesn't mean it is ugly. Dodge has presented some very well thought out (and long over due) ideas with this vehicle. "Cab-forward" makes a lot of sense for a pickup truck. You get the most usable space for any given length.

    If you ever visit Europe, you will find most full-size pickups are cab-over designs, because they make more sense from a practical standpoint. The "American" traditional long nose pickup is regarded as impractical and wasteful by European customers.

    A good example is the Ford Transit. Heavy-duty versions are equal to an F-350 in terms of work capability, yet is a much shorter vehicle because of the cab-over design. It looks like a van with a pickup bed. In fact, it is also available as a van too.

    Bob
  • 76257625 Member Posts: 1
    Does anyone have a feeling for price points and if/when the Maxxcab will go into production??
  • andy_jordanandy_jordan Member Posts: 764
    Don't hold your breath.

    The next revolution is going to be the 2002 Ram.

    Chrysler have been doing some confidential consumer studies on various designs. From what I hear the Ram is going to be a fairly radical design - but not to the extreme of a concept vehicle.

    It is logical that the Dakota redesign will follow similar lines to the Ram, so maybe 2003. Can't see a new model in the line up there - just Club and Quad (maybe not standard).

    Incidentally, I hear rumours (or rumors as they came from the US), that Dodge is going to introduce a distinct styling difference for the heavy duty Rams - can anyone say Power Wagon!!!
  • towcrazy2towcrazy2 Member Posts: 337
    Andy,

    I suspect you're right with regard to a "new" Dodge heavy-duty truck coming down the pike. While they've done tremendously well with the Ram, they've fallen behind in the area of true HD trucks.

    Ford pulled a very slick trick about a year ago when it unveiled its Super Duty line (F-250 through F-750)... In effect, it created new segments to replace what used to be known as "medium-duty" trucks (NOT "pickups")... The goal was to provide pickup buyers with more brawn and power than anyone else, but also to provide chassis/cab models to the upfitters for conversions to dump, brush-truck, emergency vehicles, etc. They did a good job indeed!

    Then comes Chevy/GMC in a "knee-jerk" to Ford's move... A HD Silverado line developed in conjunction with Isuzu (diesel) and Allison (transmission) for release sometime over the next month.

    Meanwhile, Dodge has rested on its success with the Ram, content to satisfy the non-commercial market and make loads of money.

    My guess, however, is that the "Dodge Boys" have something up their sleeves to address both the pickup and commercial markets. As you suggested, it may be the modern-day version of the Power Wagon... But I suspect that they'll have a lot more to announce than simply a HD pickup... Guess we'll see!!!

    Aren't trucks fun!!??
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    produce a new full-size van using the MAXXcab platform/concept. The current RAM Van has been around since 1969. It was originally called the Tradesman.

    Producing a van and a pickup off the same platform makes a lot of sense. As I'd mentioned in my above post, Ford (and others) have been doing this (building vans & pickups off the same platform) for years in Europe.

    Bob
  • tgr1tgr1 Member Posts: 92
    I've heard somewhere recently that this truck is being given serious consideration for production. The prototype is based on the Dakota quadcab frame, but widened 4.5". It looks funny from the side, but thats because it has an unmistakable minivan look to the front 2/3. This would be a true hybrid vehicle, combining truck, car and van traits, and I wouldn't think it would replace the Dakota, but? It looks odd now, but as someone posted before, it should grow on most people, especially as styles change. Anyway, with a 354 hemi, or even a 287 hemi, it will sell bigtime.
  • moparmadmoparmad Member Posts: 197
    I have been a "Dodge Boy"for a long,long time and I can't ever remember being so sickened by a concept vehicle from Dodge.This Maxx cab is just plain atrocious in styling.
    The future plans I have seen for the Ram include a fully independent front suspension similar to Ford and Chevy.I always liked the way Dodge has went their own way,but I feel those days are numbered.Mother Mopar is dead,the future is being revealed,and I will not be a"Dodge Boy"anymore if this is the shape of things to come.
    I have always been slightly apprehensive to many of Chryslers designs only to grow to like them later,it will not happen with the Maxx cab.I really haven't met anyone who liked the picture when I showed them.But I don't like the general direction any manufacturer is taking with their trucks,especially with these little high strung V8's that make big horsepower numbers at the expense of torque.I know many people that are finding out that thier old Ford or Chevy tows pulls and "wheels"much better than thier new one.And now Dodge is following suite.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    If you're so against the way Chrysler is headed, why do you own a '99 300M? That's one of Chrysler's new "signature" vehicles in terms of styling.

    By the way, I like the MAXXcab -- a lot! Granted, it's radical looking, but there are a lot of items on this vehicle that make a whole lot of sense, staring with the very short hood.

    Remember, when Dodge first showed the new (radical) Ram pickup a few years back, most people hated it. I mean HATED it! Now it's one of the most popular trucks out there. Change is often difficult to deal with. Most people "do" get used to (and accept) new items however, once they start seeing them on the streets.

    Bob
  • tgr1tgr1 Member Posts: 92
    MaxxCab, like some of the newest designs, will take getting used to, but lots of times looks will grow on you. Chrysler has always been an innovator. If I'm not mistaken, they were first with an auto tranny, and lots of folks belittled it! And I'll tell you what, if it comes with a 350hp engine (big torque or not) it will move and haul more than my Dakota quad cab, but anyone buying that truck would certainly NOT be buying it for hauling or towing anyway.
  • themacguythemacguy Member Posts: 417
    The MaxxCab or a variant will be built. Hopefully (for many of us) is will look a lot different from its current exterior styling (remember the TR-7 vs. the MUCH better and softer TR-8?), while retaining enough of its 'new look' to keep its fans happy - without losing its new and very interesting features. Sort of like the Boxster was to Porsche: It came out close enough to the show car to keep most of its potential clients happy. But not me - it lost its soul in the process. They are now in the process of playing catch-up to the BMW Z-3, which is really not in the same league as the Boxster's top-to-bottom quality feel, but still has more 'soul' in its design statement than the Porsche.

    That goes to what moparmad is saying (sort of), maybe in just a similar vein however. As the guts of our beloved trucks are being made more politically correct, they lose their truck souls in the process. Espresso anyone?

    If anyone can make any sense of this please feel free to e:mail me and explain what I've said?! :-O
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Years ago... I mean YEARS ago, MAD magazine put together an issue that was a spoof on the typical high school yearbook. In there they had a foreign exchange student, whom they referred to as "Alphabets." She put sentences together that absolutely made no sense, what so ever... and were hilarious. Are you, by any chance, related to her?

    Kind of reminds me of Drew Cary's new TV show, "Whose Line is it Anyway?"

    At any rate, I agree with what ever you said.

    Bob
  • tgr1tgr1 Member Posts: 92
    Bought it in 1975, when they first came out- sold it in 1976, after I got tired of the problems. Decent 90 hp engine, great tranny, absolutely lousy chassis and hardware. Then drove a '69 Porsche 911 for about 7 or 8 years. Talk about a love/hate relationship!
    As for Mad Magazine, if they put the Maxxcab on the fold-up back cover, all you'd see is about two feet of hood connected to 5 feet of bed. Take out the "cab" and there's not much left.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Hence the name "MAXXCab."

    Bob
  • themacguythemacguy Member Posts: 417
    Uh, what was the question?
  • meredithmeredith Member Posts: 575
    After 30 or more days of inactivity....

    this topic is being "frozen." It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.

    Front Porch Philosopher
    SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host
This discussion has been closed.