2024 Ram 1500 Big Horn/lone Star on 2040-cars

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Ram brings two new special edition trucks to Chicago

The Chicago Auto Show has historically been a truck-heavy expo, and this year FCA is rolling out two new versions of its stalwart pickup: the limited edition Ram 1500 Copper Sport and the Ram Heavy Duty Night edition. While there are no changes under the skin, the pair of appearance packages add a host of unique touches inside and out to help truck buyers set their rides apart from the crowd. The Ram 1500 Copper Sport starts at $46,950 and will be limited to just 3,000 units. That's a drop in the bucket compared to number Ram pickups that the automaker sells every year, but at least it's a limited edition that's actually limited. All models will be Crew Cab V8s. Aside from the copper-colored paint on the body, grille, and bumpers, the Copper Sport adds contrasting black-decaled Sport performance hood, black Ram's head grille badge, black tailgate badge and black body-side badges. The Copper Sport also comes with unique wheels in either 20- or 22-inch diameters (depending on whether you get a 4x2 or 4x4). View 10 Photos Inside, the truck gets copper-colored accents on the seat, headrests, and minor trim pieces. The headliner and A-pillars are all black to match the copper and black mesh seats. The Copper Sport also comes with a nine-speaker Alpine audio system that includes a subwoofer. The Ram Heavy Duty Night edition package is available on both 2500 and 3500 models, expanding on from the half-ton Ram 1500 Night edition. Like the Copper Sport, the Night edition is a special appearance package that doesn't change anything underneath. Where the former adds copper touches inside and out, the Night edition is essentially a factory blackout kit. On the exterior, the chrome on the wheels, grille, headlight bezels, and badges are replaced with either a gloss or matte-black finish. Inside, the Night edition comes with black vinyl and cloth seats. View 7 Photos Like the Copper edition, the only body style available is the Crew Cab. The package also isn't available on dualie 3500s, though customers can choose from two Hemi V8s or a Cummins diesel inline-six. The Night edition starts at $46,840 for a two-wheel drive Ram 2500. Look for the pair to hit showrooms in the next few months. Related Video: Featured Gallery Ram Copper Sport and Heavy Duty Night Models View 12 Photos News Source: FCA Design/Style Chicago Auto Show RAM Truck

2021 Ram 1500 TRX Suspension Deep Dive | Underbelly of the beast

I think we can all agree that we have been waiting for a gonzo full-size truck like the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX for a long time. After all, it has been over a decade since the Ford F-150 Raptor came out, and it was such an immediate hit that I expected its direct competitors to respond much sooner than this. We all knew something was finally brewing in 2016, when the TRX concept was unveiled at the Texas State Fair. I was there, and was among the many who gave the assembled Ram higher-ups an enthusiastic thumbs-up. That’s what they were hoping to see before they greenlit the project. The pace of development being what it is, and with the redesigned, current-generation Ram 1500 a prerequisite that understandably had to come first, itÂ’s no surprise that weÂ’re only seeing it now as a 2021 model. You may be biting your tongue that I overlooked the Tundra TRD Pro or the Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss, but neither of those comes close to following the formula established by the Raptor: big engine, a much wider stance than the base truck, greatly enhanced suspension travel, huge tires and swollen fenders to cover it all. Only the Raptor and the TRX fit that mold. For now.   Before I got started, I first pointed the TRX up my RTI ramp and measured its Flex Index score. Please excuse the shaded nose; the truck ran farther up than IÂ’d guessed and literally drove out of the picture. But something in my subconscious warned me to keep the garage door open, which was fortuitous because the nose of the Ram ended up inside. The TRX hiked its front wheel 29 and 7/8 inches off the ground before the left rear tire reached the point of lift-off, and that equates to a climb of 87.4 inches up the deck of my ramp. Divide that by the TRXÂ’s wheelbase of 145.1 inches, multiply by 1,000, and you arrive at a Flex Index score of 602 points. It could have been a few points higher, I think, if I could have straightened out the steering a bit better. But the high-grip cheese grater surface of my ramp was firmly dug in and having none of it. This is an extremely good score for a full-size crew cab pickup. LetÂ’s take a closer look at what made that possible.   The track width of the TRXÂ’s double wishbone front-suspension is a full 6 inches broader than a regular Ram 1500, and you are looking at the parts that are responsible. The lower wishbone (yellow arrow), the upper control arm (green) and the steering knuckle (red) conspire to add 3 inches per side to the TRXÂ’s stance.

Italian coachbuilder wraps a modern-day Citroen van in a retro skin

Italian coachbuilder Caselani resurrected an obscure, often-forgotten model from Citroen's past to offer van buyers an additional retro-styled option. Called Type HG, it's based on the current-generation Citroen Jumpy. One of the French carmaker's best-known vintage vans is the Type H, which was built with only minor changes from 1947 to 1981. It's aged into a sought-after classic that's popular as a food truck and as a camper from Paris to Sydney. Few realize Citroen planned to release a smaller model named Type G which looked almost exactly like the H but used an air-cooled flat-twin engine shared with the 2CV. Several prototypes were made, but the project was canned in favor of the 2CV-based, nine-horsepower AU van released in 1951. It's this little-known prototype that only exists in Citroen's official heritage collection and in the minds of the most indoctrinated French car enthusiasts that Caselani chose to bring into the 21st century. And, because the Type G (shown below) was a shrunken copy of the Type H from a design standpoint, making a body kit that fits the Citroen Jumpy was relatively simple. Caselani liberally borrowed styling cues from its modern version of the Type H, which is based on the larger Citroen Jumper sold as the Ram ProMaster in the United States. It adds a new-look front end with a vertical grille, chromed chevrons, and round headlights positioned as far out of the body as regulations permit, corrugated body panels, and a redesigned rear end. Whitewall tires are optionally available. Caselani offers the Type HG as a passenger van, a crew-cab van, and a panel van. Pricing starts at 29,400 euros before taxes are factored in, a sum that represents about $35,000 and that corresponds to a short-wheelbase panel model powered by a 100-horsepower, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine. Alternatively, motorists who already own a Jumpy can purchase the transformation kit on its own for 14,800 euros (about $17,500). For added peace of mind, Caselani pointed out the conversion was created with Citroen's input, and the brand authorized the kit. We know what you're thinking: what on earth is a Jumpy? Glad you asked! It's a van positioned in the middle of Citroen's commercial range. It slots between the Berlingo, which competes in the same segment as the Ford Transit Connect, and the Jumper, which is marketed as an alternative to the Ford Transit.