2014 Ram 1500 Tradesman/express on 2040-cars

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Ram introduces latest 'Built to Serve' pickup honoring U.S. Air Force

Ram announced Thursday that the third of its five-truck "Built to Serve" series will officially launch Friday. The latest edition, finished in either Anvil or Billet Silver, honors the U.S. Air Force on the anniversary of its founding.  "Ram continues to honor all of those who serve or have served in the United States armed forces with distinction through our latest ‘Built to ServeÂ’ offering," said Ram chief Mike Koval Jr., in FCA's announcement. "The ‘Built to ServeÂ’ adage is something Ram truck owners, whether civilian or military, are very familiar with as itÂ’s something we strive to build into every truck and van we produce."   FCA is releasing a new truck approximately once every three months, each commemorating one of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Deliveries of the latest model are set to begin this week to coincide with the 73rd anniversary of the Air Force's establishment as a separate branch on Sept. 18, 1947.  "Built to Serve" models are easily spotted thanks to their prominent rear quarter panel decals. Cosmetic upgrades include an all-black grille and surround, black badges, side steps, black four-inch exhaust tips, body-colored wheel arch trim, and 20-inch wheels finished in Technical Gray. The option price adds the Off-Road Group, which bundles features such as underbody skid plates, electronic-locking rear axle, off-road shocks, tow hooks, and all-terrain tires.  In total, FCA will sell 9,000 "Built to Serve" editions divvied up so that each branch gets two appropriate color choices out of 10 total: Gator (1,000 units) and Diamond Black (1,000); Ceramic Gray (1,000) and Patriot Blue (1,000); Anvil (1,000) and Billet Silver (1,000); Tank (1,000) and Flame Red (1,000); and Spitfire (500) and Bright White (500). The up-charge regardless of variant is $2,795.      

Ram 1500 Marines-inspired Built to Serve edition wears tank-like green paint

Ram rolled out the latest addition to its military-inspired Built to Serve lineup of trucks right before Thanksgiving. Based on the hot-selling 1500, it's available in two distinct colors named Tank and Flame Red, respectively. Each branch of the U.S. armed forces is getting a variant of the truck, and the newest member of the range honors the Marine Corps. Like the three previously-unveiled 1500s, it receives a decal of the American flag and Built to Serve stickers on each quarter panel, black exterior trim pieces, body-colored fender flares, and 20-inch aluminum wheels finished in a shade called Technical Gray. Ram expects active-duty service members and veterans will scoop up most of the production run, so it added Velcro panels on the side of each front seat that let motorists display the patch of their choice, whether it's a flag, a name badge, or a unit insignia. It also added front sport seats upholstered in cloth and vinyl, all-weather floor mats, and an emblem on the dashboard, while the Marines-inspired model gets Medium Greystone accent stitching. Buyers can combine the Built to Serve appearance package with all body styles and powertrains, even if they haven't served in the armed forces. Every truck comes with the 4x4 Off-Road Group, which bundles features like all-terrain tires, an electronic-locking rear axle, hill descent control, tow hooks, and four thick skid plates. Ram will start taking orders for the latest Built to Serve 1500 in December 2020, and production is scheduled to start in early 2021 at the firm's Sterling Heights, Michigan, plant. Pricing information hasn't been published yet, but production will be limited to 1,000 trucks finished in Tank and an additional 1,000 units painted Flame Red. The fifth and final member of the range, honoring the Coast Guard, will be unveiled in early 2021.  Related Video:

2020 Ram HD trucks revealed in spy shots, along with interior

It looks like FCA isn't too concerned with keeping its redesigned Heavy Duty trucks under wraps before their reveals. Our spy photographers managed to catch a fleet of 2020 Ram HDs running around completely undisguised. Not only do we get to see exterior design details, but there are also shots of the HD's interior in Laramie trim. Shots of the new Power Wagon went up a few days ago, but now we get to see the truck in both Laramie Longhorn and Limited trims. It's clear the trucks are following in the footsteps of the 2019 Ram 1500 redesign for their inspiration — we like the new Ram, so that's a good thing. The departure from traditional Ram HD styling means the retirement of the crosshair grille. We can see this first in the brown Laramie Longhorn at the top here. Thankfully, Ram didn't go as far as GM did with its crazy grille design on the freshly released Silverado HD. That being said, it's still pretty large. It appears more upright and tough-looking than the similarly styled 1500 Laramie Longhorn, but still adopts the same design language. 2020 Ram 2500 Limited View 12 Photos The 2500 Limited doesn't exactly look finished, but it's clear we're looking at a more luxuriously appointed truck from the photos. There's more chrome, and the grille design is much more complex than the Laramie Longhorn. In fact, there might even be a bit too much chrome for our taste — tow hooks probably aren't in need of any shiny bling. 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon Tradesman View 8 Photos Finally, we also get to see the Tradesman trim of a Power Wagon. The red looks good on the big truck, but the trim we saw the other day had a much meaner front-end design. This one would be better for those who want a more discreet Power Wagon. Interior shots surfaced alongside these new trucks too. We wouldn't have imagined much difference between the 1500 and HD interiors, and that seems to be the case. The model we're looking at here has the 8.4-inch screen with Uconnect, but the massive 12-incher will undoubtedly be available too. We expect an "official" debut of this truck early next year, with the Detroit Auto Show being the most likely of places for that to happen. Related video: