Ram Brings Its 1500 Rebel to the Houston Auto Show
Car shows. The appeal of them is obvious. Whether you attend one in New Hampshire or New Mexico, you’ll see dozens of shiny new vehicles, models in tight dresses, and plenty of aftermarket products, such as rims and wraps.
The Houston Auto Show, which runs until Sunday, Jan. 25 at the NRG Center, has all of those attractions. Although I did enjoy them earlier this week, I was probably most excited about getting the chance to personally ask Kevin Mets, head of Ram pickup marketing, about his company’s 2015 1500 Rebel and the Ford F-150 Raptor’s influence on it.
I already knew plenty about the truck from the press release about it that came out last week. I knew it’s going to be offered with the choice of a 305-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 or a 395-hp 5.7-liter HEMI V8. I remembered that Rebels with eight cylinders under their aluminum sport hoods are going to be available with either two- or four-wheel drive. I was also aware that all Rebels will come with a one-inch lift and 33-inch Toyo Open Country all-terrain tires, as well as 10.3 inches of ground clearance.
There were a couple of things I was less sure about. For instance, I thought the 10th model in the automaker’s 1500 lineup looked as if it were visually influenced by the Blue Oval’s Jurassic dune-jumper, but I didn’t have an official yes or no. I also wasn’t absolutely certain about whether or not Ram had targeted the Raptor when it was developing the Rebel. The language used in Ram’s press release about the pickup made me fairly confident in thinking it hadn’t. However, I didn’t know for sure.
That’s why, after Mets’ presentation of the truck, I raised my hand.
I asked Mets what sort of factor the Raptor played in the design and development of the 1500 Rebel.
He replied by saying, “What we were pursuing is creating a pickup truck that fits our customers needs, which is giving them the right amount of off-road capability … without making them pay for a lot of technical pieces that they don’t really need for daily use.” Immediately after he said that, one of my colleagues in the Texas Auto Writers Association chimed in from the back row with the words “a functional Raptor.”
Not missing a beat, Ram Trucks Communications Manager Nick Cappa jumped in with a correction: “functional Ram.” When another journalist mentioned models such as the Toyota TRD Pro Tundra, Cappa told us all that the Rebel will be the kind of truck that Ram’s dealers have been putting at the fronts of their lots as showpieces. (You’ve seen them before – the jacked-up specials with big wheels and tires.) “This [the Rebel] gives them that, it preserves the warranty, [it’s a] lifted truck – the air suspension helped us out on that, 33-inch tires right off the bat, [a] unique interior, and a whole lot of content to preserve the price point, too. That’s the idea of the truck.” (Cappa added that the Ram Power Wagon is the most capable off-road rig on the market.)
Neither Mets nor Cappa said Ram did or didn’t take a page out of the Raptor’s style book for its new truck’s design. I remain convinced it did. Have you seen the Rebel’s unique grille or giant tailgate letters? Of course you have.
I think Ram’s idea of offering a pickup with some upgraded gear for the rough stuff and special cosmetic touches (that is surely going to be more affordable than the balls-to-the-wall, laser-focused piece of hardware the next Raptor is going to be) that its dealerships can move is a good one.
However, as of right now, that leaves the 2017 Raptor without any true rivals. It’s too bad we’ll have to wait until fall 2016 to find out if the next generation of the Blue Oval beast outmatches the current one.
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