I mulled this as I was rearranging my black turtle neck sweater drawer (it’s the one underneath my watch collection drawer). You see, you can of course still get those adorable Kei cabover pick ups in Japan and on much of the Asian subcontinent. It’s a perfect way to have maximum utility in a compact size. If you had a death wish you could even import an old one into the USA. So there wouldn’t be much point in doing something like that (even though that’s where my mind was originally wandering – some sort of last mile commercial/gig economy type thing). [Editor’s note: Quite a few folks are doing that these days! -DT]. And if you’re masochist enough Chevrolet will sell you something called a “Low Cab Forward.” But that has the slight problem of being a massive commercial vehicle.
Then I thought about the Ford Ranger. I’m sure it’s a fine vehicle (I’ve never driven one) but the issue is for the single cab the bed is 72-inches long in a vehicle that is 210-inches long in total. So only about a third of the length is given over to cargo. That’s bonkers. A cabover would do much better and we could probably get the bed length to the hallowed 8-ft figure. But I wanted something more than that — something more sophisticated and cool that would still have lots of utility, but would also be suitable to be your daily driver when you weren’t helping your friends move a couch.
And then it hit me. What if we merged the first generation Toyota Previa with a VW Transporter? The Previa’s problem with it being mid engined was that there wasn’t room for a bigger motor, so it felt a bit underpowered for U.S. tastes. The VW’s problem was it didn’t have an engine at all, just a metal box that turned gas into noise. And it was in the wrong place; but it was supremely space efficient. What I’m thinking is we can have a nice modern hybrid power plant tucked way down low in the middle of the chassis (modern engines being much more reliable, the location is less of an issue), stuff the thing with batteries, and send the power to the rear wheels. Keep the whole thing reasonably close to the ground for better aero and ability to chuck stuff in the bed, and job done I’m off to the pub. What I’ve done this week is slightly different. It’s four very different versions all on the same platform (I’ve used the same wheels in every sketch). The length I’ve decided should be about 190-inches – the same as a long wheelbase Transit Connect but way shorter than a Ranger (which is actually longer than it’s name sake, the full size Range Rover! [Editor’s Note: It should be obvious by now that Adrian is British. -DT]) but the height varies. And yes, one of them is an aggressive active leisure jacked up 4WD thing because I’m the Chief Designer around here that’s why.
As usual feel free to leave scorn, skepticism and suggestions in the comments; I’ll dive in as well and we’ll figure out which direction we’re going to take this in. And if I’ve missed something blindingly obvious, please say so. My old Chief Designer genuinely used to say design is not a democracy. Well, that’s easy enough to say when you don’t have a strange glowing cube under his desk. I would love to have a 2dr, slightly longer bed version of the Ford Maverick, hybrid powertrain, cvt and all but all trucks seem to have been decreed as 4 drs now. Its entirely inhumane to park that closely to one another. == Another clue that the vehicles were parked using the beeping system. (Another trait of current vehicles, I refuse to ackmowledge, participate, or respect.) With that said, Ive had my current 05 Element for about 8yrs and shes been pretty decent. Plyable and able to do as Id like. Id prefer a 5spd and or a stick, cause shes dog slow.. until she gets to 4th. (Which is funny because in my 7th gen Accord, that car had a 5th gear, while this one doesnt.) I love having all my stuff covered.. in a vehicle thats not a SUV. Element was a combination of a CRV and Civic from 03-05. Id love another VAN vehicle… but back when I purchased her.. ya couldnt find anyone who made a VAN. Now that Ive had her for 8yrs on.. Id like another VAN.. but Ferd and everyone else has priced the VAN out of the reach of anyone else. — Theyve also made the Van priced so high… its insane. Even the Ranger which is butt cheap, starts at a stupid price. It included a plethoria of tech BULLSHIT, that I dont fucking want. YET has the very minimal of interior trims. But interior colors are non existant, as is a shifter, analog guages and other stuff.. thats TACTILE. SO hypothetically Id trade a car whos purpose is utility.. for a vehicle thats sold on its tech BULLSHIT.. with utlity as a side option. In short… damn near impossible to replicate my car. Now… Number 1,2, and 3 are extremely alike. Only difference is the headlights are that are “friendly”. Some slight differences in the fake underbody plastic cladding and or some side paneling. I like the CAB configuration of the 3rd drawing, but I want lighting thats Bold. Not aggressive… but bold, maybe a slight mixture of grey kevlar covered plastic coloring around the lights. Also, the wheels are nice… but Id reverse them for a “Turbine wheel”. I can’t draw my ideas / comments on a cab-forward pickup, but I can tell them to you……. First up, I like sketch #1 the best….. Drop-down bed sides are an excellent idea, particularly with today’s REALLY big pickups. Now, my ideas: 1. For a crew-cab version, you can put the front doors in front of the wheel opening, and the rear doors behind the front wheel opening. If you design it properly, you might even be able to make the main door structures swap sides, the left front door shell also being used as the right rear door shell, etc…. 2. A ‘short hood/nose’ design (like the 2nd-generation Ford Econoline, 1969 – 1974) can offer a small front ‘frunk’ (and provide the necessary crash protection), you can have the unit electric powered, with the batteries under the central portion, offsetting the forward weight bias. 3. A ‘maxi-cab’ (extra-cab) can still give you a full 7 or 8-foot bed length in a shorter overall length. A crew cab will still give you a 6 or 7 foot bed length. (depending on the design, of course…) 4. A cab-forward design also lends itself to a cargo or passenger version, so you get multiple vehicles off the same platform. 5. If you needed the cab-forward pickup to be gasoline or diesel engine powered, I think a flat Subaru 4 or 6 would be the ideal engine. Packaging the engine and designing an effective cooling system might be a bit challenging though. #2 and #3 what I think would actually sell in the US. I like the utility of all the designs, but I am too risk averse to ever want to drive one because old. Great work, though. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger Looking it up, the original Ranger came out in 1982. American sales of the Land Rover Range Rover began in 1987. I’m going to go out on a limb and say there is no way the Ranger was named for the Range Rover. ≠SSJ≠
