Go Full-American October: Richard Hammond's RAM TRX Sets a Grass Field on Fire

The United States of Automobile has very strict opinions on what a car should be, and size is paramount. Big body, big engine, big power, big noise – I’ve just described the muscle truck, I must admit. Which, in turn, is the most American form of auto-mobility one can possibly fathom. Sure, Europe was swift to adopt American quarter-mile habits, and no reputable carmaker in the world today would dare come up with a car without specifying the 1,320-foot acceleration test ratings.

But there’s one reason American cars aren’t particularly popular on the sunrise side of the Atlantic: they take up a lot of real estate (and they’re thirstier than the Red Army). However, every once in a while, we come across exemptions from this unwritten curfew. A pickup truck finds a home in the world’s second smallest continent – where cars like the Mini, the Smart, and the Fiat 500 have been born and worshipped.

Well, when I say ‘pickup truck,’ I mean RAM TRX, not some Dodge Li’l Red Express from four decades ago. Yes, pickups have been around for a century now and have been highly efficient at kicking horses out of the picture. However, at one point in history, the all-around-good-guy utilitarian vehicle morphed into something only America could have concocted: the muscle truck.

Big engine, small body, gun it. End of the recipe – until carmakers (at least, those who built said trucks) – realized they were missing out badly on a very substantial segment of the market. ‘Pretty much everybody’ would best describe that segment since the truck has been conceived mainly as a workhorse (pun accidental), not a comfort-oriented means of personal transportation. Big engine, small body became bigger engine, bigger body.

Truck makers fixed the issue and loaded the basic architecture with creature comforts – uselessly powerful drivetrains included. For example, we have things like the RAM TRX around. A second, more obvious nuisance of the pickups is that they’re growing abnormally large for no practical reason. Just like a RAM TRX.

I have nothing against the brand, and one of the most recognized, acclaimed, and charismatic gearheads on our beloved Planet Piston is a big fan of the illustrious vehicle. When I say ‘big,’ think big at heart since Richard Hammond once held the title of ‘the smallest life form’ in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The wildly popular TV host, YouTuber, and pistonhead is head over (w)heels for all things American, so long they come with a big V8. Make that a Hellcat V8.

One of his latest acquisitions is a RAM TRX, and the jolly owner decided it was the best possible vehicle to take his daughter for a spin. Not a metaphor, ladies and gentlemen; Richard and Izzy Hammond took the supercharged HEMI monster out in a field and laid some donuts in the hay. Frankly, I can’t think of a more powerful bonding moment between a father and his daughter than a 702-hp (712 PS) RAM TRX with a Hellcat V8.

Neither of the two Hammonds is particularly physical, but next to the TRX, even a country-boy tractor looks undersized. With 650 lb-ft of torque, the 3.5-ton cataclysm with headlights has a hard time crossing a creek. Mostly because it uses the bridge instead of just fording it American-style, and that is a massive effort on the RAM's side (fitting on that tiny English bridge, I mean).

From behind the wheel, Miss Hammond is closely guided by her father to floor it and keep her foot down while going full opposite lock in the grass field over and over and over again. The duo enjoys the cherished moment to its fullest, even when they set the grass on fire.

With the RAM TRX pawing the ground like a Cat out of Hell, it's a wonder the Hammonds didn't commit first-degree arson on the whole field. Now, at this point, I remember how another popular YouTuber (From Texas!) set his Ferrari ablaze by doing the exact same thing – in a cornfield. The brakes of the red-hot supercar turned red-hot and ignited the stover – and the car.

However, the TRX isn’t easily impressed with a small fire under its wheels, even if it started it. The steroid-fed muscle truck moved enough dirt to make a bulldozer go yellow(er) with envy, but it didn’t break a sweat in the process. And the Hammonds had a blast of a time together, thanks to one of the most absurdly glorious vehicles ever to fall under the pickup truck denomination.

And yes, the pickup truck is an American invention thanks to Henry Ford and his 1925 Model T Roadster with Pickup Body. Ford noticed that many of the country’s farmers were adapting the genius design of the sturdy Ford automobiles to suit their rural work needs in the fields and wherever else.

As the Mopar that it is, RAM absolutely had to pull a fast one and lick Ford by making fun of the Ranger Raptor’s predatorial ambitions. TRX is the Chrysler way of spelling T-Rex – and there’s no going above and beyond the supreme apex predator of all time unless someone comes up with an asteroid portmanteau.