Photo: Streetside Classics
Look hard enough around you, and you might get a chance to see a convertible SUV passing by. There are a number of them presently out there, starting with the Range Rover Evoque, and ending with the more recent Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet.
Look as hard as you’d like though, and you’ll not find a single full-blown convertible pickup (or roadster, for that matter) being made right now.
There was a time, though, when such things were around - some of you might remember the Dodge Dakota in its convertible incarnation. Others might argue convertible pickups are being made – just look at, say, the Jeep Gladiator.
But for all intents and purposes, roadster pickups can only be found on the custom market. I dug this one up while looking for stuff suitable to talk about as part of autoevolution’s Celebration Month this December. And it sure looks worthy of a closer look.
And by worthy, we’re not referring to its mechanical bits, as we’ve seen such things before. We know of stuff like the rebuilt 350-ci (5.7-liter) V8 under the hood, with its aluminum heads, upgraded cam, or Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor. We've also seen a three-speed automatic transmission, or the 22-inch wheels, or the Bluetooth-capable radio inside.
No, the one major thing this truck has going for it is its roof, or the lack thereof. There was no complicated planning involved here, no intricate machinery, just a tool to cut the roof off, and the thought of round-the-clock open-top motoring. That’s right, short of a major intervention, there’s no way this pickup can cover the heads of the two people riding in it.
That makes it a summer-exclusive machine, and the garage in charge of selling it, Streetside Classics, knows this - that’s probably one of the reasons the asking price is just $24,995.
There was a time, though, when such things were around - some of you might remember the Dodge Dakota in its convertible incarnation. Others might argue convertible pickups are being made – just look at, say, the Jeep Gladiator.
But for all intents and purposes, roadster pickups can only be found on the custom market. I dug this one up while looking for stuff suitable to talk about as part of autoevolution’s Celebration Month this December. And it sure looks worthy of a closer look.
And by worthy, we’re not referring to its mechanical bits, as we’ve seen such things before. We know of stuff like the rebuilt 350-ci (5.7-liter) V8 under the hood, with its aluminum heads, upgraded cam, or Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor. We've also seen a three-speed automatic transmission, or the 22-inch wheels, or the Bluetooth-capable radio inside.
No, the one major thing this truck has going for it is its roof, or the lack thereof. There was no complicated planning involved here, no intricate machinery, just a tool to cut the roof off, and the thought of round-the-clock open-top motoring. That’s right, short of a major intervention, there’s no way this pickup can cover the heads of the two people riding in it.
That makes it a summer-exclusive machine, and the garage in charge of selling it, Streetside Classics, knows this - that’s probably one of the reasons the asking price is just $24,995.
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