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451 Ram trucks take world record for longest parade of pickups

If you've been wondering what the world record was for the longest parade of pickup trucks, wonder no more, because Ram has just set a new one. A staggering parade of 451 Ram trucks gathered on Saturday in Arlington, TX, breaking the previous record that stood at 438, and driving a route of 3.2 miles. The endeavor was held to coincide with the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards, held at AT&T Stadium – home of the Dallas Cowboys – in Arlington this weekend. Ram truck owners came from across seven states and as far away as Canada to participate in the event, which was certified by Guinness World Records. As part of the celebration, participants were treated to a car-crushing demonstration by the Raminator monster truck and appearances by country musicians Kix Brooks, Thomas Rhett and Easton Corbin, with a special performance by Midnight Social out of Austin. Ram Trucks Makes History April 18 Setting New GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ Title for Largest Parade of Pickup Trucks - 451Ram truck owners from seven U.S. states and Canada help set new world record, Saturday, April 18, 2015 - Ram Truck 'Round-up' held in conjunction with 50th Academy of Country Music Awards weekend in Arlington, Texas, April 17-19 - ACM Awards to be broadcast for the first time ever LIVE from AT&T Stadium in Arlington this Sunday, April 19 on CBS April 18, 2015 , Arlington, TX - Ram truck owners from seven U.S states and Canada helped the Ram Truck brand set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the largest parade of pickup trucks, Saturday, April 18, in Arlington, Texas. 451 Ram trucks participated in the "Ram Truck Round-up," breaking the previous world record of 438 trucks. Ram, the "Official Truck" of the Academy of Country Music Awards, invited its customers to help break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS in honor the 50th anniversary of the ACM Awards, which will be broadcast live for the first time ever from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, April 19, at 8 p.m. live Eastern time/8 p.m. delayed Pacific time on CBS Television Network. "Our hard-working Ram truck owners are passionate and loyal, and today they proved once again that everything is always bigger in Texas," said Robert Hegbloom, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ram Truck Brand, FCA – North America.

Towing with the 2016 Ram lineup [w/video]

I do not tow things. Ever. Yet I recently found myself at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles proving grounds in Chelsea, MI, where I'd be testing the hauling capabilities of Ram's current product range. This experience was not only a perfect education for a towing novice like me, but allowed me to tow far more weight than I'd ever consider hauling the real world, and all within the safe confines of the Chelsea Proving Grounds. There was an extremely diverse array of vehicles at my disposal, including Ram's gasoline- and diesel-powered offerings with trucks ranging from the 1500 on up through the 5500 Chassis Cab, as well ProMaster vans. Beyond that, FCA brought out a number of vintage Dodge pickups for me to play with, while also working with Case IH to provide a track-loader I could test. I put together a range of videos covering everything from the classics to the production trucks to the construction equipment. And despite some technical difficulties – you'll notice a distinct lack of in-car videos, with blame going to a corrupted micro SD card – I've assembled ten videos that give an up-close look at Ram's offerings. 2015 Ram ProMaster City Let's start small. The ProMaster City only has a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. That's a reasonably impressive figure for a van that uses the same powertrain as a Chrysler 200. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder and nine-speed automatic weren't really bothered with the extra weight added by the trailer. Even when accelerating at freeway speeds, the ProMaster City didn't feel out of breath or hampered by its load. That said, the rear of the van was unloaded, which probably wouldn't be the case for most consumers. It's unclear how the City would feel if its driver were taking advantage of the max payload (1,883 pounds) and towing. 2015 Ram ProMaster 1500 To be polite, the Ram ProMaster is a difficult vehicle to like. Its awkward seating position is bus-like and lacks the visibility enjoyed by the Ford Transit or the utter driving comfort of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Its 3.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, meanwhile, is something of an anomaly. While it's potent for a four-cylinder diesel, producing 295 pound-feet of torque and 174 horsepower, those numbers don't feel all that impressive when loaded down. The model I tested was barely using half of its 5,100-pound maximum towing weight and was loaded down with just 500 of its 3,620-pound payload. Yet it lacked the pluckiness of the smaller City.

Ram to go on a Rampage with new small pickup?

When people look back at today's automotive industry, what do you think they'll remember us for? The emergence of hybrids? Ever more expensive and exotic supercars? The dawn of the self-driving car? All likely scenarios, but so is the blurring of lines between one bodystyle and another, giving rise to hardtop convertible coupes and crossovers of every shape and size. But one bodystyle the North American auto industry has stayed largely away from in the past couple of decades is a car nose and chassis with a pickup bed.
It's a bodystyle immortalized by the Chevrolet El Camino, but with few exceptions, we haven't seen too many of these automotive platypuses in recent years on our turf. Subaru tried with the Baja and the low-volume Honda Ridgeline soldiers along largely unchanged, but the genre's biggest adherents are still Down Under, where ute versions of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon live. With a few other examples scattered to the four corners of the earth, that's really about it. But if these spy shots are anything to go by, it looks like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles could be working to bring it back.
Spied undergoing testing in Michigan, what we appear to be looking at is a heavily disguised Fiat Strada being prepared - like the Fiat Ducato-based Ram ProMaster and the smaller Doblo-based ProMaster City - for Stateside duty as a Ram product. The Strada, for those unfamiliar, is a product of Fiat Automóveis in Brazil and is based on the Palio economy car. The nameplate has been around South America since 1996 and was originally designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (long before Volkswagen monopolized his talents), and takes a more rugged approach in the form of the Strada Adventure.