There’s a quote from a so-so movie I once saw that stayed with me: “Life is nothing but timing.” That line sums up why the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX is here now, and not then. If you are going to hit the Ford Raptor with a devil glove, you better get locked up and loaded for bear. Even if it means it takes a few years to adjust.
In an interview with Muscle car and truck, Ram’s Senior Brand Manager Carl Lally delved into why it took four years to develop the TRX. The first concept of the Ram Rebel TRX debuted at the Texas State Fair in the now simpler time of 2016, with 575 horsepower. Lally told Muscle car and truck that the Ram team was needed to get the new 1500 out first.
“We were in the middle of developing the brand new (1500) Ram 1500 for the 2019 model year already at that point. Instead of rushing to mark and leave an engine in the truck, we wanted to we take our time to make sure we get it right, from top to bottom, ”Lally said MC&T.
The TRX had to wait until the next-generation Ram truck was ready. This provided the opportunity to build the TRX on a new foundation.
This truck is not just built to hunt Ford Raptors, Lally said – it’s a representation of Ram’s capacity in an increasingly difficult truck market. The Ram 1500 TRX is the fastest, most affordable truck that Ram has produced, and one that has the same interior friendliness as the top models. It’s the biggest hit album on wheels.
And Ram North American chef Mike Koval Jr said so much in an interview quoted by Automotive News:
“We take everything our truck brand has learned about performance and off-road capacity and marry that with everything our road and racing technology team has learned about going fast and breaking records,” Koval said during a media preview last week.
Ram wanted to build an icon, not a novelty. A truck to add to its history list: the original Dodge Power Wagon, the Lil Red Express, and now the Ram 1500 TRX.
On paper, the TRX has everything to meet our four-year expectation. The timing probably gave Ford a chance to decide and return the Raptor’s V8 rumble. See what I mean about timing? Now we have a big battle to figure out in 2021.
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