Too Good to be True?

It’s usually the case that when something sounds too good to be true, it ain’t. But – as Hans Landa told Aldo the Apache in the Quentin Tarantino film, Inglorius Basterds – “nine-nine-nine-point nine-nine-nine-times out of a million, you’d be correct. But in the pages of history, every once in awhile, fate reaches out and extends its hand.”

Well, maybe this time . . .

Have you heard about REO Industries? More specifically, have you heard about the pick-up truck REO says it is going to make?

The Runabout isn’t an EV, to begin with. It is a small truck like they used to make ’em – until 2011, which was the last year for the compact-sized and affordably priced Ford Ranger. The Ranger – like the Toyota Tacoma, the Nissan Frontier and the Chevy Colorado (which was once the S10) have all been upsized since then. By every dimensional measure except width and bed length, these formerly compact-sized trucks are all now the same size as full-size trucks were before the early 2000s (full-size trucks have since been super-sized) and taller than they were, too. This has left a wide-open market for a small, affordable truck – especially one that isn’t an EV, like the Slate or the soon-to-be-available Ford small EV pickup. Neither of these are affordable except in relation to the crop of now-“mid-sized” Rangers, Frontiers and Canyons – all of which start well into the thirty-something-thousands.

Well, the Runabout will start around $21,000 – says REO’s web site.

It will be powered by a small four cylinder gas engine without (apparently) hybrid augmentation. Or a turbo. It will be adequately powerful – like the four cylinder engines that used to come  standard in trucks like the Ranger, Frontier, Tacoma and Canyon before they got up-sized and needed larger (or turbocharged/hybrid-augmented) engines to move them adequately. The Runabout will be a real truck, too – unlike the Slate. Unlike the not-yet-named Ford EV truck. Unlike the Maverick, which is a useful little runabout that looks like a truck. It ain’t. Not if you don’t consider a FWD/AWD vehicle and unibody construction to be the stuff of which trucks are made. The Maverick is made from that stuff, which is the same stuff used to make the Escape – which is a compact-sized crossover. Not that there is anything wrong with any of that. There is nothing wrong with Planet Fitness, either.

But it’s not really a gym, is it?

Real trucks are body-on-frame, because a frame like that can handle loads – in the bed and behind the truck. Unibody vehicles aren’t designed to tow much because the load can bend them out of shape. The Runabout will – so REO says – be body-on-frame and thus a truck, not a vehicle that’s shaped to look like one. Its drivetrain will also be longitudinal – that is, front to back – another defining attribute of a truck. The Maverick – like the Escape it’s based on – has its engine mounted transversely (that is, sideways) and its transmission and axle are combined into a transaxle.

Not – again – that there is anything wrong with this layout. It is just not how trucks are laid out. 

REO also says this truck’s bed will have drop sides, increasing its ability to carry such things as 4×8 sheets of drywall. That would make it more useful as a truck than the current Ranger. Frontier, Tacoma and Canyon – all of which have short beds and too-tall (fixed) walls. They are great for hauling dogs.

Trucks also have – or offer – four-wheel-drive. Which is not the same thing as all-wheel-drive, though the waters have been muddied (on purpose) by manufacturers of AWD crossovers, who market them as being “4WD.” Technically, this is true since AWD means all four wheels are powered.

But it is not accurate.

AWD generally means that most of the engine’s power goes to the front wheels most of the time; some is kicked back to the rear wheels when the front wheels lose traction. 4WD generally means a part-time system that sends all of the engine’s power to the rear wheels, until the 4WD is engaged – at which point power is sent equally to both the front and rear wheels in a 50-50 split. 4WD systems also usually have a transfer case with High and Low range gearing. AWD systems sometimes have a gear reduction function to increase leverage at low speeds, but it’s not the same thing.   

Real trucks have real 4WD. Not AWD marketed as “4WD.” 

REO says the Runabout will be 4WD. Mechanical 4WD, with manual rather than electronic engagement, like the Frontier and Ranger and Tacoma and Canyon used to have. 

It will also come standard with a manual transmission – REO says. The Ranger and Frontier and Tacoma and Canyon also used to come standard with manual transmissions – because that’s part of what once defined what a truck is. Meaning, simple and mechanical. Automatics are not bad. But they are (in modern vehicles) heavily electronicized. That adds complexity and cost. It also takes away control.  The current Ranger is automatic-only. So also the Frontier and the Canyon. You can get a manual in the current Tacoma – but only in the more expensive  trims that start close to – and exceed – $40k.   

REO (the company is named after Ransom Eli Olds, after whom the now-defunct Oldsmobile brand was named) also says the Runabout will have a driving range of more than 500 miles – which would be much farther than the distance the old Ranger, Frontier, Tacoma and Canyon can go on a tank. I know – because I own an ’02 Frontier (and before that, a ’98) and my truck goes maybe 300 miles on a full tank (because my truck only manages about 20 MPG – even though it’s got a small four cylinder engine).

 All for about $21k, REO says.  

It definitely sounds to good to be true – and probably is. REO may legitimately be wanting to make a small truck that it can sell for about $21k, but will it be able to?

More finely, will it be allowed to?

There are already small trucks that spec out like the putative Runabout; the Toyota HiLux Champ, for instance. The problem is that it’s not compliant. It hasn’t got – is not built around – the federally required “safety” stuff, including air bags. Toyota is building the HiLux Champ and selling it for less than $20k – but isn’t selling it here because it’s illegal. The same will hold true as regards the Runabout – unless REO can manage to make it compliant. No doubt it can do that. But can it also sell a compliant version for about $21k?

Maybe.

In the pages of history, every once in awhile, fate reaches out and extends its hand.

. . . 

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