Less than two weeks after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, on December 4, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Proclamation 3564. It was an executive order declaring new U.S. tariffs for brandy, potato starch, dextrin—and light trucks. It was in retaliation against heavy European taxes on U.S. chicken exports, and the new order quickly became known as the "chicken tax."
The immediate 25-percent tax on all imported light-duty trucks stopped Volkswagen from importing a pickup version of its popular Microbus, and choked off anything remotely utilitarian the burgeoning Japanese automakers might have sold here during the OPEC crisis of the 1970s. But despite its rampant protectionism, the chicken tax became another federal ambiguity to be worked around. Automakers have found loopholes, and Japanese automakers began building pickups at U.S. factories in the 1980s.
Fast-forward to five years ago, when record-high gas prices took their toll on trucks of all sizes. No subset was hit harder than the compact segment, though, which was already dwindling due to an overlap in efficiency, size, and cost with their bigger brethren. With sales plummeting to new lows, automakers had no incentive to craft new small trucks for America, and those that weren't killed outright have survived only by the skins of their tailgates, forging forward largely unchanged in the past decade.
The floodgates have yet to open, but one new smaller pickup has broken through in the form of the new 2015 Chevrolet Colorado (to be followed shortly by a new GMC Canyon sibling). Of course, we want more of these things, and we've detailed a few similarly sized global trucks that we'd love to see rolling down American roads. Of course, unless the chicken tax is repealed soon, the likelihood of any of them making it here is slim to none. But we can dream, can't we?
When Ford discontinued our ancient Ranger in 2011, it launched a modern, stylish pickup elsewhere on the globe that might even garner respect in Texas. But the One Ford plan doesn't include this Ranger, which is too bad, as its Focus-like interior and the Wildtrak model's grunting diesel five-cylinder have us intrigued, especially with the optional heated windshield and power-folding mirrors. Sure, the crew cab models are nearly as huge as an F-150—a key reason, Ford told us earlier this year, that it isn't sold here—but if you slim down to the single cab, the Ranger looks more like a much better version of its old self. Perhaps most interesting is that the very chicken tax that Ford lobbies in favor of and which keeps foreign-made Rangers from our shores is the same one that the company has run afoul—afowl?—of in importing its Transit Connect vans.
This is not the Raider pickup we last saw in 2009, which was simply a rebranded Dodge Dakota. Instead, the Mitsubishi Triton is a spiffy-looking global workhorse available both with factory-fitted 20-inch wheels (on the U.K.-spec L200 Walkinshaw with the sport suspension) or an extra-long, sloping sports bar over the bed. The Triton is typical Mitsubishi inside—which is to say it's dour and full of cheap, depressing gray plastic—but it's inexpensive and is robust enough to take the abuse typically dished out by buyers in Thailand, Australia, and the other rough-and-tumble countries that demand these trucks.
Whether it's in the middle of a Middle Eastern conflict or shuttling a handful of safari tourists in South Africa, this dead-nuts-reliable Toyota is the pickup of choice for the harshest climates. (That's probably why U.K. buyers can buy a trim called Invincible.) Marketed in America as the Toyota Truck or Pickup until 1995, the sheer toughness of the Hilux makes it cooler than the Tacoma that replaced it here, even though its dimensions and off-road specs are nearly identical. As you can guess by now, we like the Hilux's diesel engines (especially the big-bore inline-four) way better than the Tacoma's top-end and thirsty 4.0-liter V-6 (which, interestingly, is available in the Hilux in Australia and nowhere else). Offer the Tacoma with compression-ignition engines and we'd at least be partially sated.
- Official Photos and Info: 2015 Chevrolet Colorado
- The World's Bravest Trucks
- 2015 Chevy Colorado Gifts the Work Crowd a Six-Speed Manual
Offered with either single- or twin-turbo diesel engines, or (at least in Australia) a turbocharged 2.0-liter gas four, the single- or double-cab Amarok can be equipped for work, boulder-bashing, or something in between. When equipped with the twin-turbo BiTDI diesel and the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic, this VW spins its tach needle in a manner familiar to anyone who's driven a Golf TDI, and it's a relative beast on the trails considering it lacks a low-range transfer case in the interest of fuel efficiency. As with most VWs, the Amarok is well-assembled, and we really dig its attractive styling. In the U.S., the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is the only pickup to pair an efficient, torquey turbo-diesel with an eight-speed auto, but the Amarok is thriftier—and far easier to park. We once heard that this truck was in VW of America's plans, but that line has since gone dead. Maybe for the next generation?
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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