The sort of people who need a gigantic truck to move themselves to and from the all-day buffet and their house seem to be the same sort of people who do not understand any kind of dry humour. It is a mystery.
You don’t see plastic balls hanging off a Prius hitch, now do you?
Which is yet another point in the Prius’s favor.
I see two kinds of pickup drivers in South Texas.
Those with pre-2000 models that have never been inside a carwash, usually with a very banged up bed full of tools, lumber, or workers. Real pickup drivers.
And more commonly, those with brand-new trucks that have extended cabs and pristine beds, which have never hauled anything heavier than a Double Whataburger. Drugstore cowboys.
Now, now, the British do make some excellent autos (maintaining British-owned motor companies is another matter). What I have to wonder is, with the lack of space and parking and congestion, and the reality that most people in the UK and Western Europe drive relatively modest, compact, fuel-efficient cars if they drive, (I’d imagine something like a Toyota Corolla would be a huge gas guzzler in much of Europe) what is the appeal of the show? Is there a substantial subculture of car-snobs, maybe away from congested London?
The Lightning trucks appear to have lost their most important asset on their trip across the pond: their incredibly low price tag. A quick google shows the original MSRP was $32k, which makes it interesting that Clarkson says it costs £35k, back at a time when the exchange rate was perilously close to 2:1. Yeah, at over $60k the Lightning truck makes no sense, but at the US price you were talking a vehicle that gave you borderline supercar performance (at least in the straights) for family-sedan-with-leather money.
Interesting that he attempts to urinate on the F-150. Clearly, a GMC, Dodge or Chevy would not even be worth the waste of breath/ink.
Let’s not forget about the idiots that install the truck bed covers making them virtually obsolete.
I had a friend of mine ask me if he could borrow my truck to move a washer and dryer. The thing is, he owns a truck himself, he just couldn’t use it because of the stupid cover he had on it!:smack:
So. Uh. A truck bed covered truck is a pickup truck without the pickup. So it’s like a cramped, fuel guzzling, expensive car. Without the 4WD. Or the kind of top speeds and handling the same engine would give you in a sports car. Or the room to stretch out and the fuel efficiency of a minivan. Or the room to stretch out, sans the fuel efficiency, of a Ford Expedition.
I’d agree - although ‘did’ is more accurate than ‘do’ these days. 
The design was never the problem - it was always the build quality that let them down.
I think you’ve got our car culture a bit wrong. On the whole, we’re driving pretty much the same stuff you guys are. A few less big trucks and muscle cars, a few more sub-compact economy cars, but overall the cross-section isn’t that different these days. We still have the big Mercedes and Audis, the Focus/Fiesta ST is a very popular car here and the medium/large executive (eg BMW 5 series) is among the most popular type overall. SUVs are getting more popular every year. Toyota Corolla? No, that’s a pretty normal car.
Additionally, lack of space? Nah. Outside of the big cities (which only make up a tiny part of the country), there’s plenty of space to go around. Those nice, twisty open roads with no traffic that you see on TG? A good percentage of UK roads are like that. When they shoot those segments, they don’t close the roads - they simply wait until there’s no traffic. My commute takes an hour in the middle of rush hour and I don’t hit any traffic until maybe the last ten minutes.
As to the OP, it’s a funny one. The UK (in fact, most of Europe I think) doesn’t have the big truck culture that the US does. Trucks like the F-150 are seen as purely utility vehicles - whenever I see one it’s generally got a lawn mower on the back. If I came home tomorrow with the highest spec F-150 complete with all the options, the neighbors would probably assume I was starting up a grounds maintenance business and hadn’t got the sign writing done yet.
Take that culture out of the equation, and the F-150 (and similar) don’t really make much sense. For a recreational/passenger vehicle, they’re more expensive to buy and run, less comfortable, less practical, slower and worse handling than, say, a Focus ST. If I wanted something to go off road, then there are plenty of SUVs out there, if I was serious about it I’d buy a Land Rover or similar. If I was a tradesman, I’d buy a Ford Transit or similar (more secure load area and less likely to get all my stuff wet when it rains).
No one is arguing that he is giving an opinion. But to say that someone who that has made a living doing a show about cars, and driving multiple cars per week, and having benefitted from all the driving they do, and track driving at that, to say that person knows nothing about cars seems a little incongruous
I owned a 2005 F150 for about a year. I can’t really argue with any of his criticisms. It’s ride had an odd ability to be both floaty and harsh. The door panel was coming loose with less than 20K on it. I had to have the windshield removed and reset twice, under warranty, because of leakage. I don’t have the repair orders, having passed them on to the next owner, but I beleive that thing went to the dealer for repair at least 6 times in the one year I owned it.
Then you have nothing to compare to, then do you? My grandfather grew up with no indoor plumbing. I’m sure he thought that was just fine.
And what about driving a less than perfect vehicle gives you “bigger balls”? It’s that kind of bullshit machismo thing that makes many pick up drivers such posers.
As far as other pickups go, I’ve not driven a GM product, so I can’t speak to them, but I did, somehow, wind up with a Ram Quad Cab as a rental car in Dallas for a two week period. It seemed like just a gigantic 1970s Cadillac DeVille. Everything was just waaaay bigger than it needed to be. I could fit a backpack inside the center console, the seats were designed for someone who visited the Golden Corral buffet line often. The truck was huge outside as well, it was almost impossible to fit into a standard parking spot. Just ridiculous. And the styling of Ram trucks just screams “I’m compensating for my insecurities by looking all tough and trucky”. Comical almost.
For a few years, my neighborhood had the perfect solution to the need for an “occasional truck”. All of the houses here are about 20 years old, just the age where in order to keep them up, you’re having to do a few odd jobs, but nothing too major. One neighbor bought a used F150, about the same vintage as the one in the video in the OP, but it was not a Lightning model, just a regular F150. He let everyone on our street know anyone could borrow it anytime. It was not a DD for him, so it sat in his driveway with the keys hidden in a (no bullshit) garden gnome statue. Rule was, send him a text that you were borrowing it, bring it back full of gas for the next person. That system worked for two years, until he moved out. No one else had to put up with a truck for a DD, but still had access to one for that one time each month that you needed a pick up bed.
So, yeah, for something I have to drive everyday, a truck would be last on my list. Give me something that rides better, handles better, stops better, protects me better, is more economical, accelerates better, and is better for the environment.
There is a third group that some of us fall into, you know. Those that watch Top Gear because we find it entertaining, and yet still retain the ability to differentiate opinion from fact. And also are knowledgeable about cars. I recently (as in two years ago) purchased a European sports car for less than 1000 dollars. You can probably imagine the condition it was in. I sold it almost exactly one year later for $15K, having done all the work myself, with the exception of the paint. Yeah, I know what I’m doing.
can you show me where I said he “knows nothing about cars?” because that’s not what I said.
Ok, to clarify, my personal vehicle the last 25 years been a Ford 150. I have also owned probably at least 15 vehicles in that time span. Not to mention the 6 to 20 vehicles of all sizes and flavors I rent every year while traveling, when not using public transportation.
A big drawback to the full size truck is dense city or third world countries. It is impractical and cumbersome to own a truck in that environment. Especially if you’re hauling a work trailer. It’s a major pain in the ass.
Do I think everyone should have one? No, it’s overkill, just like the 300 hp bass boats, or high performance sports car for the daily commute, or riding lawn mowers for the typical lawn.
But I sure do like mine, and unless I change my location or my job significantly, I’ll be driving one for the rest of my life.
Okay, I took that tone away from your overall first post. If that is not what you meant, then I apologize. I didn’t think it was that far a leap from the way you phrased your initial post.
I will admit my current one (for the first time ever) is a step up from the standard company ones. Sunroof, seat warmer, etc. but when I put on 25/30k a year, and I’m the boss, I’m getting the wind in my hair and a toasty butt.
According to Forbes, it’s the-most-stolen truck in America, so there’s that.
Oh, wait, that’s a reason not to buy one…
I can maybe see the point of those in the winter if you live someplace it snows and you don’t have a garage. Put sacks of sand in back to weigh down the back, then put cover on so snow doesn’t sit in the bed for six months.
Otherwise, I also think WTF.
Clarkson’s a clown who doesn’t really know much about cars and far fucking less about trucks. His only real exposure to cars is driving them, and he’s never worked in the industry except as a critic. Even after granting him that much credit, his act has only been incidentally related to cars for quite some time. At it’s core, it’s been about inserting a buffoon into a situation he doesn’t understand, and doesn’t care to learn about.
First, any comparison of an F150 to a car is, for the most part, invalid. When you can fit 5 sheets of plywood in the car, or you’ll be willing to carry a half ton of loose dirt or a couple of used engines in it: it can be compared to the pickup. So, only pickups need to apply. In that arena, the F150 does just fine. I’ve owned pickups dating back to a '66 model, all the way to a 99 model, of varying makes. I don’t own one now, but I’ve rented several pickups in the last few years, and the F150 is the one I would buy if I needed one. In fact, I’d probably try to get the fleet model, since a truck should have a rubber interior. The Toyota might be a better deal when new, but I could probably get the F150 I wanted on the used market.
As far as a camper shell making a pickup useless: I think you’ve never owned one. Sometimes you’d like the stuff in the back of your truck to be dry, or still there when you get back. On top of that, it allows you to pile light, loose objects (think boxes) higher than the edge of the bed, so it actually increases your carrying capacity. The only thing it limits is carrying tall objects. I’ve removed one in order to carry an engine hoist, I think that’s the only time we needed to remove it. Other than that, it was great.
Wow! Some people sure get defensive and butthurt over consumer products they like…
Interesting. So by that logic, that you must work in the industry to be able to legitimately have an opinion, then only dada2fish has any right to post in this thread.
But the reality is, outside of the construction or maintenance industies, most people who use their pickup for a DD don’t do those tasks more than one or twice a year. And, yes, lugging around in a oick-up when a car would better suit your purpose is rather ridiculous.
Clarkson pointing it out has become a bit of a Lightnin’ rod (see what I did there) in this thread, because he’s an easy guy to dislike. But it doesn’t make what he says any less true. As a daily driver, the F150 is not as good a vehicle as 95% of the cars out there. BECAUSE it is a truck. There is a reason no production car is currently manufactured with body on frame technology. And there is a reason that trucks still are. That makes them well-suited to carrying stuff, but less well suited to being a safe, comfortable, highly performing daily driver.