Pick of the Oddballs: 10 Most Bizarre Pick-Up Trucks Ever Made
Pick-up trucks have for decades blurred the fine line between hardy business tool and trendy lifestyle cool.
Indeed, for every pick-up truck ad showcasing a humdrum workhorse scaling rock faces and ploughing through a mud pit, there is a another for a chic accessory to a life spent camping and surfing.
Whatever a pick-up truck means to you, there is often a clear divide between which models or trims are dedicated to a life of professional service or a life of care-free recreation.
Such versatility means pick-up trucks have often been viewed as a blank canvas for ‘out of the box’ thinking, which has led to some truly bizarre creations over the years that just happen to have a flatbed.
Some have been good, some have been bad, some have been so very ugly... here is Vansdirect’s top ten weird pick-up picks!
Tesla Cybertruck
Pick-up trucks don't get more unconventional – or controversial – as the Tesla Cybertruck.
For many, interest in the Cybertruck begins and ends with its out-of-this-world styling, which is one man's futuristic automotive visionary to another’s dystopian Mad Max prop.
The design is about as subtle as its performance figures with flagship versions capable of 845hp and able to reach 60mph in less than three seconds. The interior is minimalist with its exposed sheet metal, while it is packed with technology too.
If you’re interested in its load-lugging capabilities, the Cybertruck offers around 900-1100kg of payload... but let’s face it, no-one is really buying it for its versatility?
Chevrolet SSR
Having watched rivals Chrysler experience success with hot-road retro throwbacks like the Plymouth Prowler and PT Cruiser, fellow American giants Chevrolet attempted to get in on the act with the SSR.
Standing for ‘Super Sport Roadster’, the SSR was a curious blend pick-up-cum-convertible, complete with a retractable hard-top.
With its long bonnet and even flatbed tail, the SSR had a certain attractiveness with the top down but was waylaid by fussy detailing that made it look like it had been penned to star in Disney Pixar’s Cars.
Worse still, its hot road ambitions were hindered by it being heavy and slow, which was alarming given the 300hp 5.3-litre V8 it was hiding under the cowled bonnet.
Subaru BRAT
Long before we had Brat Summer, there was the Subaru BRAT... and yes, those capital letters are shouting at you.
An oddity by committee, the BRAT went through the engineering wringer to pass itself off as a passenger car to avoid a 25 per cent tariff on foreign trucks. That led to two tiny seats being added behind the front, which – in the government’s eyes – made it a car.
However, this was the very definition of a back-to-basics pick-up truck, designed to chuck around off-road and still have space to sling some kit on the back. It wasn’t big but it was hardy.
Not only did it prove popular, but the Subaru BRAT also it even had a big fan in one famous loyal owner – US President Ronald Reagan.
Skoda Felicia Fun
The original Skoda Felicia Pick-Up channelled the spirit of the Subaru BRAT as a back-to-basics, cheap to buy, cheap to repair workhorse that would soak up all manner of atrocities thrown at it.
What it wasn’t, however, was an iota of cool. Not to worry, Skoda thought, let’s just drench it in canary yellow paint, stick a bull-bar on it and add a couple of exposed seats that leave rear passengers soaked if it happens to rain.
Indeed, the Skoda Felicia Fun was such an affront to sense that it has – predictably – garnered cult status over the years and rare examples are now very sought after. We love it, we just don’t know why.
Dodge Dakota Convertible
While Chevrolet tried to get the drop-top SSR off the ground, it perhaps should have learned from history when the Dodge Dakota Convertible came, saw and floundered back in the 1980s.
While off-roaders and pick-up trucks with a retractable roof wasn’t new per se – take the Jeep Wrangler, for instance – the Dodge Dakota Convertible simply looked like a pick-up truck that was missing some body parts.
Giving off vibes of Spring Break, the Dakota Convertible was flamboyantly butch, so it was perhaps no surprise that it didn’t catch on.
Holden HSV Maloo
Australians love a ‘ute’, so it perhaps stands to reason that Holden got in on the act with its own locally sourced interpretation, the Maloo.
Based on the great Australian institution that was the Holden Commodore, while the Maloo perhaps pushed the boundaries of what might call a ‘ute’, it still commanded respect, more so when opted to give it the full HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) treatment.
Dropping a vast V8 block into that long bonnet, lowering the suspension and bolting on some wild aero, the HSV Maloo could bate supercars with its performance while carrying around a couple of surfboards.
It was also rear-wheel drive, making it ideal for some wild drifting moments... so long as you were prepared for your cargo to have probably alighted somewhere along the way.
Lamborghini LM002
We lied. The Tesla Cybertruck isn’t futuristic looking. It’s in fact a retro throwback to the Lamborghini LM002. It’s not just us that can see some resemblance in those cubist angles and slabbed sides, right?
The 1980s might have brought us the crackers Countach and the diabolical Diablo, but the most bizarre moment in Lamborghini’s decade of ‘boom and bust’ was the LM002.
A mammoth short-back pick-up truck that was as heavy as it looked, the beefy LM002 was all about status, which explains why it was aimed directly at Sheikhs and Sultans who enjoyed rocking over dunes in their spare time.
Inspired by the LM001 – which was used for military service – the LM002 originally had a 450bhp V12 engine mounted at the rear but it was eventually switched to the front. It was also lavishly equipped for the time with leather and air-conditioning.
But it was also unwieldy, wholly impractical and looked like it has been designed by a child.
Peugeot Hogger
There are European-style pick-up trucks, American-style pick-up trucks and then there are South American-style pick-up trucks.
It’s a term used fairly loosely as trucks that generally reside in nations like Brazil, Argentina and Chile are modified pick-up versions of some really humdrum vehicles – if anything, the more ordinary the better.
From the Dacia Duster to the FIAT Strada to the Volkswagen Jetta, South American’s love a small chopped up hatchback with a flatbed.
Our favourite – partly because of the name – is the Peugeot Hoggar, which takes your average 307 hatchback, lops off the rear-end, extends the wheelbase and adds some haphazardly applied bodywork to produce quite the mongrel.
Dodge RAM SRT10
The notion of a high-performance pick-up truck isn’t new – just look at the Ford Ranger Raptor and you’ll see the practice is still very much en vogue.
However, perhaps the barmiest interpretation of this thought-process was the Dodge RAM SRT10, which shoehorned the mammoth 500hp 8.3-litre V10 engine from the iconic Dodge Viper into RAM 1500.
The result was a hair-raising driving experience... and a hair-raising sales success.
Canoo Pickup
The electric revolution has brought with it countless start-up companies aiming to corner the burgeoning market before the big brands can react.
Alas, for every Tesla, there is a Canoo. Its contemporary EV architecture aside, the delightfully named Canoo attempted to impress buyers with its extendable flatbed, pop-out workbench and even side steps.
However, it also looked really weird – like a submarine missing its rear-portion or, from the side, like it was being driven the wrong way round.
Unfortunately for Canoo, the dream was over before it has barely begun after filing for bankruptcy just four years after the Pickup was announced.
