Warren Brown writes, from South Australia [Daily Telegraph today]:
On the gun-barrel-straight bitumen from Wilmington to Orroroo in South Australia, our two-and-a-half tonne RAM 1500 Laramie is belting across a dead-flat landscape where I'm convinced the landscape has been plotted with a spirit level and finished off with a road grader.
The RAM is in its element out here - its 5.7 litre HEMI 400 horse-power fuel-injected V8 effortlessly eating up the kilometres, seemingly itching to be given open rein on an open road at full throttle.
The best-selling RAM and its rivals, the Ford F150 and Chevrolet Silverado, are about to be joined by the twin-turbo V6 Toyota Tundra, this week approved for sale in Australia.
But make no mistake - these pick ups are not catering for the ute market - they are proudly presented as a political statement aimed for the red-blooded car guys who have had enough of woke society shaming them into conceding to some alternative eco-friendly vehicle with the charm of a kitchen appliance.
Y]es, guys with self esteem problems, self conscious of their dick size and troubled by some of their sexual longings will always want to put on a show of manhood through "stuff".
Nah, a big country demands big cars/utes/muscle trucks sometimes.
Like towing travel trailers/caravans around Australia ..."doing the lap"...or "getting away on vacation/weekends" towing same vehicles.
Tradies buy them as business/family vehicles, claim them on their business taxation (ATO/IRS)...tow trailers carrying tools, machinery for plumbing/carpentry/house-washing etc by work days, caravans by fun days.The caravans now weight 3.5 and 4 tons.
By the time you load up the faaamily and all their gear, the tow vehicle has to be big, and heavy.
"The lap", with excursions into the middle is about 15,000 - 20,000 miles.
Dirt, rough roads in many places, the outback is no place for amateurs unprepared for the challenges.
Water, spare tyres, food, shade, chairs, bikes, sometimes boats on top of the caravans.
A 5.7 litre 400 HP HEMI V8 big truck sounds ideal.