Touch the Truck

Welcome, road-weary reader, as this week we ponder on some of the more unique vehicular habits of our American cousins.

The truck is quite unique here in its ubiquity. A truck is what we in the UK would call a pickup truck; a vehicle which is quite unusual in Europe, certainly in domestic ownership, and which is something of a staple or even symbol of America. You just cannot beat a big truck.

Trucks come in a surprising range of shapes and sizes. The European image of such a vehicle is something with two seats and a flat bed out the back, but here a truck is often a 4x4, with passenger accommodation for perhaps 5 adults. They can be colossal; here in Palo Alto you could park these things by the side of the road and rent them out for $5000 per month. I don't believe they ever get used for much load carrying, but hey, how many 4x4s actually go off the road?

Now despite the truck being a symbol of this great country, the American consumer has learned that the Japanese can teach them a thing or two about reliability and robustness. To whit, the most popular truck over here appears to be the mighty Toyota Tacoma, as seen in the picture above. This thing is a monster, and it isn't even the biggest truck Toyota manufacture. As you can see, this one looks particularly shiny, which gives you some idea of how much these are used for actually moving heavy loads.

Even here in well-to-do Palo Alto, there are plenty of trucks about, including the odd vintage model:

And the truck provides a flexible canvas on which automotive dreams can be played out:

Yes please, I'll have it in two-tone brown

Trucks are advertised here using all sorts of macho imagery and boasts of their toughness and practicality. Of course, it's only the American brands that advertise, giving you some idea of how they're doing in the market compared to the mighty Toyota. The Ford F-150 is advertised with Ford's emphatic slogan "Built Ford Tough", which presumably means they make it out of wet cardboard. Still plenty to learn from the Japanese here.

We have a holiday coming up, and we're intending on taking a trip up to Oregon to see the Columbia river gorge. And the good news is: Helen's let me rent a truck!! So we can pretend to be proper Americans with our arms flailing out of the windows and some Ted Nugent blasting out as we head on up the 84. I'm excited to finally get the chance to sample the classic American automotive experience!