General

Where are all the concept trucks?

Spend any amount of time searching for ‘concept cars’ on the internet, and you’ll find more than enough amazing (and equally ridiculous) designs for the automotive industry. Here’s an example from Google of concept car images.

With trucks, however, I seem a huge lack of great concept art or ideas that do not involve a) whatever Hummer is doing b) large Japanese dekotoru-inspired (over the top, space-age designed big rigs). And simply making the gaping maw on the front of a typical Ford of Chevy is just not doing it for me.

I have been inspired enough to spend a lot of time digging for the same level of awesome (in my eyes) for trucks, which I fully appreciate are lacking in popularity compared to their car cousins. Another theory on why there’s such a lack of inspiring trucks, is that there is far more going on with regards to the functionality and technology of trucks: cargo capacity and on- or off-roading capabilities are two basic examples.

Here are three so far that I’ve found that get me interested a bit. (Note: I do not include SUVs, but sometimes it’s unavoidable as there are so many hybrid designs; I also include Jeeps) Let me know if you have favorites and I’ll dig through those.

Jeep Hurricane
If there was ever a tough, sci-fi mountain killer I’d love, it would be this. I’d probably be conservative and get the SINGLE engine one, but still. Torn from the pages of Halo, it’s time for the Jeep to look alive! And to do with with 670 hp of dual HEMI power *and* a crab steer footing? Where’s my plasma rifle?

Dodge Rampage
So, I’m not fully sold on a front-wheel drive truck, but, I’m going a bit more for aesthetics and functionality. I love the idea of a vehicle being so flexible that you could envision it physically docking to a building, becoming this mobile extended room. Read the article to see the bed/cab design. This was a 2006 prototype.

Nissan NV200
Yeah, it’s not a truck, it’s a van, and expands and is full-on mobile comm center. Would love to see a completely off-road package for mobile deployment. Nissan previously showed the Terranaut, a science-lab Land Rover-esque vehicle, probably far more practicaly to manufacture.

–
My own truck is a Chevy Colorado, a small (read: mid-size) truck with a five cylinder with the supposed power of a v6. In looking at the concepts of the Colorado, I only see limited inspiration in these. Utility is most important, but can’t it be done with a little dabble of future-ness?

vs.

I want to hear from you, what you think are the trucks plausibly plucked from the future. Either the choices are slim, or I’m just not looking in the right places.

© 2008 infocalypse.