this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
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Or an older pickup with equivalent bed space and no weight wasted on a second row of passenger seats.
Okay how old? We talking pre 2008? Because anything before that are pigs on fuel, perform significantly worse, and lack of basic saftey features.
Do you have any numbers to attach to those claims?
Efficiency has improved over the decades despite the trucks getting larger: https://carbuzz.com/ford-improved-f-150-fuel-economy-five-decades/ you'll also see how the old inefficient engines had less power than the new more efficient ones.
Electronic Stability Program became mandatory in the US in 2012 and the EU in 2014. I've driven a '05 Grand Cherokee that didn't have it (or even traction control if I remember correctly), though German cars mostly started getting it in late 90s or early 00s. ESP can be an absolute godsend in the winter because unlike your right foot, it can control each wheel's brakes individually to prevent skids.
It's not just trucks, all vehicles have gotten safer and more efficient over time because of regulations that have forced manufacturers to adopt new technologies. I've never heard anyone question this before, as it's so widely known.
You have my thanks, for I did not have the energy for that!
Oh, I probably could have been more clear, I wasn't asking if newer vehicles were safer or more efficient, just how much more.
But do they have to be huge and tall?
Oh they most definitely do not, they'd be more efficient if they weren't. And perhaps not safer for the people inside, but safer for everyone else.
They still make single row ones. We have many at my workplace. Usually tradies that work for larger businesses or local governments use them. Smaller trade businesses generally the dual/super cab ones. They do have their uses but most people don't use them for that purpose.
Ranger XL single cab or Hilux single cab still around. The Holden Colorado was my favourite as someone that did a lot of long drives but that doesn't exist anymore.
At the end of the day, most people want to drive a bigger car because they feel safer when though the bigger vehicles are the problem.
Neat, I'll retract the older part of my comment, if you absolutely need a pickup truck get one of those then. As for the safety thing, I'm aware of it, and I'm also aware of how psychopathic it is. Fuck you for wanting to have any chance of survival when I hit you, I don't want to be hurt at the same time.
Most of the world does real work in one of these.
Isn't that still just a pick-up truck?
I've only ever seen these:
A van but with a flatbed.
It's a LandCruiser cab/chassis with a tray. They aren't common outside Australia and Africa
The thing is though, in Australia people don't buy these for everyday driving, they are expensive and industrial, there are no incentives to push people and car sellers toward bigger vehicles
Dual cab models are available, but are only popular in overland/off-road enthusiasts who aren't bothered by the small tray
So we don't have them trying to park in town, naturally they're more common in rural areas, but rural towns have longer parking places