The Ford Motor Company's signature blue oval will be removed from its headquarters and replaced with a new script logo. By the time you read this, the Toyota Tacoma Stepside model will be at your local dealership. It was developed with Rod Millen Motorsports and will have a shorter bed, be available in regular or Xtracab, and have either a four-cylinder or V-6 engine. Sorry, two-wheel drive only. Acura's new concept MD-X sport/ute, considered to be the replacement for the discontinued SLX, has a 3.5L V-6 borrowed from the Odyssey minivan. Borla is going to produce catalytic converters for China. In exchange, the company will be purchasing Cerium extracted from mines in China for a new line of high-flow catalytic converters. Land Rover is going to push certified used vehicles at dealerships.
You'll love this. Viagra will be the primary sponsor for a NASCAR team this season. Also, Winston Cup stars will attend races to educate and encourage men about common medical conditions.
Concept Dakotas
Always leave 'em wanting more, they say. So we're following up last month's look at the concept vehicles from the SEMA show with a look at Dakota Quad Cab-only ideas. DaimlerChrysler handed out a bunch of Dakotas to all sorts of companies-a maker of customized vehicle accessories, a producer of aluminum and fiberglass bedcaps and bedcovers, and Borla, to name a few-and had 'em go ape wild. Of course, concepts aren't guaranteed to see production, but if you like what you see, you have to let DaimlerChrysler know. We've done all we can.
Dakarta This Dakota is a mock-up of a vehicle that's ready to hit the Paris-Dakar-Cairo race. You know, the one that covers thousands of miles through the Sahara desert. It's been said that the truck is "certainly styled for it," but that's not as important to us as what lies inside it, which is a 25-gallon foam-bladder fuel racing cell, a 2-inch Rancho lift, and a Kenne Bell-engineered package for the 5.9L V-8. The package includes a positive-displacement twin-screw supercharger for spitting out more than 350 hp and 6 pounds of boost.
Exhaust headers and after-cat exhaust are also on board. A custom-made pushbar has a built-in skidplate, and the 15-inch Alcoa wheels sport competition bead locks and "cleaty" Continental General rubber.
Other practical race-ready equipment is an onboard fire-extinguishing system, Recaro custom racing seats and brackets with five-point racing harnesses, and a racing steering wheel with a quick-release hub.
Now for that style thing. A fast-back canvas bedcover from Can-Back extends 24 inches to make a tent. A floating roof rack doesn't touch the cab and can fit four fullsize Coleman coolers and other gear. There are also 14 PIAA 811/42-inch high-beam, pro-racing lights and a custom-made carbon-fiber hood.
Site Commander Yes, it sounds like a job in a space movie, but it's actually a Dakota built specifically to serve as a commercial truck. That means that if you're a contractor, you may want to put in your vote for this one. It has a customized, deluxe commercial pickup-bed cap with an onboard generator and compressor on the roof, work and storage accessories, a spray-on bedliner, and a mobile office. To prevent flats while on the site, there are heavily cleated Mickey Thompson tires. The Site Commander is also equipped with a LoadSwinger ready for a 500-pound payload, a Ramsey 4.8hp winch mounted to the frame up front, and a remote-controlled spotlight that can rotate 360 degrees.
Let's go back to that mobile office for a second. A built-in desk attaches to the passenger seat frame and pops up between the seat and the console. It swings from the driver to the passenger and is height-adjustable from 16 to 26 inches. It has a Plexiglas surface with a laptop computer mounted to it, and a printer/scanner is located on the passenger-side transmission tunnel.