Posted on 09/17/2004 6:02:34 AM PDT by mhking
DALLAS — This one could make the Hummer look like a girlie car.
International Truck and Engine Corp. is producing what it calls the world's biggest production pickup, a 14,500-pound monster capable of towing 20 tons.
"It's a super head-turner," said Ken Wallace, an International dealer in Fort Myers, Fla., who has been driving one for about two weeks. "Other motorists hang out of their cars to take pictures of it."
But does anybody really need a vehicle that is nine feet tall, eight feet wide, 21 1/2 feet long and gets about seven miles on a gallon of diesel?
Rob Swim, International's marketing director, said the 5-passenger CXT will appeal to image-conscious contractors, roofers, landscapers and other small-business owners who can use the towing power but also want to draw attention to themselves.
"This truck is for businesses that want to make a bold statement," Swim said. "It's for business people that want to promote as much as perform."
International, the operating division of Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar International Corp., makes the CXT at its Garland plant. The mayor and many of the plant's 700 employees attended an official CXT unveiling Thursday, although the truck has been in production for several weeks.
International makes about 85,000 commercial vehicles a year, from dump trucks to school buses. But it hasn't made a full-size pickup since the 1970s.
From the front, the CXT looks identical to International's other heavy trucks. International added a pickup bed to its truck chassis and dressed up the cab. One interior package includes leather seats, wood grain trim, a drop-down DVD player, satellite radio and a rear-mounted camera.
But without question, the most noteworthy thing about the CXT is its size. It weighs nearly twice as much as the Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup and is more than two feet taller. It dwarfs full-size sport-utility vehicles.
International says the CXT is the heaviest production pickup out there and boasts the most towing capacity. It comes with all-wheel drive, air brakes, a 70-gallon fuel tank and a bed that tilts back like a dump truck.
The price is also big — $93,000, but options can boost that to $115,000. Some other large pickups cost under $30,000.
Company officials say they expect to sell nearly 100 this year and 500 next year.
Swim said the company isn't marketing the CXT as a consumer vehicle, although he added that drivers don't need a commercial license to get behind the wheel.
"Anybody can lease a Hummer now for $500 a month. Soccer moms are driving them," he said. "This is not a soccer mom's vehicle."
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
How long before you see one of these pull up next to you at a light with spinners going full tilt? [rolling eyes]
They Spinnin... !
A truck like this needs a gun rack with a 50 cal in it...
Soon coming to your town wannabe trucks..
Is that some kind of hippy-sighting device on the left front fender? Does it come with jackboot scrapers built into the running boards and pajama racks in the cab?
That would be great for running errands around town. I could use a toothpick when I got home to clean the Volvos with Kerry stickers out the tire treads.
Geez. Just the thing for some thumping moron to put some 8000000000 watt speakers into and drive past my house all day and night listening to the latest imbecile with a recording contract.
I don't know. I've secretly wanted to pull up in front of PETA in Norfolk, wearing a fur, smoking a cigarette, and proudly displaying my personalized license plate, NRA ROX. This just may be the vehicle.
/john
I'm all for bigger! But, that said, it seems like an awfully small bed. Give me another 6 to 8 feet of bed. Something I can set my neighbor's Dodge Ram in.... ;-)
I can already see a poseur soccer mom with her little tennis cap driving one of these beasts through the local strip mall parking lot while talking on the cell phone.
Nine feet tall? That will not fit in the parking garage.
"through" is right -- right through the other cars there....
It's purdy Vern!
"That would be great for running errands around town. I could use a toothpick when I got home to clean the Volvos with Kerry stickers out the tire treads."
Just use a fire hose to clean the scum from treads.
hehehehe
For the man who has everything----and just needs something to carry it all in.
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