Dear Mr. Clarkson and BBC Top Gear UK,
There’s something very big you’ve been missing out on. I feel it may not be out of ignorance. Given your, personality, it likely has a lot to do with misplaced preconceptions. It may also have something to do where you live, you can’t be blamed for that. Richard Hammond probably has a greater appreciation for this than he lets on, perhaps that’s why you ignore it so vehemently as well. Perhaps that’s too strong a word, since you have featured them three times in the past on your pokey motoring show. Twice to show off how indestructible one is but the other to absolutely pigeon poop all over it. Quite a contrasting opinion on the same vehicle type. It may, in hindsight, also have something to do with your hatred of recreational vehicles – or caravans – and the common usage to tow them.
I’m speaking, of course, of Pickup Trucks.
You’re no stranger to the numbers that these vehicles sell. We in North America buy more of them, the F150 specifically, than any other vehicle. Say what you will about our buying choices (and I’m Canadian so your American jokes are moot, almost entertaining) there has to be good reason for the sales. There are.
It’s been a long time since you tested the F150, much has changed. Much has changed across all three of the major US truck manufacturers. You also tested the worst F150 produced in the history of F150 production: the flare-side. It’s ugly, useless and hated by anyone who knows even the slightest thing about trucks. Perhaps that’s why you picked it then, to test and dust your hands of that segment forever. The new F150, along with the GMC Sierra/Chevy Silverado and Dodge Ram, have far more pleasing aesthetics and feature something a European might even attribute to styling. Technology and proper built interiors have also come along for the ride, as has air suspension even.
You can’t ignore them forever, Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear.
Why? Easy; power. It’s a bit baffling why a man as obsessed with power has such disdain for Pickups. In fact, rare are the vehicles indeed where you have nearly 400 bhp and 420 torques that also fits your adult-sized family comfortably. A man of your generous stature can easily clamber in and out. And the power, oh so much power! Sure they lack in speed and performance on the track but I’d love to see your beloved Italian sports cars get the performance a Pickup does across all terrains.
Pickup trucks are a great testament to the fact that everything can be solved with enough cylinders and horsepower. In what else could you drive across Hammond’s pastures at 40 mph, comfortably hauling away the shed he keeps Oliver in – car and all. A Pickup truck gives you all the cross land, house moving, car bullying, task doing power a hammer-smith such as your self demands. Perhaps it’s time, Jeremy Clarkson, to re-visit the Pickup Truck.
Great power awaits you.