It actually outsold the Ram that year.
The Dodge Ram had it's beginnings in 1981 even though Dodge had been producing trucks since the early 1900's.
Probably the most unsuccessful truck in Dodge's history would be the 1989 version of the Dakota that featured a convertible top.
Yes, that's right, a convertible top, the first of it's kind since Ford's Model T pickup.
It was Car and Driver upon it's first exposure to this model of truck that probably sums it up best when they said, "On the surface, a pickup truck with a flop top makes as much sense as a steel baseball mitt.
" Probably one of the most recognized hood ornaments of all-time, along the lines of Mack's Bulldog and Rolls Royce's Flying Lady, Dodge placed an actual ram on the hood of their Ram line of trucks back in 1981 after bringing it back from earlier days when Dodge wanted their trucks to resemble ruggedness.
Dodge kept the Ram relatively unchanged as far as looks go, except for minor changes to keep up with the times, until 1994 when they completely redesigned the it.
Gone was the ram on the top of the hood where it went to the front of the newly designed "big rig" style of truck.
From 1994 to current there haven't been any moves as dramatic as the redesign of 1994, until now.
The look for the 2009 Ram has been redesigned to feature a more aggressive looking front as well as a more sleek all-around design with refinements to the interior also.
Looking forward to 2010, Dodge will build a new two-mode hybrid gas-electric Ram.
Now that's big news, but details are slim.
Dodge has seemed to keep up with the times as well as their competitors and it shows with their intensely loyal customer base.
The Chrysler Group, LLC.
, which is the parent company of Dodge also owns a company by the name of Global Electric Motorcars, or GEM for short.
GEM just celebrated it's 10th anniversary and in coordination with Chrysler was one of the first to offer vehicles in the zero-emission, low-speed vehicle class.
Look for Dodge/Chrysler/GEM to be at the forefront for years to come in the hybrid class of vehicles.
Until next time, Warm Regards Gus Hoover