I'd drive it just to piss off Hippies

[MrRant 0]

 

 

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."

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6026041/

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Canyanero~!

[the max 0]

Can you name the truck with four wheel drive,

smells like a steak and seats thirty-five..

 

Canyonero! Canyonero!

 

Well, it goes real slow with the hammer down,

It's the country-fried truck endorsed by a clown!

 

Canyonero! (Yah!) Canyonero!

[Krusty:] Hey Hey

 

The Federal Highway comission has ruled the

Canyonero unsafe for highway or city driving.

 

Canyonero!

 

12 yards long, 2 lanes wide,

65 tons of American Pride!

 

Canyonero! Canyonero!

 

Top of the line in utility sports,

Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!

 

Canyonero! Canyonero! (Yah!)

 

She blinds everybody with her super high beams,

She's a squirrel crushing, deer smacking, driving machine!

 

Canyonero!-oh woah, Canyonero! (Yah!)

 

Drive Canyonero!

 

Woah Canyonero!

 

Woah!

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

That'd be great to take to and from your job...

[Ravenbomb 0]

I bet it gets shitty gas milage

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

Well it does say in the article it gets about seven miles per gallon of diesel, so draw your own conclusions.

 

To me, some of the features don't go together. 20 tons of towing ability and a dump truck-esque tilt back bed doesn't seem to fit with DVD players and satellite radio, but that might just be me.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I bet it gets shitty gas milage

 

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?

 

If 7 MPG is your definition of shitty, then you're right.

[Guest El Satanico]

To me, some of the features don't go together.  20 tons of towing ability and a dump truck-esque tilt back bed doesn't seem to fit with DVD players and satellite radio, but that might just be me.

It makes perfect sense when you consider the purpose of this vehicle. It's for the person who needs/wants the capability of a commercial vehicle, but also wants all the comforts you can get in a normal truck. It's more likely to carry a four wheeler and a large camper trailer, than it is to carry gravel and a bulldozer on a trailer.

 

It's no different than what they did with the military humvees when they started selling them to consumers.

 

 

I've seen something similar at the large Ford dealer where I live. It wasn't as big, so it didn't look nearly as stupid as this monster.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Seven miles a gallon on friggin' Diesel is horrible for a consumer automobile. Commercial vehicles sure, but not on something for private parties.

 

I'm telling you, man:

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I want one.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

That's a big ass truck.

[EricMM 0]

Does it run on biodiesal?

 

If not, outlaw them!!

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Haha. Listen to the Geo driver bitch..

 

"It's too BIIIIIIIiiiiiiigggggg, I'm intimidated..."

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Geo driver? I didn't know they made bikes...

[Red Baron 0]

I want one.

Somehow, I can see you driving this beast on the Freeway, pounding out some Acid Bath or Nile, running over Rice Burners

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Does my chest glisten?