The pickup truck is as utilitarian as the automobile gets. And that typically means a low price. But that’s beginning to change.
These days, work-a-day brands are climbing all over themselves to out-do one another with higher and higher-end trucks. Just look at the GMC Sierra Denali, Ram Laramie Longhorn, or Toyota Tundra Platinum – trucks that push $50k even in light-duty 1500 spec. At the end of the day, though, they’re still sold by mass-market automakers – not luxury brands.
There have been exceptions, though: pickups made by luxury automakers that wear prestige badges leading silky-smooth engines, plush cabins, and – yep – utility pickup beds. They’re bona fide trucks capable of hauling big loads. But you might not know it from the inside of their luxurious cabins, and certainly not from looking at the badge on the center of the steering wheel.
Cadillac Escalade EXT
Cadillac has offered the Escalade in numerous body-styles of varying proportions. Now in its fourth generation, the standard Escalade is the size of (and is based closely on) the Chevy Tahoe, while the ESV is as big as a Suburban. The second- and third-generation models, though, were also offered in EXT spec.
Based on the Chevy Avalanche, the Escalade EXT packed a short pickup bed instead of a wagon roofline. Both the Avalanche and the Escalade EXT were discontinued in 2013 after two generations and about a dozen years on the market.
Lincoln Blackwood & Mark LT
Like the Navigator before it, Lincoln paved the way to the luxury pickup market (such as it is) with the launch of the Blackwood in 2011. Based on the Ford F-150 Crew Cab, the Blackwood featured a cargo bed with horizontal pinstripes on the outside, carpeting inside, and a powered hard tonneau cover over the top.
Its 2006 replacement was re-branded as the Mark LT, and introduced all-wheel drive. And while dwindling sales in the United States saw it discontinued in 2008, a second iteration was introduced just for the Mexican market, where it was even offered with a extended pickup bed.
Lamborghini LM002
Long before the Escalade and Blackwood, or even the Urus, Lamborghini made a truck called the LM002. Closer to a Hummer than an F-150, the LM002 packed the 5.2-liter V12 from a Countach and a short bed in the back. (Some even packed a bigger 7.2-liter V12 from Lamborghini’s marine division.)
The first all-wheel-drive Lamborghini also far predated the Diablo VT by a good seven years. Known informally as the “Rambo Lambo,” the LM002 arguably owed more to Lamborghini’s tractor-building roots than its first sports cars like the 350GT and Miura. Just 328 examples were made between 1986 and ’93.
Range Rover by Startech
Land Rover has made many pickup-bedded Defenders, but despite the efforts of so many aftermarket outfitters, those have all been utilitarian work tools. The luxurious Range Rover, by contrast, has only ever been offered as a wagon, but another tuner has seen to that. That tuner is Brabus, which rolled out a sport-utility truck version of the flagship Range Rover through its Startech line just a couple of years ago.
Designed with the Arabian pastime of falconry in mind, the Range Rover ute retains the standard version’s wheelbase and overall length, but chops the roof down aft of the rear seats and leaves the rear cargo bay open to the elements, with a spoiler installed to reduce wind buffeting. We don’t know how many customers Brabus may have found for the conversion job, but we have a hunch where they might be found.
Mercedes-Benz X-Class
Between the G-Class and the Unimog, Mercedes has made its fair share of workhorses with pickup beds – even one as extreme as the G63 AMG 6×6. But it’s about to break into the conventional pickup truck market for the first time with the launch of the X-Class. Envisioned as a rival to the Volkswagen Amarok, the X-Class is being developed (like the Renault Alaskan) on the base of the Nissan Navara through Daimler’s tie-up with Carlos Ghosn and company.
Though not intended for the North American market, the X-Class promises to differentiate itself from its Japanese counterpart enough to warrant the Silver Star emblem on its nose to a greater degree than the Sprinter, which has also been sold under the Dodge, Freightliner, MAN, and Volkswagen brands, with little differentiation. Expect the production X-Class to debut later this year, but don’t expect it to be the last pickup to come from a luxury automaker.