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Posted by Will (in IL) on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at 09:41:05 :
In Reply to: 2009 Dodge Ram Interior Pictures posted by Will (in IL) on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 19:48:48 :
They appear to be happy that they copied the Ferd!
http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/autoshows/naias2008/dodge/page1.html
According to Chrysler design chief Trevor Creed, two vehicles influenced the Ram’s exterior surfaces, the Dodge Charger sedan and Ford F-150.
As seen in earlier spy photos, the front end was inspired by the Charger. Mr. Creed says the canted forward grille is meant to make the truck look like a charging ram rushing forward to head butt the competition.
The F-150 inspired the Ram’s body proportions.
“We were pretty impressed with the F-150 when it came out (in 2004), but they did something we thought was a no-no. (Ford) raised the belt line and the box height to give the F-150 great proportions and a hot rod truck look, but made it difficult for people to reach into the bed,” says Mr. Creed.
What was Chrysler’s solution to improve usability accessing the cargo box but still deliver chunkier proportions?
“We raised the belt line but kept the box height the same as the previous Ram. Then we lowered the rocker panel sills and pulled them out, so they completely hide the frame rails at the bottom. That’s how we got our glass to body proportions,” Mr. Creed describes.
Chrysler also blacked out the window frame in the B-pillar to give the Dodge Ram a longer greenhouse look and made crisp character lines on the edges of the dropped front fenders and over the rear wheels.