I write this letter in hopes that I ca change your mind about how you design your pickup trucks. I know your marketing dept. associates want a design that will appeal to deek swingin real men and testoranounally jealous females. But really, what ever happened to "form follows function"?
For instance, my 2002 Ford F150 was a handy truck in every way. You could step right into the cab and the box was at a handy height. Now, my 2002 Ford, as well as every newer model I see today, is a jacked up giant tired behemoth, that will actually carry less load and is in nearly every way less handy to use as a TRUCK! My wife practically needs a ladder to get into the passenger side, running boards are absolutely necessary unless you are built with a six foot four leg anatomy. My 2002 has work boxes on the side with side doors. Heaven help me if they had top doors as the side door are nearly eyeball height! There is also a ladder rack, which, because of the the height of the truck, usually demands that I step up on the bumper to reach any ladder strapped to it!
All this jacked up glory so that I can drive it across the swamps and bogs of the North American Midwest on the weekends? Or is the height intended to impress female buyers , who can then watch from a "big and manly" perspective, looking down on the "leetle" people driving cars and motorcycles?
If nothing else, I suspect that you designers own stock in the after market tire companies. How else to explain the two foot of clearance in the wheel wells? Is this so the owners of these jacked up monsters can fit humongo tires on the rims to the tune of $200 apiece?
Gawd, I wish for the return of truck models from the 60s thru 80s. Functional beasts, with accessible cabs and boxes that could be unloaded in a convenient manner.
I don't need a truck that screams "machismo" to every bystander! I don't need a truck that will plow through and run over giant fallen logs and waist deep sinkholes! and my wife doesn't think I need a truck that displays my giant ego and manhood! I just need a truck that I can use to work. You know, haulin plywood, sheetrock, boards, bricks and the occasional happy dog!
