Ryan Manson \ [email protected]
Monitor
10 classictrucks.com
Pretty Stout
zSeems like I get a note from a frustrated reader at least once a week asking,
“why do you guys only run Chevy and Ford content?!” It’s a legit question with a
legit answer that’s been discussed at nauseam. The simple answer is, we run what’s
been done. Our cadre of photographers travel across the country, searching for truck
features throughout the year, and shoot the best ones. Since the production numbers
for Ford and Chevy trucks dwarf all other makes, that’s typically what we find.
Tech stories are the same. A suspension story on a ’69 C10 is going to resonate with
thousands of readers versus the same story on a Dodge. Personally, I’d like to branch
out and embrace some of the other, less popular makes, but the market doesn’t seem
to reflect a move in that direction.That doesn’t mean
we ignore all those
other makes. Not
at all. They’re just
the silent minority.
Any time a Dodge
or Studebaker or
International feature
comes across my desk,
it gets moved to the
top, ahead of all those
’67-’72 C10s! A good
feature on an even
better uncommon
make is like finding a
pearl in an oyster. It
doesn’t happen all that
often. I can count on
one hand the Dodge
trucks we’ve featured
in the 10 or so years that I’ve been with the magazine. If I
added ALL the Dodge trucks that I saw at various events
throughout those years, I might need another hand, but
definitely not three. Which is good, because “I can count
on three hands ...” just sounds weird.
Which brings us to this month’s abnormality: Peter
Freedman’s ’62 Toyota Stout. Jorge Nuñez was already
shooting it in our studio, for what title I’m not sure,
when he asked me if I wanted it. I’ll admit, I hesitated
for a moment. Not because I didn’t think it was worthy.
I actually loved it. It was well done and a welcome
diversion from the usual trucks I come across. I was
apprehensive because of what you guys might think.
An import in a domestic truck magazine? Heresy, you
might say!
To me, I figured if I thought it interesting, you guysmight enjoy it too.
It was built more
like a hot rod than
a restoration, so I
figured, “why not?”
It’s a bit of a slam
dunk when it comes
to the whole “different
makes” argument,
but I just think it’s
cool. I crossed one of
those “Great White
Buffaloes” off my list:
Toyota Stout: Check
Ford Courier: Status
Pending
Chevy Luv: Status
Pending
Now that we’ve
broken the mold and
ran what’s probably the first import model in CT, don’t
you go getting any ideas that soon we’re going to be
running two-page spread ads featuring glue-on spoilers,
6-inch fart cans, or splashy graphic sticker packs. There
will be no talk of “body drops” or “stanced” or “negative-
camber,” whatever that is. Is that where the wheels are
cranked in at the top so much that they rub the fenders?
Tire manufacturers gotta love that fad!
“Bruh, my STI goes through like four sets of tires a
year, it’s siiiick!”
Nah, I think we’ll stick to C10s, F-100s, and the odd
Dodge here and there, thank you very much! But, that
little Stout sure is neat ...