Ram 1500

The State Of The Art

You know that old saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt”?

Luckily for the ’19 Ram 1500, the opposite held true in our 2019 Pickup Truck of the Year test. Every interaction with the truck, from the time it strutted the stage at the Detroit Auto Show to the moment it rolled out of our parking lot at the end of #PTOTY19 testing, led more and more of us to melt to its charms. Yes, we lament the loss of the crosshairs grille, and its somewhat bland styling is a mockery to the revolutionary, big rig–aping ’94 Dodge Ram 1500, but darned if the all-new Ram 1500 didn’t pursue our hearts like a gentleman suitor going after a debutante at a Savannah cotillion.

The folks at Ram sent two 1500 pickups our way, per our request. One was a loaded Laramie Longhorn crew cab, a truck festooned with Western-inspired seat embossing, authentic wood trim (hand-branded with the trim level’s logo), and plenty of cowboy glitz on the interior and exterior. The other was a Rebel Quad Cab off-road special, moderately-optioned with the less-spacious cab configuration but a reasonable roster of comfort and convenience. Both played very nicely with our editors.

Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn

Ram introduced the Laramie Longhorn trim level a few years ago alongside the Laramie Limited (now simply called Limited). Both were and are top-spec variations on a theme, the Laramie Limited marketed toward black-tie truck enthusiasts, folks who were as likely to attend a charity function as a 4-H livestock auction. The Longhorn, however, is aimed totally toward folks who wear formal cowboy boots rather than dress shoes. Both offer high-luxury comfort, differentiated only by presentation.