Fiat Strada Pickup. True Compact Truck

[RRoller123]

The tide is turning though, but it sure is slow....

[njoconnor]

Bernie, that article was great! (agree about the drill press....).

My truck is not a work truck; simply (very comfortable) transportation, which happens to get pretty decent fuel mileage. If there had been a diesel compact/mid size truck at the time, I'd have probably bought that (the Canyon/Colorado diesel didn't come out until a year later). It allowed me to downsize the vehicle fleet, and promote domestic tranquility.... . No lift kits, no swingin' sacks on the receiver, no obnoxious stickers (no stick family, neither!). We're in the midst of a concerted "throw away/recycle" operation at Casa O'C, and that load bed has earned its payments this month. If the summer progresses smoothly, this thing will possibly haul the Spider to Detroit without breaking a sweat (or the bank). Works for me.

The article noted that Ecuadorans "know how to use trucks". If I might add, so do Iraqi's. Anyone who spent time there the past decade or so will recall "bongo trucks", little 4 cylinder diesel cabovers with flatbeds over (maybe) 16 inch wheels (and most were blue, for some reason). One of my duties when I was there in 04 was to replace the bedding for my 25 member medical team and our short term residential soldier clients. I arranged the purchase of 50 locally produced steel innerspring mattresses from one of our local contractors. He showed up with two helpers, jammed into the cab, and 40 of the mattresses stacked/tied/jammed onto and around the flatbed, towering at least twice the height of the truck cab; I have no idea how that vehicle remained on its tires. On arrival at our building, the contractor waved off the soldiers who offered to help. Their offloading method was simple: one helper stood on one side of the truck; the other untied the load and pushed the pile of mattresses over on top of the first guy, whose job it was to break the mattresses' fall. Once we all stopped laughing (and could breathe) we rescued the "fall guy", and slept pretty soundly the rest of the deployment.

And, yeah, compared to those guys, my truck is waaaayyy over kill......

Neil

[georgeramos]

My current work vehicle ia a 128 wagon...so I am looking to size up a little bit. Well, I wouldnt lose the wagon but would truly LOVE one of these Fiats.. Maybe if enough of is petition Fiat to bring them in...

[SP3]

The problem a person like me has is that once you've owned a truck, and used it to do things that only trucks can do, it is nearly impossible to do without one again. All it takes is that one time where you need some 12' lumber or a couple dozen sheets of drywall and all you have is a car or suv (a disguised car) and you'll understand. Or, you want to pick up a motorcycle (did it once or twice with my S10, just). Or a lathe. Or haul away a dozen bushes you pulled out of the yard, roots and all.

I have had three trucks (four if you include my Scout II with the top removed). After each one went away, it wasn't more than a couple months before I regretted not having one. When my brother in law got rid of his (and I was between trucks) we BOTH wished we had one within a month. Part of me would love to get rid on my bone stock Dodge RAM (horrible mileage getting, heavy, slow shifting, clutch on it's last leg, noisy, slow accelerating) 1500. Love to. But.

[baltobernie]

I hear ya. What do you do, for example, with a 7' Christmas tree in January? We're not close-in enough for curbside pickup. So get out the big drop cloth and pruning saw ...

I have occasionally used the free Home Depot truck (now that's a work truck; dump bed, etc. Ooooh), and a couple of us on the street talk about sharing a beater for runs to the dump, etc., but talks have never materialized.

[njoconnor]

I hear ya. What do you do, for example, with a 7' Christmas tree in January? We're not close-in enough for curbside pickup. So get out the big drop cloth and pruning saw ...

That sounds too cold. Grab one of the various cordless 18v recip saws.

What tree where? Use mine for yard trimming all the time now. Sometimes it's easier than the lopper, or the 2 cycle Ryobi chain trimmer.

Agree with SP3. Once you live with one.....

Neil

[georgeramos]

It is tough not having a larger vehicle but I think for the few times you REALLY need something big its just as easy to rent a uhaul or something. I would love a small truck however(hence this post) for most every other task.

[mpollock]

Here's another Fiat pickup

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dea ... 28424.html

[georgeramos]

Love that red truck! Id buy one of those in a heartbeat!