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Do you miss minitrucks? Good news! (Sort of.) The compact pickup is alive and well—just not here in the U.S. Now there’s a new Ram pickup, and it’s smaller than any of the Dakotas ever made.
Meet the 2021 Ram 700, a new compact unibody pickup destined for 14 Latin American markets including Mexico, according to Carscoops. It’s a rebadged version of a pickup sold in Brazil and Argentina, the Fiat Strada, and it looks like a lot of fun.
Carscoops says it looks almost identical to the Fiat save for the badging and grille and it’s even built at the same plant in Betim, Brazil. Clearly, FCA is picking the markets where Fiat is popular for the Strada, and elsewhere for the Ram.
If you do live in a country that gets the 700 and you really want that classic minitruck look, you’re in luck—the Ram 700 does come in a single cab. The other body style is a double cab, and in true Ram fashion, there are some impressive-sounding trim levels for the Mexican market: the base SLT, a mid-range Big Horn and a top-level Laramie. The latter two are only available with the crew cab, but I feel like adding the obligatory “yee” and “haw” here.
You won’t be able to tow 36 extra-large bears with this truck, but it would handle most of your average everyday pickup needs with a payload of up to 1,653 lbs. The cargo volume isn’t terrible in single-cab guise, either: 40.3 cubic feet. The tow rating of 882 lbs suggests that you may need to wait for the new mid-size Ram Dakota to pull anything significant, though. Having only 24.4 cubic feet of cargo volume in the single-cab may mean you’re just picking up mulch and other small stuff there, but hey—someone has to pick up mulch.
The engines are about as small as the 700 itself, with the base and Big Horn models getting a 1.4-liter Fire Evo gas engine rated for 84 horsepower and 87 pound-feet of torque. The Laramie gets a turbocharged 1.3-liter Firefly engine good for 98 hp and 94 lb-ft of torque. All 700 pickups are front-wheel-drive, and a five-speed manual transmission comes standard.
The bed comes with bedliner already installed. The Ram 700 also features a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, LED headlights and a reverse camera. The double cab can hold up to five passengers, although I’m going to preemptively call “not it” for that rear middle seat.
As for U.S. compact pickup fans, we’ll still have to wait for the Ford Maverick. Maybe we’ll get our own version of the 700/Strada if the Maverick is a hit.
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