I really don’t mean 1/4 ton trucks. A utility vehicle that has a similar ride height to a car makes a ton of sense for 95% of average joe pickup usecases. Home improvement, moving furniture, bikes, engines, tools, extremely fat family members, etc can all be done in an old tacoma.

I’m talking about places where your fuel type is tied to manhood and its perfectly reasonable to want a big cummins or powerstroke just because.

I’m thinking of a very specific friend who bought a used 2015 f150 lariat with something like 60k on the clock for 27k. Its a super crew cab, short bed. The bed is useless and stays covered most of the time, he just uses the huge backseat to haul most things. He was already an aggressive driver but now that he’s high up, he feels even more important than lowly pedestrians, priuses, and cyclists. He actually scares me on the road and I yell at him to chill the fuck out and explicitly tell him the truck has made him a worse driver.

I’m an outsider in the area and he’s a native and the only culture there is buying things you perceive to make you happy. I love cars but I enjoy working on shitty cars far more than just owning a nice car. I got a solid deal on a new focus ST a few years ago with the intention of owning it forever and having something safe, reliable, and fun. Its just enough flash that it makes me happy everytime I get into it, but it never is a danger or a nuisance to anyone like bro-dozers are.

ugh end rant. Everytime I critique his truck he goes “well you don’t need a hot hatch”, as if the two things are remotely the same. So fucking frustrating.