Top 10 Television Pickup Trucks, Part 2
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No. 5: 1973 Chevrolet El Camino SS, "My Name Is Earl"
Introducing Earl Jehoshaphat Hickey’s banged-up Chevy El Camino. Earl was a petty thief who was trying to redeem himself by doing good deeds – at least some of the time. Earl’s El Camino had a primered hood and a blue driver’s door stolen from another El Camino. Under the hood? A 454-cubic-inch big-block V-8. We’d say Earl went a long way toward earning good karma simply by driving an El Camino.
No. 4: 1951 Ford F1,"Sanford and Son"
From 1972 to 1977, the father-and-son duo of Fred Sanford and his son Lamont verbally scrapped over half-baked ideas to make money from their scrap business. But those schemes wouldn’t have been possible with their beat-up old 1951 Ford F1 to haul their junk around. It proved to be more reliable than Fred’s ideas.
No. 3: 1980 GMC Pickup "The Fall Guy"
The 1980s were a golden age for pickup trucks in action shows. After “Simon & Simon,” there was “The Fall Guy.” In the show, Colt Seavers (played by Lee Majors, formerly the Bionic Man) is a Hollywood stuntman turned bounty hunter – brilliant! Using his 1980 GMC 4X4 pickup truck, Seavers took down some of the most-wanted criminals on TV. From flying off jumps to ultra-dangerous high-speed pursuits, this truck did it all. It featured a 6 inch-lift, 35-inch off-road tires, multiple off-road lights, a Warn winch and our favorite feature: the hidden compartment in the pickup truck bed to hide firearms and captured convicts.
No. 2: 1995 Dodge Ram 1500, "Walker, Texas Ranger"
Chuck Norris as a Texas ranger who used martial arts to corral criminals in Dallas? Hell yes. Then, add a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500? Our minds were blown by so much awesomeness coming out of our 24-inch Sony TVs in the mid-1990s. Seriously, every TV show would be a hit if it had Chuck Norris and a Dodge Ram. It’s why we now have 60-inch flat-screen 3-D TVs.
No. 1: 1988 Toyota Hilux "Top Gear"
There’s only one thing on TV that’s tougher than Chuck Norris, and that’s the 1988 Toyota Hilux that proved indestructible after torture testing by the lads at “Top Gear.” They drove it down a flight of steps, imploded a building around it, crashed it into a tree, dunked it in the ocean, drove it through a garden shed, hit it with a wrecking ball and set it on fire – and after that, it still ran. For that, we salute the Toyota Hilux as our Top TV Truck.
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Comments
awh the fall guy what an awsome show that was, i was a little kid when that was on but that truck was one of the coolest things in the 80's to me lol.
Top Gear also parked it on top of like a 20 story a building that was imploded, still ran and drove. Frame snapped in half, but it still moved.
Wow... GMCs had some serious bed bounce even back in the 80s? :)
@Dave,
Did you know they had to reinforced the suspension on the GMC in the Fall Guy. How else do you think it would make those jumps.
Plenty of Camrys that dont run anymore after running head on into walls,other cars,telephone poles,trees.... Of course that old pickup was before modern drive by wire electronics...
What about the blue Chevy/GMC from Red Dawn. Just piss in the radiator, son!
Got to love Walker's truck. It's always been a dream of mine to have a truck just like that. Except mine would be a 2500 diesel.
OH! And when Big Foot appeared in Knight Rider!
Man the Fall guy truck to me is #1. Can you imagine if Boss hogg would have gotten the fall guy to get the duke boys??? That would have been the ultimate episode.
HOLY CRAP! i didnt get to see the episode of top gear earlier at work! the Hilux is NUTS, its hard to believe it ran after all that crap lol lol
Walker's Dodge Ram was a 4x4. The picture you have looks a lot like a 2x4.
The Toyota Hi-Lux in "Top Gear" was a diesel.
I remember "The Rockford Files", where Jim Rockford's (James Garner) dad ("Rocky", played by Noah Beery, Jr.) drove that really nice 70s GMC Sierra Classic shortbed, complete with "roll bar" and other add-ons. You can see it here: http://imcdb.org/vehicle_271206-GMC-K-1500-1973.html
OOPS!!! forgot to go to the second page. Sorry Mike
Yeah...Texas Ranger and Simon & Simon..
But,The Fall Guy really used his truck,and ran it hard..loved the show as being a kid then...Rockford files also had a nice looking GMC...Gotta love Hank Hills Ford...The Dukes Ford was funny,it turned from a long box to a short box even in the same show,awesome !!
As for The toyota any truck could do that....My cousin drove his old Dodge with no engine oil around for 5 years from 12 years old to 17 years old around on his property,was stuck in a pond covered in water throughout the winter !!! Yeah,it froze over..as was doing donuts in the winter and broke through,engine was cvovered totally in water/ice/snow...We pulled it out,dried it out and the 440 ran like a charm !! He also had a 78 Ford and 72 Chev he equally beat on,but the 74 Dodge lasted the longest...I used that 440 in my 68 Plymouth GTX clone later on and ran 11.70's with a mild built 70's smog 440 engine...We used to play smash up derby,in those old trucks...we bought 1970's imports,used 5 early 1970's Datsun 240 Z's,tons of 70's Civics and Celica's a few early 80's Supra's and a pair of early 80's RX-7's,you have to see what those tiny cars looked like after a full size truck went 30 mph backwards into the side,front,back of them...man the early 90's were fun !!!!
Mike:
In the Fall Guy clip you could have at least shown a small clip of Heather Locklear .
or was it Heather Thomas ? too long ago
What about Jim Rockford's Dad and his stepside 4x4 GMC High Sierra? that thing was beautiful with the 4" lift and oversize tires on stock rims, and off-road lights on the grill guard. Jim & Angel always beat the heck out of it after Rocky reluctantly let Jim borrow it.
Is it just me or does Walker's Ram looks like a "Quad Cab" model?! Because suicide doors came about Dodge in 1998, and his Ram is a 1995 model.
Ha! That should be a history lesson for Toyota! New trucks like that don't get a quarter as much abuse and they fail! Bring that "Top Gear" philosophy back to your trucks, Toyota!
Wow this brings back some good tv watching memories! Thanks!
I watch re-runs of the Waltons just to see that model A truck.
Fall Guy should be #1... but at least you have it on the list.
One more: the Bronco that Matt Houston drove when he was headed off road.
Or the little S 10 or S15 that was in the back of Rolling Thunder, lue Thunders support wheels. The truck had a dirt bike in the bed too.
Fall Guy: The main truck was an '81 (quad rectangular headlights, horizontal marker lights on the front fender - 1981 was the first year of that front end design). The jump trucks were 1979 (single round headlight, vertical marker light) and 1980 (single rectangular headlight, vertical marker light). If you watch the video above closely, you'll see the trucks changing front ends among these three.
The jump trucks had their engines and transmissions mounted behind the cab for weight balance... otherwise they'd always fall nose-first.
LAME!!! Joseph Rockford's GMC shortbed (The Rockford Files) should one of the top 10.
@ Mike - thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Fall guy had some cool stunts.
It was always funny to see a mangled up truck after a jump then a few frames later it looked mint .
Those were the days when the stunts were real.
No CGI.
I wonder how many SFA's they broke on that show?
@ Roadtrip - right you are.
Do round headlights fly through the air better than rectangular? LOL.
The Hilux on Top Gear was amazing. I doubt a gasser would of fared as well.
The Fall Guy was my favorite and I still wear my fall guy tee-shirt!! 80's tees.com has them for sale:
http://search.80stees.com/?category=80s+TV&i=1&theme=The+Fall+Guy&u1=category&u2=theme
If they bring a new series back on the air they should use a Raptor!
It was Heather Thomas ;)
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Heather Thomas.
Old Walker started out with a GMC or might have been a Chevy. I know because I stopped watching it when he got the Dodge. And it really was a dumb show. But not as dumb as the Duke boys. Man cannot believe we lived for those shows as teenage boys.
The Toyota pickup that mae it to the North Pole from Top Gear should have also been on the list, first vehicle to drive there...
And the 2 Toyota Land Cruisers that were the first mechanized vehicles to cross Antarctica on another TV special should have made the list...
Forget Hollywood, we want real trucks doing real things and not stunts!
If you look at the "Walker Texas Ranger" truck it has chrome mirrors which indicate that the truck is pre 1998. The fact that if you look at the extended cab part and you can see a line making it look like it is a quad cab and the quad came out first in 1998. Am I the only one who sees that?
Walker's truck was a 98. My dodge ram has chrome mirrors and is a 98. My truck was the first year for the quad cab also.
El Caminos aren't trucks, they're coupe utilities.
I only want one of these trucks...Rick's Macho Power Wagon :D
The truck in Fall Guy also had full reverse gears. He spun it around and drove backwards along a hilly highway while being chased. I remember the look on the face of the kid the in car next to him as Colt passed him.
What about hardcastle and mccormicks newer
Gmc /chevy stepside with the lift kit, grill guard
Roll bar and off-road lights, that one was pretty nice too
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