This hit the net about a week ago. Way to keep things current Mark. Good job on the new rules too.

Instead of a double bed, would rather move the cab forward and use any gained space for passenger space and enlarged rear bed.

What would really be great is a 6 door truck. Something like a crew cab with an extended cab behind it for additional indoor storage.

I'd rather have the motor up front where it belongs.

I don't care if this is a week old FYI. I search regularly for any pickup news and i've never seen this. At least it is here. This isn't the only place where people can write about pickups on the net, so I don't expect this site to have ALL of the most recent pickup news. They do a pretty good job of keeping us updated on the BIG news and I'd miss a lot more if not for this site.

This seems like one of the only logical ways to dramatically improve the functionality of a pickup truck. I'm sure somebody will chime in their reasons for why this couldn't work, but so far I can't think of why it wouldn't. With the smaller turbo-charged engines these days and lighter materials it might make it easier for something like this to be accomplished.

If you want maximum space, you gotta follow what toyota and nissan. They both move the cab forward thus increasing cab space. If you've ever looked at one of the domestic trucks vs one of the foreign trucks, you'll noticed the amount of dead space from the radiator on forward. Why have excess dead space that could be added to cab space or bed space.

Can't see it panning out.

95 days from now you can post this again.

Why not just do cab covers like big rigs did in the 70s

Cab Overs dam auto correct

@brandon

like the jeep forward control trucks.

It's an interesting idea, but I doubt it will ever leave the drawing board. The main problem I see is the mid-engine design would take up a lot of room that could be passenger space. Imagine if you wanted a CC long bed, and it had a mid-engine, now that would be a long truck. Even for a short bed CC, it would still need room for the mid engine, which would end up necessitating the truck to be about the length of a CC long bed. I just don't see how it would work in the real world.

I think it's a really cool idea, just not so sure how fun it'd be to do any work on the engine. May be worth it though if they can create a quick and easy way to access the general maintenance parts (i.e. alternator, belts, hoses, etc)

I like the idea, definitely with the new ecomotors opposed piston diesel engine. I think this engine would fit wonderfully in a truck like that.

http://www.ecomotors.com/ecomotors-internationals-opposed-piston-opposed-cylinder-engine-promises-revolutionize-commercial-ve

@ HEMI MONSTER

This would be for an Electric Motor application, where the motor are attached directly to the wheels. The power supply (batteries) would be under the hood still, underneath the front storage box or under the passenger compartment. This would effectively allow the rear box and passenger area to remain unchanged in size. This wouldn't work with a conventional engine due to the amount of space and components required.

@ Brandon

This would work well as a COE (cab over engine) truck, using electric motors seeing as the Cab would be over top the Battery supply allowing for a shorter length truck. The issue here would be making something aesthetically pleasing, and coincide with the rest of the manufactures designs. Great idea though!

Kooky story.

I looked at the Titan CC with the 7'3" bed. It was 244 inches long compared to my ext. cab Chevy 8' bed at 248" long. I could still haul my bike without the tire right in the crack between tailgate and bed. Weight of rear tire was on the bed.

How can this possibly be done without thinkin about the effect on MPGs?
What about the folks that want 4x4?
If this works. I don't see this ever getting past 1/2.tons. not enough room for the big diesels?

We might be looking at the pick up trucks of the future, just how much more expensive?

This concept makes no sense. We put the engine in the middle i.e. where the passenger seats would be in the cab just to gain space under the hood.

Anybody remember the 1970's Chevy Blazer? Owners took the top off , removed the back seat and made it into a pickup. That's similar how I vision how new pickups should be made. The back half of the cab can be removed if you need more bed space, or with the cab top on the whole pickup can be used as 3rd or even 4th row seating. The tailgate can double as a rear passenger door.
Not done! I also want the sides of the bed to either fold down or fold inside under the bed to transform it into a flat bed for hauling oversize items and also making it easy to load and unload those items from the side.
I call this a modular design.

@ William Ramos yes something like that

@ PUTC - Thank you guys for making an effort to keep the comments section clean... my first comment in over a year as a result. =)

@ Tom - Good points. Quirks aside, that's why I've always thought the mid-gate design of the Chevy Avalanche was a great idea -- more bed space when you need it, less when you don't. Obviously some design and application limitations are inherent, but I'm surprised the feature didn't become more widespread... And with a tall topper thrown on the back it creates a great pickup camper, where you can go from the cab to the bed without having to exit the vehicle, like in a van.