Ram Truck Hints at Rumble Bee Concept

Ram Truck just released some images that offer a few hints at a new Ram 1500 concept set to be revealed Aug. 17 at the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. The two images leave little doubt that it will be resurrecting some kind of "Rumble Bee", paying homage to the Super Bee muscle cars of the 70s, likely with the new eight-speed transmission and 6.4-liter Hemi recently announced for the 2014 Ram Heavy Duty lineup. And, given the dual sound icons underneath the transmission dial, the concept will offer a dual-pitch exhaust system. This will be the first time (and hopefully not the last) the bigger Hemi will sit inside a Ram 1500 pickup truck.

The Rumble Bee option package was offered on the Dodge Ram for two years (2004 and 2005), with almost 9,000 produced and sold. The regular-cab two-wheel-drive vehicle was sold with a unique scooped hood, black striping, ground effects, 3.92:1 gears, 20-inch rims and a 375-horsepower V-8. This type of truck was so popular we decided to build our own more than 10 years ago.

It's no coincidence that Ram is revealing this concept during the same week we're in Detroit looking at the new that offers essentially the same sport truck option package (regular cab, short bed, 20-inch rims, 4.10:1 gears, graphic package and 365 hp). We fully expect Ram Truck to announce production of this sport truck, and you can expect that we'll have fun testing both trucks.