Breath easy. Production of RAM’s monster truck is set to curtail. 

JOINING the dinosaurs whose juice it so heartily quaffed - that’s the announced fate of the RAM 1500 TRX, the most flamboyant - some might say fatuous - grand slam ‘super’ version of the large American traydeck.

Production of the last chance to see involve with the supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi ‘Hellcat’ V8 ends soon, thus seemingly ending a relatively short but stormy time on New Zealand soil.

Unveiled Stateside in 2020, TRX only availed here since last year, the delay coming from the Melbourne plant where US-made product are stripped down then rebuilt in right hand drive requiring time to giddy up for that expensive and time-intensive phase.

RAM Trucks Australia and NZ distributor Ateco Group has not say how long local supply will hold out, but what does seem possible is that Clean Car regulation explicitly designed to curtail interest in high-spend, high-maintenance, high consumption and high CO2-emitting fare has failed to kill interest in rthe beast.

On Kiwi soil, none have come out bigger, more brasher or more belligerent in brand-new form than the TRX - and for 18 buyers last year, and 29 to date this year, that’s been an allure too powerful to resist.

In taking Stellantis’ famous supercharged 6.2-litre ‘Hellcat’ V8 - which at zenith creates an astonishing 523kW and 882Nm - this model became a powerful totem. 

And a comically  expensive one: $250,000, a tag that made it the most expensive showroom item in the Stellantis’ North American portfolio sold here, remains the official ask.

That and a massive appetite for petrol - one test reckoned they averaged 24 litres per 100km - were a huge defiance in face of Government policy to quell interest in gas guzzlers. 

Legislation designed to dampen enthusiasm for regular one-tonne utes that, at the worst, have in reality been far less environmentally challenging - and also a lot more useful - only went so far to containing TRX, because the CO2 fines maxed out at point where the additional cost was really hardly an issue. Owners would spend likely the equivalent to that impost on fuel within a few months of ownership. One industry quip doing the rounds has been “300 to fill, 300 kilometres to empty.”

Clean Car wasn’t the reason why the maker has pulled the pin.

That’s an international decision determined by a simple factor. The Hellcat powerpoint is no longer in production and the stockpile kept aside for the model is exhausting. This was a known factor acknowledged when “the apex predator of the truck world” launched. Right from day one, RAM said it would not be a long-term proposal.

RAM has never been bothered by dinosaur references, BTW. They see that as a compliment, to point where there’s an embossed plastic panel in the cabin architecture that shows how much larger the type’s namesake from the prehistoric world, the T-Rex, is compared to a velociraptor, inspiration for Ford’s Raptor models. 

To mark the end of this era, RAM is concocting - but perhaps just for Stateside consumption - a Final Edition, with unique features.

These span exclusive exterior colour options – Delmonico Red, Night Edge Blue, and Harvest Sunrise - as well as Satin Titanium bead-lock capable wheels and a 6.2L bonnet badge and bed decal.

Inside the cabin, the farewell edition features Patina stitching on the dash and seats, an embroidered TRX seat back logo, a special cluster splash screen, a centre console badge with each model’s build number, a Satin Titanium TRX dash badge, Triaxle-suede door panel inserts, and 4×4 weave matte carbon fibre on the instrument panel, doors, console, and steering wheel. 

This special edition pickup features the same output as regular TRX models. But, yeah, it carries a premium.