“Despite high gasoline prices and social pressure to drive more efficient cars, the best-selling vehicles in the United States this year are trucks by Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, all of which are being made larger, often with four doors, and marketed to families as lifestyle vehicles.” Boston Globe

And: The Pickup, A Love Story:

“If you sit behind the wheel of a 2004 pickup, it’s pretty hard to find the way back to that truck of yesteryear — with the plywood floors, the two-piece windshield and the hand-crank windows — the one that America first fell in love with. Dealer lots all over the country twinkle with full-size pickups that taunt us with awesome power that we will, very likely, never need and assuage us with deep pile carpet, countless cup holders, GPS guidance systems and power sunroofs. Truth be told, we would all find a long ride in the ancestral pickup less than enjoyable. But that doesn’t mean the roots of the pickup aren’t important. In fact, the history is essential to understanding how the pickup has come to represent a perfect marriage of our desire for frontier-style freedom and suburban-style comfort.” NY Times