2005 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4X4 Laramie Road Test

Survival of the Fittest

I am not a truck person. Trucks, like the half-mesh hats named after them, manual labor, and hauling around planks of wood

To have a better pickup truck is to have more - more payload capability, more towing capacity, more bed volume and of course more power. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

or towing trailers, are not things that run in my blood. Should the situation ever arise that I would need to buy a truck, it would most likely be a compact truck - something comfortable, easy to drive, and relatively car-like, should such a product be available. The compact truck, would, by logic, be the most suitable type of truck for me.

But therein lies the problem: in the world of automobiles, bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. Advancements in engineering allow cab-forward design and miniscule overhangs to turn even surprisingly small cars into roomy people-movers. But this kind of logic doesn't exactly work for pickup trucks, where the focus is on capability.

To have a better pickup truck is to have more - more payload capability, more towing capacity, more bed volume and of course

The Dodge Dakota is the pioneer of the midsize truck segment, bridging the gap between weedy four-cylinder import pickups and traditional half-ton pickups. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

more power and torque to shift all the extra 'more.' Though trucks aren't animals, their humanoid buyers are and as such, Darwin's Origin of the Species applies. It's truly a market of survival of the fittest.

But for the remaining few compact trucks that haven't evolved, my hopes and wishes are now directed towards the latest adaptation, the midsize truck. With a change of heart, I put myself in the shoes of its target market. I find myself thinking that bigger is better, and in a bid (which does not include ego-inflation) I go for the granddaddy of them all, the Dodge Dakota.