NAIAS Blog: The New Dodge Ram, Jim Press, and the Frisky Cattle

While Ford was inside getting a very patriotic salute of approval from Toby Keith, Dodge was outside preparing for a lot of bull***t. Speculation has flown through the web for weeks as to how a herd of cattle in downtown Detroit could play out. Shattered windows? Dinner tonight for the homeless? The freshest burgers the Chrysler firehouse has ever offered? None of the chaos we imagined happened, making the press conference a bit of a letdown--at least there were massive heaters and beef jerky for all.

After a short talk from Chrysler's new head honcho, Nardelli, the Pentastar's newest all-star, Jim Press, jogged to stage for the reveal. His animated character and jokes about Tom Lasorda's golf clubs made him seem like an American Dieter replacement, only without the bushy mustache. He even recovered well after the entire crowd was distracted by some ram-on-ram action from the center of the nearby herd.

The new 2009 Ram snuck out onto the internet weeks ago, so there wasn't much surprise out on Washington Street. Coil springs. Bedside storage. More Hemi power. Apparently the lightest variant of the Hemi Ram will to the dance up to 60 mph in just 6.1 seconds, bettering a fair share of the sport sedan and sport compact market. The new Ram looks good, if evolutionary, in person, but the real verdict will come when we have a chance to drive Dodge's latest "away from the herd" pickup. We can't test the coil springs from the show stands. The Ram will hit the U.S. market next fall to fight the recently redone Silverado, the bigger-than-ever Tundra, and the F-150 that also met the world today. Click the title above for pictures from the debut.