These Are Your Favorite Pickup Trucks

This week has been filled with emotional moments and it’s only Wednesday. From the truly moving images coming out of the Artemis II moon mission to waiting on whatever fresh hell our country gets into next, there’s plenty to get worked up about. Luckily, here at Jalopnik, we can distract ourselves from both wonders and horrors with cars. You see, the cars are here for you and they always will be. 

I didn’t ask you about your favorite pickup truck last week for a chance at a mental break this week, but that’s definitely what it turned into. Instead of doomscrolling, I got to spend my Tuesday afternoon going through awesome images all kinds of trucks. And that is whatever the opposite of doomscrolling is. 

Most of the trucks cited as the best by our readers were from the last great decades for truck design, the 1980s and ’90s. I didn’t want to take the obvious answer from you guys, but the F-150 Lightning and the GMC Syclone in one list? That’s almost too much rizz for a single Answer of the Day. The real outlier, both in time period and manufacturer on this list, is the one particular Dodge truck picked by reader Noel Cox. 

So now I return the gift of the cars to you. Scroll down and take a break to feast your eyes on something good and pure and simple; the best pickup trucks of all time.

1994 F-150 Lightning, specifically in Ultra Red. Mostly because I had one, and it was way too much fun.

This is not mine, but it is the same as what I had. 351W with E40D 4-speed, and a 4.10 rear. Add GT40 intake and heads.

A suspension so stiff you could run over a dime and know which side was up.

All in Ford’s best F-series bodystyle.

From potbellyjoe

The compact pickups of the late 70s and early 80s, that were small, economical, and had FULL SIZE BEDS!!!

With the king of the group, being the Toyota SR-5 Longbed.

From Dr.Xyster

1991 GMC Syclone. It was totally unheard of to have a truck that was able to run with a Ferrari and a Corvette ZR-1. But it happened. And it looked mean as anything in all black with the red lettering. This was beast mode truck for a long time and even though it could barely do truck things, I’d own one in a millisecond if given the chance.

From Xavier96

Not a specific model/trim, but the 9th Gen Ford F-150 (92-97) has just enough traditionalism (shape, form, bed size & height, I-6 available) and just enough modernism (conveniences, comfort, stayle, safety, reliability, easy to drive).

From scoobylicious

My dad had a small 2 door Chevy S10 truck for like 15 years. It was nothing special. Manual transmission, manual locks, crank down windows. But it was what we could afford at the time. He paid it off in 5 or so years then just continued to drive around it free of charge. I’m always jealous of this as I would love to find a cheap car to drive around for years but I just have not found it yet. On the weekends we often used it for projects and things which it never failed to do. It was simple cheep and got the job down with out being a luxury monstrosity like most of todays new trucks. I will always have a soft spot in my heart and I have mad respect for the guys that are still driving them around.

From Gerrit DeBoer

1946 Dodge Power Wagon. Hands down the most versatile truck ever. Made into fire trucks, school buses, and everything in between.

From Noel Cox

1970 Chevy C-10. For me this is the ideal form factor for a truck- it’s got some style but it’s also very clean and utilitarian. Single cab, long bed, it would hold whatever we threw in it, from a load of corn to feed the cows to gravel for rebuilding the farm roads. Its also the vehicle I learned to drive on- my Grandpa had one as his farm truck and it was kinda fantastic. The bed was low enough that even as a 14 year old, I could toss hay bales in the back. The cab was roomy enough that a lanky 6’2″ teen fit behind the wheel just fine and the thing was for all intents and purposes, indestructible. The color was that lovely light blue that faded and got chalky and somehow looked more attractive with age and dents and rust.

From Buckfiddious

1980 Toyota 4×4. Those big tires on a small truck made it look seriously badass in a way other factory trucks at the time couldn’t match. The drivetrain delivered on the looks, too. Took mine up lots of jeep roads, through mud, snow and sand, and it always handled everything with ease while getting decent mileage. Mine was a one-ton and I once had a measured ton of gravel loaded into the bed. The frame hit the bump stops just as the last pebbles dropped out of the loader bucket.

From Norm DePlume

The early 90’s 454 SS.

It wasn’t particularly powerful or fast, but square bodies have aged so well and it’s the best square body of them all. Plus that 454 sounds so good

From JaredOfLondon