Oh, that generation of RAM.
When I was a 12 year old kid in '94, I was in my Dad's S10 with him and we drove past a Chrysler dealer in Quebec. My Dad saw a few of these trucks parked on the lot - they must have just come out, because he stopped the S10 and exclaimed 'what is that', and went to have a look. A few months later, one weekend while we were at our seasonal RV site, my Dad told me to hop in the in the little blue 2wd S10, and that we were taking the truck to get painted red and have 4wd added (we had recently gotten it stuck on a little 4x4 trail down to a fishing lake - it must have frustrated the hell out of him). I was a gullible child, so I believed him, and was confused when we arrived at a Chrysler dealer. We went inside, and an hour later were pulling off the lot in a brand new '94 Dodge Ram in red, single cab, 5spd manual, 4x4, with the 318 V8.
That truck was pretty basic. Manual everything, no AC, no cruise, steel wheels, and rubber floor. It did have variable intermittant wipers though. I remember because on the way back to the trailer we drove through a rainstorm, and the variable intermittent wipers impressed the hell out of him.
A few years later he upgraded to a '97 Ram 4x4 in Emerald Green, still with the 318, but this time with an automatic, and the 'king cab'. This was the year before the rear suicide doors came out, so you still needed to slide the front seats forward to get in the back. It was also a pretty basic truck, in that it still had no AC, no cruise (he had cruise added by the dealership a year later), manual everything. BUT it had carpet and floor mats vs the red trucks' rubber floor. Luxury!
These memories are probably why I have an affinity for trucks. I still clearly remember the day we drove off the lot in that red Ram. The smell of the interior. The roar of the V8. It has imprinted itself on me.
