The Ram Rebel TRX was probably the most important – or at the very least most memorable – concept of the last decade. A Ram 1500 with a 500-horsepower Hellcat engine and all the off-road goods to put Jeep to shame – it was a recipe that blended desire with hope. That hope, by the way, was reinforced by the fact that the Rebel TRX Concept looked like it was ready to hit the production line. And, it really was ready, but Ram decided to hold back, and we didn’t get the production model – which we now know as the Ram 1500 TRX – for five years. Now we know why Ram waited to introduce the production model, and we’re damn glad it did.

The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX Had to Be the Best Ram Pickup Possible

I suppose that you could argue that waiting for the Ram 1500 TRX meant getting proper Hellcat power – 702 horses and 650 pound-feet of torque. Those figures also mean the Ram TRX can jolt to 60 mph in as little as 4.5 seconds and 118 mph – the former figure makes it faster than any other truck on the market today. I’m here to tell you, however, that the 702-horsepower 6.2-liter V-8 is only a small part of the equation that figured a 2021 launch for the 2016 Rebel TRX Concept.

As I said before, the Rebel TRX Concept was pretty much ready for production; only it really wasn’t because it was based on the Ram 1500 that was on sale at the time. As you know now, Ram was in the process of designing the next-gen 1500, which is now sold alongside the last-gen version, which goes by the Ram Classic nomenclature. In an interview from Muscle Cars & Trucks, Ram Senior Brand Manage, Carl Lally, explained that the company simply wanted to get it right.

And, that’s why we had to wait. Ram didn’t want to apply a game-changing formula to a truck that was, well, old. And, as a result, the truck doesn’t only have more power, but it also has a level of luxury comparable to that of the range-topping Limited trim in the lineup. It’s such a game-changer, in fact, that Ford has quickly responded by starting to test the Shelby GT500’s V-8 in the next-gen F-150 Raptor. If nothing else sets it in your mind that Ram made the right move, just take that into consideration: Ford had to rethink the next-gen Raptor, just so it could compete.