Ram adds Redback bite

AMERICAN Special Vehicles (ASV) has priced its special-edition Ram 2500 Redback dual-cab pick-up at $149,500 – the same price as its previous limited-edition 2500, the Code Black, in July.

However, Australian customers will be able to get free on-roads on all Redbacks until the end of this year under ASV’s Ramfest sales campaign.

No specific sales limits have been divulged for the Redback which, like all ASV Ram products in Australia, is converted to right-hand drive at ASV’s Clayton factory in Melbourne.

Like the Code Black, the price is $10,000 more than the $139,500 ask for the standard Ram 2500 Laramie, but the Redback takes the styling into another league, with menacing black trim, chunky black 20-inch off-road alloy wheels and bold Ram badging front and back.

The Redback dispenses with the traditional “cross-hair” grille, replacing it with what Ram describes as its PowerWagon grille, complete with the word Ram front and centre in place of the ram’s head logo. For the first time in Australia, that word Ram is also emblazoned across the tailgate.

Twin tow hooks protrude from the black-painted bumper, while side steps – painted black, of course – line the sides of the dual cabin.

Black plastic wheelarch extensions and large Ram badge decals complete the package.

The treatment is in vogue among pick-up manufacturers, with manufacturers such as Ford also pursuing the mean, black sporty look in vehicles such as the Ranger Raptor.

The Redback – which is available in an all-black livery if the scarlet look, called Flame Red, does not tickle your fancy – will be powered by the same 6.7-litre Cummins turbo-diesel engine as all Ram 2500s sold in Australia by ASV.

The six-cylinder engine produces 276kW of power and 1084Nm of torque, sent to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive system.

Towing capacity tops out at a whopping 6942kg with the correct towing gear.

Cargo payload is 913kg.

So far this year, Ram sales in Australia are up almost 30 per cent, from 206 units to the end of September last year to 266 this year.