‘Truck guy’ David Reutimann offers lesson in pickups
I've never owned a pickup truck, so maybe I don’t get why people are so crazy about them. Hoping to increase my understanding, I asked self-professed “truck guy” David Reutimann what the big deal was during a visit to Toyota’s “Start Something” Drive Center in November.
At select locations around the country, Toyota sets up a makeshift off-road course to demonstrate its trucks and SUVs. Fans take a breathalyzer test, then can take a lap or two over the moguls, steer around the side of a small hill and drive up a steep minimountain.
But I didn’t want to drive myself; I asked Reutimann to do it.
So we slowly took a lap around the course, with Reutimann oohing and aahing over the handling of the truck.
“Freak, yeah!” Reutimann said as he manuvered over the bumps.
“Let’s hang it out up top a little,” he said as we approached the summit of the minimountain and then hit the brakes as the truck’s nose pointed down to the bottom. “That’s nice. I like that.”
Still, I didn’t quite get it. Reutimann said he drove the same model Tundra at home. Why not just own a fancy sports car?
“Depends on what kind of lifestyle you’ve got,” he said. “Anymore, they’re just like a car except you can haul stuff in it. Mine has a DVD player, leather seats, heated seats, the whole deal. They’ve got all the creature comforts.”
I guess I’m out of touch with the truck culture. But just from the lap we took, I can see how some people could be into it.
