The Dacia Duster Pickup Has The Tiniest Bed I’ve Ever Seen

How small can a pickup truck bed be while still maintaining some usability? Some settle for nothing less than an eight-foot bed, some find that the 4.5-foot bed of a Ford Maverick is exactly what they need, but one thing’s pretty much certain: Nothing is pushing the edge of that envelope quite like the new Dacia Duster Pickup.

If you aren’t familiar with the Dacia Duster, don’t feel bad. This Romanian crossover is built on a low-cost variant of the Renault CMF-B platform you’d find under the new Nissan Kicks. It’s one of Europe’s most affordable crossovers, features a variety of sub-two-liter engines, and is even still available in certain markets with a four-speed automatic on the 1.6-liter hybrid model. However, before you go thinking that this is some penalty box, just know that Dacia’s spent its money where it counts on making it feel like great value. The Duster gets air conditioning, a built-in smartphone dock with audio controls instead of an infotainment screen, heated door mirrors, a pleather-wrapped steering wheel, and all the modern safety features you need. Not bad for €17,200, or about $20,383 at current conversion rates.

However, here’s where things get weird: For its home market of Romania, Dacia has partnered with coachbuilder Romturingia on a sort of crew cab pickup truck version of the little Duster crossover. Not only does it simply not look like any other pickup truck, its bed is small enough to have you questioning its usefulness.

The Ford Maverick has a 54.4-inch bed, and the Hyundai Santa Cruz has a 52.1-inch bed, but both look enormous compared to the new Dacia Duster Pickup’s bed. It’s 41.3 inches long, or three feet and 5.3 inches. What’s more, the bed on this strange Romanian creation is only 39.3 inches wide, so it’s not exactly ideal for lumber runs. I suppose some end tables will fit just fine with the tailgate up, but really, is it worth the tradeoff over a crossover to have a hose-out cargo area at the expense of folding rear seats?

At the same time, the Duster Pickup looks quite unique, with stubby roof rails and a strange C-pillar. The factory quarter windows are partially covered from behind by the bed walls to effectively form buttresses, and the plastic bed rail trim butts right up to the quarter windows. It genuinely looks like a crossover with a bit at the back cut off because that’s what it is. Ever seen a baby donkey? Similar sort of cute factor, one that used to be called adorkable. It’s a little gawky, but awww.

Anyway, assuming you’re something like an independent landscaper hauling bags of something dense like stone, the Dacia Duster Pickup does have a payload capacity of 948 pounds. Plus, lowering the tailgate ought to be good enough for what, an additional foot or so of bed length? Granted, the tailgate does look relatively narrow, but considering the bed’s only set up for small loads, maybe it will do. I guess the other big question here is whether pricing will prove a bit strong. A base Duster starts at €17,200, but the cheapest pickup variant starts at €26,000, or about $30,825 at current conversion rates. Still, I can’t help but admire the courage to launch this unapologetically weird variant of one of Europe’s best-selling cars. The new Dacia Duster Pickup is a gloriously strange thing, and really ought to be celebrated.

Top graphic image: Dacia

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