The Ramcharger Is Finally Coming Back As An SUV Like Nature Intended

We as a society place huge value on nostalgia. New TV shows set in decades past, the bizarre idolization of drinking from the hose, and a degree of reverence for car model names that you won’t see on a showroom floor anymore. We put on our rose-tinted spectacles when we hear these names because they remind us of a different time. Not always better, but certainly different. Perhaps this level of personal meaning is why the internet was up in arms over models like the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and the unibody Chevrolet Blazer crossover. This time though, enthusiasts ardent that a revived nameplate should follow the purpose of the original should be in for a treat. Not only is Ram getting its first SUV as its own brand, it’s going to wear the Ramcharger name.

The story of the Ramcharger starts in 1969, when Chevrolet fired a salvo that would shape the SUV market for decades to come. After seeing the Jeep CJ, Ford Bronco, and International Scout carve out a new niche, the General made a bet to go bigger. It chopped down a full-size pickup truck frame, crafted a two-door body with a removable roof, and the original K5 Blazer was born. It was a hit, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Chrysler—then not yet the owners of Jeep—noticed. By the early 1970s, Mopar started work on something internally called the Rhino. It followed a similar blueprint to the K5 Blazer, chopping down a half-ton pickup truck into a short-wheelbase SUV. In 1974, the original Ramcharger was born, and it quickly became a cult classic.

Sadly, the two-door SUV craze didn’t last forever. By the late 1980s, buyers got a taste of four-door practicality and generally weren’t going back. The Ramcharger bowed out of the U.S. market after 1993, although it would soldier on for another eight years and one more generation in Mexico. That last generation was gloriously strange, by the way. Grand Caravan taillights, how about that?

Flash forward to early 2025, and the Ramcharger name was back. Not as an SUV, but as a range-extender hybrid version of the half-ton pickup truck. With a Pentastar V6 acting as a generator, it would be a long-distance towing-optimized counterpart to the planned Ram 1500 REV electric pickup. A few months late in October, Automotive News reported that a Ram SUV was coming in 2028, and that:

The SUV, to be assembled in Warren, Mich., will be offered with two powertrain options: gasoline-only and range-extended hybrid. The midsize pickup will be built in Toledo, Ohio.

Hmm. You know what else is built in Warren, Michigan, with a gasoline engine or an incoming range-extender hybrid powertrain? The Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It makes sense when you consider how the Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Wagoneer ride on the same body-on-frame platform and share powertrains. At the time, we mused over what Ram’s SUV would be called. After all, Ramcharger was taken by a hybrid pickup truck, right?

Ah. Remember Ram’s “Premature Electrification” Super Bowl ad? Turns out that was prescient for the entire segment. Sales of electric pickup trucks just never took off the way manufacturers expected, so Ram switched plans. No more EV, the range-extender hybrid became the REV, leaving the future of the Ramcharger name in question. It turns out, we didn’t have to wait that long to learn more. On Thursday’s investor call, the company officially announced plans for a new Ram SUV wearing a familiar name.

Yep, the Ramcharger has sort of come full circle. From SUV to defunct to hybrid truck back to SUV, it seems like nature is healing. Plus, there’s going to be a high-output SRT version for those who want some additional excitement. The only real question remaining is: If the Ramcharger ends up being twinned to the biggest Jeep on sale, what would this mean for the Grand Wagoneer? In theory, the Ramcharger could adopt off-roady trims we’ve already seen in the Ram lineup, like Rebel, leaving the Grand Wagoneer to pursue its custom-build house, Uber Black sorta-premium mission. At the same time, there could be some overlap between top-trim Ramchargers and the Grand Wagoneer. Could that result in cannibalization? Perhaps, but if the image is different enough, it might work.

Last year, our rogue designer, The Bishop, actually envisioned what a full-size Ram SUV would look like, and the overall look of his renderings just make sense. This feels like something that could already be on sale, an absolute no-brainer when it comes to filling out a product portfolio. While it’s unlikely a production model would adopt the flourish of quarter windows that wrap over the roof rails, one can dream, right?

Either way, the Ramcharger is going to be an SUV again, and while there’s no word yet on features of the original like a removable roof or a console ice chest returning, it should give Ram something for buyers who don’t want a bed. Assuming the project’s still on track for 2028, expect to hear a whole lot more about this thing in the next two years.

Top graphic images: Stellantis