Ram is no stranger to creating special editions for its line of burly pickup trucks, and it’s continued this tradition with the ‘Built to Serve’ program. This time around, the package includes several callouts to first responders who choose to bravely run into burning buildings while the rest of us flee in the opposite direction.
This is the first of three installments meant to pay tribute to the emergency services, with trims honouring police and health-care workers surely showing up in due course.
Used as a nod to the firefighting community, this Ram 1500 is offered in Redline and Diamond Black exterior colours, with an all-black grille and black bumpers playing a supporting role. Other exterior trim has been dipped in a pot of black paint, including the badges and running boards. Its 20-inch aluminum wheels are unique to the trim, finished in what Ram calls Technical Grey finish.
All this is accompanied by a black interior with orange accent stitching. Seats are upholstered in cloth and vinyl, while a smattering of so-called Black Onyx trim is applied around the cabin. Ram says the interiors of the next two variants of this ‘Built to Serve’ theme will have similar design cues but different coloured stitching — we’ll place bets on blue for police and white for health care.
Under the hood is a familiar 5.7L HEMI V8 making 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque. It’s shod with all-terrain tires from the factory, including a locking rear diff and skid plates protecting expensive bits under the truck. The firefighter trim is technically a package layered on top of a Big Horn 4×4 with a Crew Cab and short box.
Unlike some other packages of this type, the firefighter tribute will indeed be offered in Canada. Ram even went so far as to digitally swap the name above the fire station doors in these photos from an American-themed title to something a touch more universal.
In Canada, this truck will have a sticker price of $67,870 and start showing up in dealers this spring.
Keyword: Straight Fire: Ram to offer new ‘Built to Serve’ trim in Canada