The world's fastest pick-up truck? Meet the 777bhp V8 Ram Rumble Bee SRT

Turns out the ‘Hellcat’ V8 is an engine that speaks through bigger bones than the ones in your ears, inventing new bass in your ribcage. Especially when you’ve decided to sit between the exhausts producing it, like an idiot. A modern legend, it’s a 6.2-litre bent-eight with a 2.4-litre supercharger bolted to the top, frothing up 13psi of boost. That’ll be 777bhp and 680lb ft of single-digit-mpg power, a crushing gurgle that sends out a bow wave of noise that reflects back in turned heads, craned necks and slightly worried faces.

In this case, it’s in a vehicle capable of 3.4 seconds to 60mph from rest, very decent lateral G and likely more-than-170mph top speed. It is also a pickup truck. This is the Ram 1500 Rumble Bee SRT. Cognitive dissonance with a quad-cab.

And it looks weirdly fantastic: that quad-cab on a chassis shortened by 13-inches, hefty, rounded wheelarches on a plan-view that feels beautifully stubby. A lunging forward rake, big splitter and load bed cover’n’spoiler out the back, sat above two exhausts that look like mortars. But these aren’t disco gym muscles - there’s a deep dose of powerlifter in the mix.

The Rumble Bee SRT isn’t an unsophisticated bit of kit, no matter the profile. Full-house all-wheel drive with selectable drive puts that power to the ground via an eight-speed TorqueFlite ‘box with paddleshifters. There’s Bilstein Damptronic dual-valve, semi-active dampers, a limited-slip diff, launch control and an ‘e-Spool’ full locker in the rear that allows for ‘playful oversteer and smoky burnouts’ - presumably for drag launches.

There are drive modes that you’d find in any modern sportscar, and front brakes that measure 410x42mm with six-piston callipers - Bentley-sized. So it should be able to stop. Wheels are 22in by 12, rocking 325mm rear tyres - the only wider rears from the archives sat on the legendary Viper, and the ‘Bee SRT has a strangely companionable kinship with the V10 Snake. They’re both big, brutal and unapologetic. And venomous.

The thing is, building a muscle truck capable of properly high speed isn’t quite as simple as bolting in as much horsepower as you can corral. One assumes the aerodynamicists merely looked at the front of the ‘Bee, sighed, and went for a calming walk. When they returned, the focus had to be on cooling performance and stability, pickup trucks famously not designed for 170mph capability what with them having the ambient aero of an barn. But this is a truck with downforce - albeit managed towards the aforementioned lack of dangerous excitement at speed.

Of course there’s plenty of gap in the front to cool the various elements like oil coolers, transmission, brakes and engine, but the 4.5in wide front splitter moves air in some serious ways, deflecting 10mm against the lower fascia to maintain front to rear load balance. Behind that is what looks like a skidplate, but runs dual function as what Ram refers to an ‘aero shield’ that deflects excess air back through the underbody, the raked, lowered stance that helps move air under the car, and that rear tailgate spoiler is designed to balance the front splitter. It’s 80mm of flap, bolted to the tailgate via eight different anchor points and made from thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), which should stay strong even if it gets bashed around in real life usage. There’s a lot of thought here.

It’s also not a stripped-out monomaniac, either. There’s a lovely leather-lined interior with carbon accents and power-everything, monster 12.3in touchscreen, supremely comfy seats and more cupholders than you can shake a Big Gulp at. CarPlay and Android Auto, a clear head-up display, multiple charging solutions and 19 speakers inveigled into the space - it’s a luxury truck aimed at fast living.

And if you want some of the vibes without the wallet-wilting supercharger, there are less violent Bees in the swarm: the basic 5.7-litre V8 (395hp, black and grey Bee badge), the 6.4-litre ‘392’ with 470hp and the Track Pack version of the same engine with the same horsepower but dynamic performance upgrades. Both of which have a black and yellow badge. The SRT has a black and orange badge, with more swept back wings and more … aggression. And no, it’s not actually a wasp.

Of course, the concept of a ‘muscle truck’ is not a new idea. Dodge invented the genre in 1978 with the D150  ‘Little Red Express’ V8 sport truck, all 225bhp and 350 cubic inches of it. Named after the distinctive ‘Canyon red’ colour, the engine was appropriated from a hopped-up police cruiser, and at the time it was billed as the ‘fastest American-made vehicle form 0-100mph’. It featured exhaust stacks, decorative wood on the bedsides and gold pinstriping. So the naughtiest car in ’78 was actually a pickup - and featured in an advertising campaign simply entitled ‘Adult Toys’. Which makes it sound extra naughty. For extra nerd points, there was a black version called ‘Warlock’ which was identical in everything but shade - although that’s much rarer.

And then there was the SRT-10 from 2006 - a Viper-engined Ram 1500 with 500bhp from the 8.3-litre, naturally-aspirated V10 shoved up its nose. To this day, the fastest production street truck with a verified top end of more than 154mph. Actually, it depends on which literal day you’re reading this, because the day after our visit, the Rumble Bee SRT was due to try and snatch the record, and two decades of aero competence and more than 50 per cent more power will probably do it.

And that’s the point - the Rumble Bee SRT is aiming squarely at being the fastest pickup truck in the world, which we have no doubts it will achieve. A niche record, sure, but one with a bit of gnarl to it. It is not a sensible vehicle - even if you can theoretically strap some lumber into the back for ridiculously rapid delivery - but it’s a car with excitement and ‘because we can’ tattooed behind it’s bottom lip.

It’s pointless, fantastic, and a very American take on what fast looks like. But one we’re very much here for.

Price: N/A - related TRX starts at $99,995
Engine: ‘HellCat’ 6.2-litre (392 cu-inch) supercharged V8
Power: 777bhp @ 6,500rpm, 680lb ft of torque @4,800rpm
Transmission: front-engined, All-wheel drive, 8-spd auto with paddles
Efficiency: 15-16mpg (combined), n/a g/km CO2
Performance: 3.4 secs to 60mph, 170+mph top speed
Weight: 2,950 - 3,080kg (est)