I don’t care how much of a fan you are of GM or Ford or Toyota trucks…the truck of the 1990s was, without a doubt, the 1994-2002 Dodge Ram. When it debuted, it dropped like a bomb. After 22 years of the D/W series trucks with minimal changes, no real updates except for the addition of the Cummins diesel, and all the gracefulness of an anvil sitting on the barn floor, nobody expected Dodge to actually follow through with the radical concept drawings that were popping up in magazines. It looked swoopy. It looked like someone shrunk a Kenworth T600 down to pickup truck scale. Prior to 1994, Dodge had 7% of the market and about half of that share were just buying the wrapper that the Cummins diesel came in. Afterwards? Oh, mother…between the styling, the interior comforts, the interior room, and not one but two big-power engines (the 8.0L V-10 being the other unit), Dodge had the truck market by the ear and everyone was listening.

Except for one thing: SUVs did not follow along. In the U.S. market, the Ramcharger was dead by 1994. Unless you lived in Mexico and wanted something that looked like a Ram that had been rear-ended at high speed by a Dodge Caravan, you were out of luck, and there was no answer in the pipeline for the Chevrolet Suburban whatsoever. Enter Bayer Auto out of Elrosa, Minnesota. For money we wouldn’t want to think of right now, you could have your Ram stretched out to accommodate custom-fabricated rear doors and a closed-off rear, complete with barn doors. While keen eyes will easily spot some GM-sourced parts (those rear doors sure look like the barn doors on a similar-vintage Tahoe with Ram-style skins on them), overall it doesn’t look piecemealed together, like some Ram stepside conversions that obviously use OBS Chevy beds do. This looks cohesive. This looks right.

Call it the “Ramburban” if you want to be correct. Call it “Ramcharger XL” like the owner does if you want to be accurate. Or call your bank, get the money together, and do us a favor: take it to every upper-end Chrysler show with a sign: “WHY DIDN’T YOU MAKE THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE?!”

Facebook Marketplace Link: 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 “Ramburban” by Bayer