Autoblog

click image for a gallery of the Rampede staging area

Before this Sunday's "Rampede" at the Detroit Auto Show kicked off, we moseyed over to the staging area and hung out with our friends from the animal kingdom. You've got to love the sight of a longhorn steer... with a monorail in the background. A large crowd lined the fences as the big critters milled around and drew smiles. Of course, an accidental poke from one of those horns would wipe away that smile pretty quickly, so alertness was still called for. It's not that the cattle were aggressive. They were calmer than some domesticated dogs we know. It's just that their heads were well clear of the fencing that lined their route, and as you can see, they're called longhorns for a reason. Fortunately, as you all know by know the show went off without a hitch, and neither Rams nor cattle were harmed in the making of the video we've pasted after the jump.

Click image for high-res gallery of the 2009 Dodge Ram unveiling

Poor Chrysler can't buy a break. On the day of the official unveiling of the 2009 Dodge Ram, the Sunday Freep's front page is dominated by Ford's new F-150, while the Ram is relegated to a small, cropped grille shot in the upper right corner of the front page. Newspaper readers who want to have a gander at Dodge's new pickup need to make tracks to the business section. It's okay, though, because Chrysler's official Ram reveal is pretty much a lock to take page one in tomorrow's paper.

After the assembled media was herded onto temporary bleachers set up outside the COBO Center, Chrysler let loose a herd of its own, and a more traditional one at that. 115 head of cattle and several cowboys accompanied the Ram to its formal unveiling. Presiding over the event were honorary urban cowpokes Jim Press, Bob Nardelli, and Tom LaSorda. All on hand were given the usual enthusiastic rundown of the '09 Ram and its features, during which it was also announced that a hybrid version would be "coming soon." A few laughs were had as a few of the assembled steer got a little too friendly with each other when they arrived at Chrysler's presentation area. Journalists in attendance walked away with some free beef jerky, but we don't think anyone told the cattle about that. Video of the introduction's coming up in a bit. Until then, we've got high-res shots of the '09 Ram's debut in the attached gallery.

All Photos ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.