Whether you use them for passenger transport or hauling and towing, you can hardly go wrong with a pickup truck. Small to large, classic or modern, there's a pickup truck that can effortlessly cater to your daily driving needs or workload. The most popular and powerful pickups have sold close to a million units year in, year out, while some equally great trucks have only managed to sell tens or hundreds.
Some trucks have done poorly in the market, but that doesn't mean that they are terrible at their job. Many of them were not marketed properly given the competitive segment they found themselves in, while others were simply introduced at the wrong time.
Regardless of what was responsible for the low sales of these trucks, they were great in their own right. Let's take a look at the 10 greatest pickup trucks that no one wanted.
10 GMC Caballero
Many people may still remember the Chevy El Camino, but not that many remember its mechanical twin called the GMC Caballero. It was a series of coupe utility vehicles that replaced the GMC Sprint in 1971 and was fully redesigned for the 1978 model year.
Built on GM A-Body and G-Body, the GMC Caballero offered two engines options: V6 and V8. But sadly, just about 37,719 units were sold for over a decade it was around. You might think that the sales figures aren't all that bad, but when you compare it to the Chevrolet El Camino that sold over 317,163 units, you get a clearer picture.
9 Chevrolet SSR
With decades of experience in building pickups, Chevrolet poured its expertise into the Super Sport Roadster which was an unusual roadster/utility mashup. Chevrolet offered a 5.3-liter V8 engine in the initial base models of the SSR and by 2005, a 6.0-liter V8 was introduced taking the power from 300 hp to 390 hp.
However, due to the limited hauling capability and the $42,000 price tag, the Chevrolet SSR managed to sell only 12,156 units from 2005 to 2008. In fact, in 2008, only two units were sold before Chevrolet pulled the plug on the SSR.
8 Lincoln Blackwood
The Lincoln Blackwood is perhaps the shortest-lived and rarest Lincoln model line, with only 3,356 units made available in the United States and Mexico. In terms of power generation, the Lincoln Blackwood was pretty good, offering a 5.4-liter Triton V8 engine that pumps out 300 horses.
However, the sales flop of the Blackwood was due to the $54,495 price tag, which was crazy at the time because luxury pickups were not used as daily commuters. The Blackwood pickup would fare better today if Lincoln could work on a couple of features.
7 Dodge C-Series Sweptside
The C-Series Sweptside was marketed by Chrysler Dodge division from 1957-1969 as a replacement for the Dodge B-Series pickups. The Sweptside was the first all-new post-war pickup designed by Dodge, featuring a wraparound windshield, a 3-speed automatic transmission, as well as power steering and brakes.
The base engine of the Sweptside was a Flathead I6 offering 120 hp, while the most powerful engine option was the 315 cu.in Red Ram V8 that delivered 204 hp. Sadly, only about 1200 people were willing to jump in on the Dodge C-Series, forcing it to go into early retirement.
6 Jeep Comanche
Jeep Comanche was offered from 1985 to 1992 and was loved for its bulletproof reliability and off-road capabilities. AMC offered three engine versions for the Comanche: AMC 150 2.5-liter 150 CID I4, Renault 2.1 L I4 turbo diesel, and of course, the GM LR2 2.8-liter V6 that delivered 110 hp and was boosted to 173 hp with a 4.0-liter inline 6.
There weren't really any major red flags for the Jeep Comanche. AMC simply did not have enough resources to properly market it, so the Comanche sold only 190,446 throughout its 7-year run, which is quite dismal compared to rivals like the Ford Ranger that sold over 1.5 million units under the same period.
5 Chevrolet Avalanche
GM’s Chevrolet Avalanche was widely loved for its flexibility, thanks to the integrated bed it came with. It also fared pretty decently in terms of reliability and performance. At some point in the early 2000s, the Avalanche was selling close to 100,000 units, and no one would have expected it to hit rock bottom so quickly, selling just 92 units in 2014.
One of the reasons why Avalanche failed was because of GM’s faulty business strategy that involved supplying more vehicles than what was actually demanded by the market. To keep the Avalanche ship afloat, GM had to introduce steep discounts, promotions, and a refund policy. Sadly, that master plan could only work for so long before GM announced that the Chevrolet Avalanche line would be discontinued.
4 Subaru Baja
The rather obscure Baja compact pickup was marketed by Subaru from 2002 to 2008. The unibody design Baja shared many similarities with the Outback and Legacy Subaru model lines. The power rating of the Baja was decent in its own right, with a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder Boxer engine that cranks out 170 hp and 176 lb-ft.
The 2005 model year produced up to 210 hp with a turbocharged engine. However, sales dwindled until Subaru killed the Baja model line in 2008 after selling only 1,127 units the previous year.
3 Studebaker Coupe Express J5
Many still consider the Studebaker Coupe Express J5 as one of the most beautiful vintage pickups that was available from 1937 to 1939. It was more beautiful than even its more expensive Ford or Chevy coevals, featuring wing windows, 3-speed transmission, and a double-walled bed.
However, throughout its run, less than 5,000 people jumped in on the Express J5 and it died a natural death just before the start of World War II.
2 Dodge Dakota
The Dodge Dakota midsize pickup truck was introduced in 1986 and had an impressive run until 2012. What's even more interesting is that Dodge Dakota is one of the first midsize pickups to feature an optional V8 engine, and it received an award nomination for the North American Truck of the Year in 2000.
In 2005, the Dakota sold over 104,051 units in the United States. However, 7 years later, it struggled to sell only 629 units before it was discontinued.
1 Chevrolet C1500 454SS
Before the supercharged Ford F-150 Lightning and the turbocharged GMC Syclone dominated the muscle truck mark, there was the Chevrolet C1500 454SS that had a good run from 1990 to 1993. Under the hood of the C1500 454SS, you will find a 454 cubic inch V8 engine with a power rating of 230 hp and 385 lb-ft torque.
Of the total 17,000 units produced, 75% of that figure was for the 1990 model year, so it's safe to say the C1500 454SS started off great, but no one really wanted it after the first production year largely due to its $30,000 retail price.