07:52AM - 11.10.'14
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News Source: autoblog.com
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The Dacia brand from Romania is probably best known in the US as a curious obsession of James May from Top Gear, but the company is a growing force. Its inexpensive models just keeping selling better, and the business represents a healthy portion of parent Renault's sales in Western Europe. Dacia's latest model is a Holy Grail of sorts among many Autoblog enthusiasts – the small, inexpensive pickup. However, even Europeans can't just walk into a dealer and buy one – they are being specially built for Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom Group. Called the Duster Pick-Up, it's based on rugged, inexpensive Dacia Duster, as its name and appearance suggests. However, the Duster's usual enclosed, SUV-style body has been removed in place of a small, high-sided truck bed. Each one starts as a standard Duster 4x4 with a 1.5-liter diesel engine making 110 horsepower. There are two seats in the cabin and the bed in the back is about five-feet, seven-inches long (1.7 meters) with a claimed 992-pound (450-kilogram) payload. The other big change is an exterior roll cage that runs over the body and around the rear window for extra protection. It looks like a cute little mountain goat that's ready to go anywhere. Dacia has a deal to build over 500 Pick-Ups for OMV Petrom, and the company intends to use the trucks to monitor and maintain its 9,000 wells in Romania. Another business called Romturingia has been contracted to do the actual conversions on the Dusters. The first 10 of them are just being delivered now, with the rest on the way through 2015. |
