The Influence of Military Vehicles on Pickup Truck Design

Military vehicles have long influenced pickup truck design, inspiring features that prioritize ruggedness and functionality. This trend has accelerated in recent decades, with military-themed design cues becoming increasingly common across the automotive industry.

From raised beltlines, squashing windows, to the vast surge in SUV sales, people are more interested in security today than they were in the more innocent 1990s.

It’s particularly noticeable in pickup design, where the symbiotic relationship between military engineering and civilian design has helped to sculpt modern pickups into something that looks like a hardcore vehicle, ready for any challenge.

Military vehicles, as you might expect, are built to endure the harshest environments. The working criteria are very different – think swift, manpower-intensive servicing – but the design aesthetic endures. 

For example, the Jeep Gladiator draws heavily from its military predecessor – the Willys Jeep – which was celebrated for its durability and off-road capability in the 1940s. 

The Gladiator’s boxy shape, high ground clearance and robust suspension systems echo the military’s need for vehicles that can go where roads – even dirt tracks – do not.

Design elements like flat, wide fenders and protruding wheel arches are directly inspired by military trucks, which is probably why the Ford F-150 Raptor engenders so much love. 

These features not only give the vehicle an aggressive, muscular look but also serve practical purposes.

They allow for chunky, all-terrain tires, enhancing stability and better off-road performance. Your off-roading Mojave trip isn’t quite the same as being on maneuvers, but you might enjoy thinking it is. 

In all honesty, there isn’t much that really links civilian and military vehicles: the $65,000 pickup and the $300,000 light utility vehicle in military guise are different animals.

One features an anti-puncture Kevlar fuel-sack, anti-IAD underfloor armor and a machine gun turret.

It’s designed to be stored underwater for a month and then start-up first time, or be stripped down to parts in 15 minutes by a team of 20 technicians. The other, isn’t. 

But that doesn’t mean some of the ease-of-use doesn’t transfer.  While we expect to see the angular lines, matte finishes and – occasional – camo livery, it’s items like the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2’s bed systems, incorporating multiple tie-downs and versatile storage, where you really see evidence of a design ethos that’s looked at a military truck and thought… ‘that’s useful’.