Is the International CXT an alternative to Unimog? Or is it too ridiculous?
Super size me By Jay Leno International CXT
Daniel Byrne
I'm not really a pick-up truck kind of guy. But I guess however many million owners in the States can't all be wrong. So I thought I would give them a go. There's nothing particularly sophisticated about these vehicles. They are meant to go 300,000 miles with no more than rudimentary maintenance. In the Midwest, where you find most of them, there are no corners to go around so you don't need independent suspension to aid handling and you're not really planning on stopping, so the brakes you've got are probably okay.
In short they're big, dependable, unbreakable Tonka toys. You could hit these things all day with a hammer and I don't think you could screw them up.
In the US the pick-up has come to symbolise the American spirit of adventure. I remember the early adverts used to show six horses, a guy and his truck; then about 10 years ago it was two horses, a guy and his truck. Now it's just one horse in the background, a guy and his truck. The trucks have taken over from the cowboy and his horse in personifying the old values of rugged reliability and frontier adventure.
Of course today big trucks are everywhere in America. The whole SUV thing started because the US government, about 15 years ago, put a tax on luxury automobiles. Anything above $30,000 paid a luxury tax, but trucks were exempt. So America, being an enterprising country, said: "Why don't we just make a luxury truck?" They started making trucks with heated seats, surround sound and fancy wood finishes. You could get the luxury car for $40,000 or you could get the truck with the same amenities for about $34,000. It was simple: get the truck.
The International CXT is the ultimate evolution of this. There is no bigger pick-up truck in the world. It's huge. It weighs 14,500lb empty. It's so big it doesn't fit in any known garage. In fact, when I drove it home it didn't even fit in my driveway. So I decided to park it at my mother-in-law's house down the street.
As I pulled into her driveway I said to myself: "Oh look, there's a ball on the roof of her house." Then I thought: "I've never seen that ball up there." In fact I've never seen her roof before. The CXT's cab height is
9ft. The bed height - the flat rear section - is nearly 5ft, making it virtually impossible to load anything heavy on your own, and the whole truck is over 21ft long.When you are sitting 9ft off the ground, with a huge steering wheel in front of you, no matter how ridiculous you may think it is you just can't help but have a huge smile on your face
Jay Leno
It's just ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense at all. In fact it reaches new levels of impracticality, which of course is what makes it so much fun. I don't know where you would go in it. I don't know what you would haul in it. I don't even know what sort of people you could drive in it while keeping a straight face. But that's the beauty of it: when you are sitting 9ft off the ground, with a huge steering wheel in front of you, no matter how ridiculous you may think it is you just can't help but have a huge smile on your face.
And it has all the proper truck extras, too. It has that metal thing you have to have on the top of the vertical exhaust pipe that opens and closes as the exhaust smoke pumps out, and goes clang, clang, clang, clang. You gotta have that. It has that big pshshshshshsh sound with the brakes, too.
It actually handles pretty good. There's a lot of play and there's a lot of movement in everything. It's very honest and it's somewhat reassuring. It's also pretty manoeuvrable. I even managed to spin it. I was going down the road in the pouring rain, there was nobody around, so I hit the brakes, turned the wheel and pulled off a perfect 180-degree spin; turned it right around and went back the other way. So in my book that makes it really controllable, even in bad weather.
At the time I was driving it we had just had some pretty bad flooding in LA. Nothing like the New Orleans nightmare but cars were literally submerged. One time I went through a particularly bad patch where I could see just the roof of a Honda Accord from my cab - or maybe it was an Acura - and the water wasn't even up to the tops of my tyres.
The International people told me the CXT is based on a 20-ton hauler platform they use for "severe service" trucks, like snowploughs. It's got four-wheel drive and an Allison 2500 HS five-speed automatic. Put that all together and it means this thing'll go just about anywhere.
But at a cost. The base price is $90,000, and you can option it up to $115,000 with individual leather multiposition front seats, a rear-view camera and a 10Åin drop-down rear DVD screen. Then there's the fancy stuff like walnut wood trim and a custom Alpine XM satellite radio. I think it will pick up stuff other than country and western, but I wouldn't advise it! I think it comes from the manufacturer tuned that way. Most vehicles have cupholders that carry 8-12oz cups. The CXT has a cupholder that will take a 44oz Super Big Gulp bucket of drink you can get from convenience stores. That's bigger than your bladder.
There are advantages to having a truck like this. Like pulling up alongside beautiful women in convertibles. You get that cleavage shot that you can't get in a normal pick-up. But the CXT is not just a ticket to play at being trucker. Driving it you really are a trucker. I filled it up at a station that has two separate pumping areas. The regular diesel pump is next to the petrol pump for cars. Then off to the side is another pump marked "Truckers Only". When I pulled up to that one the guys in the 18-wheelers came over and gave me the thumbs up and the old nod, like, "Bear in the air, breaker-breaker, 10-4, good buddy." You also get to eat in the truck-stop restaurant. You pull in with this rig and you just know the waitress is gonna slip you some extra hash browns.
Mind you, that's all we need. Americans are getting more and more fat-assed. I mentioned on my show recently that the big thing when they remodel American homes these days is to put a small kitchen in the master bedroom. What is the reason behind that? Walking, at least from the bedroom to the kitchen, was the most exercise most Americans ever got. Now you just sit in bed and reach over and eat.
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You could put a small kitchen in the back of the CXT. Heck, you could put a large kitchen in the back. That compartment is really as big as some one-bedroom apartments. It's one of the few vehicles I've had which, when I take people out in it, I have to look around the entire truck to see if there are people in seats I've missed. I took some friends to lunch and I'm going, "Where's John?" "Over here!" "Oh jeez, in that little corner down there." It's that big inside.
It's a car that really doesn't fit anywhere other than Texas. It pulls into town and makes all the right noises and people kind of gravitate over to it. "Wutcha cawl that thing?" When I think of Britain I think of Minis and this is what you think of when you think of Texas. Everything's bigger in Texas. My dream would be to take this truck to England and drive around the Cotswolds and stop the most English-looking person and say: "Excuse me, we're Americans. Is there a McDonald's near here?" If you parked this on the street and asked someone who knew nothing about it where it was from they would say America. I mean, you know it's American.
But I think the CXT is the end of the road as far as pick-ups go. Other than something with 18 wheels, I don't know how you get any bigger. I haven't met an owner yet, but knowing Texans that's only a matter of time.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model International CXT Engine 7600cc, six cylinders Power 220bhp @ 2200rpm Torque 540 lb ft @ 1400rpm Transmission Five-speed automatic Fuel 8-10mpg (combined cycle) CO2 N/A Acceleration 0-60mph: N/A Top speed 70mph Price $90,000 Verdict One big truck Rating 5/5