Except "pick-up" is not the right word. There is no right word, because Honda has redefined "pick-up" with this square-ish off-beat creation. The Ridgeline is not apt to entice many big-buckled, big-hatted, sharp-toed owners away from their looming V8s, but it is more than certain to win a number of non-pick-up people who appreciate the flexible usefulness of a thoughtfully conceived, pleasant-riding, sporty-handling vehicle with so many appealing features…and so many tricks in its kit.

Trucks are the best-selling vehicles in the U.S. and Honda had none to offer. It didn't even have a traditional ladder frame on which to build one. So they combined a ladder frame with a unibody sedan construction and somehow came up with the off-roading robustness of one and the highway calm and rigidity of the other.

Anyone limited by preconceptions will see in the Ridgeline a slightly weird medium-sized truck with a crew-cab and a dinky (5-foot) bed. Those free of expectations see a roomy five-place SUV with a convenient open bed in back. Wow, five-feet. Hey, a 4x8 piece of plywood overhangs an open tailgate by only 18". (And they give you free red flags at Home Depot.)

The Ridgeline gives a week-end projecteer lugging space for fire wood, potted plants, sand pile sand - even barnyard detritus - without worrying about sharing space like you do in an SUV with the mess or the odor. That's the beauty of an exterior bed. It also carries trees home from the nursery or grandfather clocks home from the auction in the upright position they were designed for.

Before I get to the really clever stuff let me point out some mildly clever stuff. Like the back seat that folds (look, Ma, one-handed) leaving gobs of unstructured space for what-have-you (a mountain bike for instance.) In seating mode the back seats (comfortably car-like unlike the right-angled excuses in some pick-ups) sport anchors for three child seats, not the usual two. (So go ahead, have the third.)

That five-foot bed is made of an undentable steel-reinforced plastic with a textured surface that keeps stuff from sliding around. It also has indentations where the wheels of all-terrain vehicles or motorcycles (all Hondas if you like) will rest for easy hauling. Tie-down cleats, even lights, make this bed one of multiuse with convenience for all.

OK, Really clever alert: the tailgate not only folds down in the conventional manner, but since it is hinged on one side it can also be opened like a refrigerator door. This makes it possible to belly right up to the bed to aid loading and unloading. AND it makes access to the really, really clever deal: the in-bed trunk!

Imbedded in the bed beneath the floor - hidden, lockable and weather-tight - is a space the size of a huge ice chest (8.5 cubic feet). A trunk in a truck. Who'd a thunk? Obviously it's great for toting stuff out of sight and out of the weather: luggage, camping or work gear, tools or trappings. (CONTINUE...)