If any vehicle has an "in your face" attitude, it would have to be a truck from Dodge. Look in a rear view mirror and see that menacing, semi-truck look bearing down on you and the reaction has got to be "I'm getting out of the way—fast." Maybe the recoil is just for an instant. But the vehicle has achieved its purpose of just plain dominating the view ahead. That's the face on the Dodge Ram pickup for 2007.

Dodge pickups come in a half-dozen grades, from the basic, light duty Ram 1500 to supersized Mega Cab that's guaranteed to part traffic up in front—and part a section of fence or shrub if backing up isn't done with care. While we're sticking with some larger vehicles for the moment as full-size truck wars continue to escalate, we'll even extoll the virtues of the smaller, feisty Dodge Dakota despite its shameful lack of a vanity mirror on the driver's side. (Will they ever learn?)

Some amenities are new for the Ram 1500 for 2007, from powerplant and optional electronic stability to optional remote start, a power accessory delay, and odor resistant, anti-static fabric for those with cloth seats.

Dodge's thinly veiled power secret for the 1500 comes in a four-letter word spelled HEMI. That designates the 5.7-liter V8 engine with the ability to cruise on half its eight cylinders when it gets up to cruising speed, but retains the low end power to get out of the trenches with ease. A 4.7-liter, V8 powered 1500 version even comes with flex-fuel capability (new for 2007), that lets it slurp up E85 Ethanol should the opportunity arise.

The lightest duty Ram 1500 checks in at about $23,920. Going up to 2500 or 3500 heavy duties, or Mega Cab (with the "largest pickup cab on the planet") levels can ratchet that up to over $50,000. The 3.7-liter V6 Magnum gets best fuel economy of 14/21 (manual) and drops a couple of points each with the other powerplants.

If a Ram is just a little too much truck for the wish list, we'll suggest the smaller, V8 powered Magnum Dakota. Even the toughest guys in the crowd couldn't resist it as we drove on by.