2017 Ram Night: custom look straight from the factory

Summer is the time when truck manufacturers woo writers and photographers with sneak peeks — or actual drives — in the latest trucks that will be in dealerships for the new model year.  Then they put a lid on it and embargoed the information for weeks or months.  The lid is now off the 2017 Ram Night Edition, and I can share with you what makes this pickup unique.

The new offering looks custom — and is — although this is how it leaves the factory.  Based on the Sport model, the blacked-out look features a vibe first introduced on the 2013 Ram 1500 Black Express.  Appearance cues from the Ram Sport include body-colored fascia and rear bumper with dual chrome exhaust tips, body-color power folding mirrors and door handles.  Lighting accents include black-bezel bi-functional projector headlamps with LED marker lights and black-bezel tail lamps for visual synchronicity.

Also echoed are the Sport high-back heated cloth bucket seats with 10-way power adjustment, power adjustable pedals and dual zone automatic temperature control.

Distinctive details on the Night Edition 

Added are a black grille surround with a hexagonal pattern insert, the same blacked-out stamped RAM lettering on the tailgate as the Ram 1500 Rebel, additional black badging on the grille, door 4×4 tailgate, 5.7 HEMI door badges .  Wheels and tires are 20×9-inch gloss black aluminum with P275/60R20 black sidewall all-season tires.  If you were really savvy, you might be able to order all of these from Ram’s accessory line, but why do it yourself when the designers have made it super easy and taken out the guesswork.

You still have the usual choices to make for your Ram 1500 Night.  The package is available on regular, quad-cab and crew-cab Sport models with either 2-or 4-wheel drive, in long or short bed lengths.  Engine choices are either the 3.6L Pentastar V-6 or the 5.7L HEMI V-8.

The choices don’t end there.  There is a long list of options and upgrades including the RamBox cargo management system, Sport performance hood and black running boards.  Mopar performance add-ons reach into exhaust, cold-air intake and an optional air suspension system with multiple ride heights and load leveling features.

While the Night Edition accents are black, you can still choose from five colors to further reflect your personalization.

You can place and order or wait to see it in dealer showrooms sometime in the fourth quarter when production begins.  The Night Edition is being built at the company’s Warren, MI Truck Assembly Plant.  Pricing will be announced closer to the on-sale date.

My conclusions

I drove the 2017 Ram Night Edition earlier this summer and can attest that — if you love the Ram Sport. I loved it in white.  If poring over options and accessories is not your cup of tea, this could be your dream pickup.