Rugby league great Andrew Ettinghausen is going to be spruiking the benefits of driving a Ram ute on a TV near you sometime soon.
ET, who hosts the fishing show “Escape Fishing with ET” will be seen driving a V8-powered Ram 1500 Laramie on a 3000km odyssey up the east coast of Australia.
Oh, and he’ll be towing a seven-metre Yellowfin boat and trailer.
The next series of the long-running show goes to air early in the new year.
“The 1500 really fits the bill for our Ram Road Trip,” a beaming Ettinghausen said.
“It’s big enough to swallow all our kit, supremely comfortable over long distances, and with its unrivalled towing capacity, there’s plenty of
power for safe and stress-free towing – given we’ll be towing a seven-metre Yellowfin, I can’t think of a better vehicle for the trip.”
Sounds like thirsty work and it probably will be with a big 5.7-litre Hemi V8 under the bonnet.
But we’re betting ET won’t be footing the bill for the car or the juice.
It’s no surprise that Ram has agreed to supply the transport as its customers are outdoor types, into fishing and boating — in fact, more than 50 per cent tow a boat.
Ateco Automotive is the official Australian importer of Ram which it sells under the banner of Ram Trucks Australia.
The company converts them to right hand drive in partnership with Walkinshaw Automotive in a purpose-built factory located in Melbourne that employs around 250 people.
Since its launch last year the Ram 1500 — the smallest of the range — has been a genuine sales success, due no doubt to the name, macho looks and prodigious towing ability of up to 4500kg.
The big ute is all about towing, with features such as Trailer Sway Control, Ready Alert Braking and Trailer Brake Control.
ET probably won’t give a hoot, but for the rest of us the Ram 1500 Laramie Crew Cab 4×4 is priced from $99,950 plus on road costs.
CHECKOUT: Big, bad Ram has a ‘tail’ to tell
CHECKOUT: You can’t have too much Ram