It's fairly obvious that pickup trucks get bigger and bigger each year. If you park a 1985 Ford F-150 next to a new model, the difference in overall size is staggering. Data backs up the observation. According to this 2019 report, the weight of a new pickup has increased a whopping 32% from 1990 to 2018. Taller tires, massive grills, and extended cabs are now the norm.

Angela Weiss, Getty Images
Angela Weiss, Getty Images
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We love big trucks.

Most pickup owners seldom go off-road, rarely haul any type of significant payload, or regularly tow a trailer, as The Drive reported. Yet trucks are one of the hottest sellers in the country. The rest of the world probably thinks our obsession with large vehicles is a little weird, but who cares, right? We can drive the biggest damn truck we want. This is America, my friend. Our extra-wide interstate highway system is made for big things. Maybe that's why we'll never see the minuscule Chevrolet Montana in the USA.

Credit: OLX
Credit: OLX
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It's tiny, cute, and easy on fuel.

Released to South American and international markets in 2003, the Chevy Montana is just a little guy. According to this spec sheet for a 2019 model, the baby truck has a 1.7 liter 4 cylinder engine delivering a whopping 105 horsepower with 161 ft-lbs of torque. The truck is branded a little differently for each market. In Mexico, it's called the Chevy Tornado or Corsa. I wouldn't buy one if I needed a real truck for serious truck things, but I might consider a Chevy Montana as a run-around daily commuter vehicle.

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Photo Courtesy of Sean Gallup/ Getty Images
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Good luck finding a Chevy Montana in the Treasure State.

Automakers claim stricter emission and crash safety laws prevent them from selling small, affordable, fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Chevrolet Montana in the US. I think that's a bunch of baloney. My conspiracy theory is that automakers would much rather sell us $80,000 pickup trucks than $20,000 pickup trucks for one simple reason. I think you can guess the answer.

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