A year ago, the idea that Ram would be interested in a new version of the remarkable TRX monster pickup truck would have been pretty far-fetched, unless the company planned to replace the supercharged 6.2-liter, 702-horsepower Hellcat V-8 with an electric motor or two. Or four.
But now comes word, via MoparInsiders.com, that the TRX will return, and quickly. The website’s “well-placed sources within the company have confirmed that the high-performance off-roader is indeed set to return, with production (Job #1) expected to begin in late January 2026.”
The Ram TRX arrived as a 2021 model, and made it to midway through the 2024 model year. Its mission was to confront its competition, which consisted of one model: Ford’s F-150 Raptor, which was refreshed for 2021. The base Ford, however, used the carryover 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, which was rated at 450 horsepower, not really a fair fight.
Then Ford announced that it was bringing back a Raptor V-8 model, which arrived for the 2023 model year as the Raptor R, with a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 with 700 horsepower, just two short of the Ram TRX. But for 2024, the Raptor R’s engine gained 20 horsepower, for a TRX-beating 720 horses. So if Ram wants the horsepower title back, and we suspect it does, a new 2026 TRX would have to top 720. And we suspect it will. Possibly by a lot.
What changed? Part of it is the return of Tim Kuniskis, a Chrysler employee since 1992, until he retired on June 1, 2024, as the CEO for Dodge and Ram. Everyone said the Right Thing then: “I want to take the opportunity to warmly thank Tim for his passion, commitment, and contributions to Stellantis and in defining the vision of the future electrified Ram and Dodge brands. I wish him well in his retirement,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. But no one thought we’d heard the last of the then-57-year-old Kuniskis, reasoning that he’d turn up at another manufacturer.
He sort of did: Kuniskis signed on again with Stellantis in December of 2024, a week after Tavares resigned. Which means Stellantis is essentially a different manufacturer, one that once again embraces V-8s in general, Hemis in particular.
Not long ago, Kuniskis, who now leads all American Stellantis brands, including the revived Street and Racing Technology (SRT) performance team, appeared as the driver in a very aggressive TV commercial in which he announces that the Hemi V-8 will return to the Ram pickup. (Though for years, Stellantis balked at admitting that any non-Dodge brand’s V-8 was a Hemi, awkwardly contending that Hemis could only power a Dodge. Also awkward: That commercial heralded the company’s return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series next year, which is great news, except that now the Truck series, as well as NASCAR-owned ARCA, use an Ilmor-built spec V-8, which is based on the Chevrolet LS.)
So under Kuniskis, we can easily believe that the rumor of a TRX in 2026 is true. Is it? We asked Ram. “There’s a lot of speculation on TRX but I got nothin’ for you,” a company spokesperson told us. Kuniskis has said that there will be multiple announcements between now and February’s NASCAR Daytona weekend, and details on a new TRX could well be one of them.
The original TRX was a stellar vehicle: I attended its media debut, and afterwards, told a Ram executive that I’d never been asked to push a vehicle that hard, that successfully, at a press introduction.
That executive just smiled. And yeah, you know who it was.
