---
title: "Why the 702-HP Ram TRX Took So Long To Happen"
description: "Good things come to those who wait. About 702 good things."
date: "2020-08-23"
modified: "2020-08-23"
authors:
  - name: "Jesus Garcia"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jesus-garcia"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/35932/why-the-702-hp-ram-trx-took-so-long-to-happen"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "RAM News"
  - "Trucks"
tags:
  - "Off-Road"
  - "pickup"
  - "ram"
  - "trx"
---

# Why the 702-HP Ram TRX Took So Long To Happen

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2020/08/TRX-Chassis.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

There is a quote from a so-so movie I once saw that's stayed with me: "Life is nothing but timing." That line sums up why the [2021 Ram 1500 TRX](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/35759/2021-ram-trx-the-702-hp-hellcat-powered-truck-thats-been-years-in-the-making>) is here now, and not then. If you're going to slap the Ford Raptor with a dueling glove you better come locked and loaded for bear. Even if it means taking a few years to suit up.

In an interview with [*Muscle Car and Truck*](<https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/why-the-2021-ram-trx-took-so-long-to-go-from-concept-to-production/>), Ram's Senior Brand Manager Carl Lally dove into why it took [four years to develop the TRX](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/35759/2021-ram-trx-the-702-hp-hellcat-powered-truck-thats-been-years-in-the-making>). The first concept of the Ram Rebel TRX [debuted at the State Fair of Texas](<https://moparinsiders.com/inside-design-2016-ram-rebel-trx-concept/>) in the now-simpler time of 2016, with 575 horsepower. Lally told *Muscle Car and Truck* that the Ram team needed to get the new 1500 out first.

"We were in the midst of developing the all-new (DT) Ram 1500 for the 2019 model year already at that point in time. Rather than rush to market and drop an engine in a truck, we wanted to take our time to make sure we get it right, from top to bottom," Lally told *MC&T*.

The TRX had to wait for the next-generation Ram truck to be finished. This provided the opportunity to build the TRX on a brand new foundation.

This truck is not solely built to hunt Ford Raptors, Lally said—it's a representation of Ram's capability in an increasingly tough truck market. The Ram 1500 TRX is the fastest, most off-roadable truck Ram has produced, and one that features the same interior luxuries as the top-of-the-range models. It's a greatest hits album on wheels.

And Ram North America chief Mike Koval Jr. said as much in an interview quoted by [*Automotive News*](<https://www.autonews.com/cars-concepts/ram-unleashes-702-hp-1500-trx>):

> "We're taking everything our truck brand has learned about performance and off-road capability and married that to everything that our street and racing technology team has learned about going fast and breaking records," Koval said during a media preview last week.

[Ram wanted to build an icon](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/30309/truck-fanatic-builds-his-own-707-hp-ram-1500-rebel-trx-with-widebody-hellcat-v-8>), not a novelty. A truck to add to its history list: the [original Dodge Power Wagon](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/33363/cummins-swapped-1949-dodge-power-wagon-restomod-merges-old-glory-with-new-tech>), the Lil Red Express, and now the Ram 1500 TRX.

On paper, the TRX has everything to satisfy our four-year-aged anticipation. The timing probably gave Ford a chance to decide and give the Raptor its V8 rumble back. See what I mean about timing? Now we have a big fight to look forward to in 2021.

*Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com*

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jesus_behind_the_wheel>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JBehindtheWheel>)