2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn Luxe Truck Targets Rich Cowboys

Ram wowed us with the Tesla-style touchscreen in the 2019 Ram 1500 earlier this month, and now it's pushing the beefy truck's luxury credentials. The 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn Edition promises some southwestern themed glamor inside and out, with lashings of chrome along with cabin trim that should satisfy demanding cowboys (or wannabe cowboys).

It's based on the all-new 2019 Ram 1500 that made its debut at the Detroit auto show earlier in January. That shod weight on the scales – 225 pounds of it, in fact – to boost efficiency, while also nudging up towing capability to 12,750 pounds. It also added a new eTorque mild hybrid system, promising to make the V6 and V8 engines more frugal.

Now, in Laramie Longhorn form, the new truck is showing off its luxe talents. On the outside, there's standard two-tone RV Match brown trim or monotone paint. The premium LED headlamps are fitted as standard, as are the tail lights, while the wheels and grilles are also unique to this version of the pickup.

The "RAM" grille get a chrome billet theme, matching the chrome header surround for the headlamps. There's more chrome on the bumpers, tow hooks, and side-steps – the latter fitted as standard, along with wheel flares – and RAM is offering new 20- and 22-inch wheels. Just bordering on twee, perhaps, the Laramie Longhorn Edition belt-buckle badge is added to both the front doors and the tailgate.

Inside, Ram's finish for the cabin is likely to divide opinion. The dashboard is fully wrapped in 100-percent full-grain leather, while the door panels and armrest covers are southwestern-design-inspired too. A new embossed alligator skin pattern leather is used across the center console, instrument panel, seats, and the inserts for the door panels.

Satin chrome accenting carries the theme over from the exterior, and there's a brushed-nickel metal badge for the console lid. Ram has even branded the truck – literally – with the "Longhorn" logo on the upper glove box's wood trim.

Just to give you that "I'm driving a very expensive barn" feel, there's real barn-wood accents throughout. That includes wood tandem doors on the center console. Ambient lighting is fitted as standard, as are Mountain Brown/Light Mountain Brown and Black/Cattle Tan full-leather seats, each with contrast piping. Heated full-leather rear seats with ventilation are optional.

It's another example of the pickup market making serious inroads into what might traditionally be seen as the luxury car space. While the cowboy trimmings of the Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn Edition might not be to everybody's tastes, they're undeniably offering a degree of premium finish that many wouldn't commonly associate with a work truck. RAM hasn't announced pricing for the 2019 Laramie Longhorn Edition at this stage, but it's unlikely to come cheap.