‘Loser’: Truck mounted with ‘fake guns’ spotted in Melbourne
Aussies have reacted with outrage after an enormous US-style truck was spotted in Melbourne with a concerning detail on the back.
Aussies have reacted with outrage after a large “Yank Tank” — which have been infuriating motorists in recent years — was spotted in Melbourne with “fake guns” mounted on its tray.
A Reddit user posted photos of the black Jeep 4WD on Warrigal Road on Sunday.
“Yank Tank with fake guns spotted on our drive today!” they wrote.
Close-up photos showed the truck’s rear tray fitted on either side with black attachments resembling high-powered machine guns, along with a sticker of The Hulk on the back.
The post quickly attracted hundreds of angry comments.
“So much cringe,” one person wrote.
“Dude’s got the taste of a child lol,” another said.
“Crikey, what a loser,” a third said.
Many suggested the attachments may be illegal.
“We have appearance laws for firearms which are what prohibits the import/usage of Airsoft guns,” one person wrote.
“These appear to look like firearms, and may therefore be restricted just like actual firearms are, and are illegal to show in public.”
Another agreed, “That’s pretty stupid. Firearm imitations get you in a lot of trouble.”
Meanwhile, another user argued that the truck did not fit into the category of oversized American trucks.
“Pretty irrelevant but I’m in the camp a Jeep Gladiator isn’t a Yank Tank,” they said. “Like yeah it’s a large ute — but does it fall into Yank Tank territory like an F-150 or Silverado? I’m not convinced.”
The new generation of US-style pick-up trucks, like the RAM 1500 and Chevrolet’s Silverado — far larger than the humble ute — has been taking over Aussie roads in recent years and sowing major division.
Despite the growing backlash to the obnoxiously large vehicles, the trend shows no sign of slowing, with big brands ramping up manufacturing to keep up with soaring sales.
In 2021, General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) reported 2118 Silverado sales, and late last year, the 5000th locally-remanufactured vehicle came off the assembly line in Victoria.
And RAM Trucks revealed in October 2022 that 604 units had been sold in September — up 45 per cent on 2021 year to date, with a total of 17,115 RAMs sold to Australian customers since production began.
This surge in demand has seen other car giants sit up and take notice, with one of America’s best-selling vehicles — the Ford F-150 pick-up — on its way to Australian shores this year, followed by the expected arrival of the Toyota Tundra in late 2023 or early 2024.
Like the popular RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado, the F-150 will also be imported as a left-hand-drive model, and then converted to right-hand-drive locally, with that relatively new conversion capability emerging as one of the major forces driving the surge.
Truck manufacturers are refitting around 1200 of the imported vehicles to right-hand-drive each month, according to Nine News.
While Queensland started as the biggest market for the big vehicles, Victoria and NSW have since taken over — even in metro areas, much to the disapproval of locals.
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