This ute will eat Rangers and HiLuxes for breakfast: 2026 Ram 1500 TRX could return as the baddest ute on the planet with V8-power to leave rivals in its dust: report

The ultimate anti-EV might be making a comeback.

Rumours are swirling that the Ram 1500 TRX is returning to eat all other utes for breakfast.

US outlet Mopar Insiders claims its well-placed sources have confirmed the beefy ute's return, with production to kick off as early as the start of next year.

The 1500 TRX was sold in Australia but was axed from the line-up when the US company shifted its next-gen 1500 to twin-turbo inline six-cylinder power.

The six-cylinder era didn’t last long at Ram, though.

Ram has already confirmed it is bringing back its 5.7-litre V8 Hemi in its 2026 1500 early this year.

Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said at the time: “Everyone makes mistakes, but how you handle it defines you. Ram screwed up when we dropped the Hemi — we own it and we fixed it.

“We’re not just bringing back a legendary V8 engine, we’re igniting an assertive product plan and expanding the freedom of choice in powertrain for our customers.”

The 1500 TRX did not use this engine, instead it was powered by a bulked up 6.2-litre supercharged Hemi V8 that made a whopping 523kW and 882Nm. 

That enabled the three-tonne-plus monster to hit 100km/h in 4.5 seconds on the way to a top speed of 190km/h.

It could go off-road and tow 3500kg, but only had a payload of about 740kg that dropped to 321kg when towing the max amount.

Mopar Insiders had no information on what would be found under the bonnet of a new TRX, but it would need to be mega.

If the 1500 TRX is going to compete with its main US rival, the Ford F-150 Raptor, it'll need something with enough juice to match or beat the Blue Oval’s 537kW behemoth.

The chances of the high-performance pick-up returning to Australia are getting slimmer every year.

The Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) has now come into effect. The NVES slams carmakers with fines of $100 per gram of CO2 they emit over a certain threshold, with the limit getting lower every year until 2030. 

This would likely add thousands if not tens of thousands to the price of a petrol-chugging rig such as the 1500 TRX, which would make it prohibitively expensive. The previous 1500 TRX was already more than $200,000 in Australia.