I saw an ad for an SUV that looked like a miniature pickup truck. The ad has some people driving up to the edge of a cliff and rappelling off into a valley with a river.

Only, I forgot the name of the truck. The lease was $99 a month.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? It was made by some Asian company, and it had some weird name (not the Honda Element, but along those lines).

This forum needs unicode support. My O with a line through it isn't showing up.

Could be the Honda Ridgeline.

No, it was much smaller than that. I think it was a two seater.

I guess I'll see the ad again eventually.

Nissan X-Terra?

No no, I think it's newer than either of those.

I was surfing autoblog hoping to find it, but I just don't see it.

Has anyone seen the ad for some 4x4 driving up out of the ocean with the warning: "Vehicle not designed for underwater use" ?

So close to another Darwin award...

philo

That's the Jeep Commander, Philo..

To the OP, where did you see this ad?  US?  Elsewhere?

US. I think it was while watching Voyager reruns.

The truck looked real stripped down and small, almost like it wouldn't be street legal, but I guess it has to be.

I've been to Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Kia, Nissan, Isuzu's websites and nothing.

Strange.

Way back in the late-80s, when the Chevrolet Baretta was introduced the ad campaign included it swimming underwater like a shark. We had a family friend who sincerely commented that it's pretty cool that the car could drive underwater.

Maybe Mazda, Daewoo..

I'm assuming it wasn't the Baja?
http://www.subaru.com/shop/configurator/step1.jsp?model=BAJA&year=2006

Nope. Not Mazda, not Daewoo.

Maybe it doesn't exist. Maybe it was a dream and I'm meant to get into automotive design.

..Subaru, Suzuki

It was much boxier, really sort of element-esque, and I swear the thing looked tiny, like if it was a boat, it would be a tugboat. Smaller than a Rav 4. And it looked like a 2 seater.

I hit suzuki. Checking Subaru now.

Are you talking about the Scion?

http://www.scion.com/

Nope.

Actually you said pickup...so forget that.

The Scion "truck" is a hilarious vehicle though, and supposedly has tremendous utility.

Nope.

They were really playing up the offroad capabilities, which I don't think the Scion emphasizes.

*This* Suzuki toy?

http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/printview.aspx?model_id=870

from later posts, naaaah -- probably not.

OMG that's hilarious, like a Fisher Price "My First SUV."

It was a metallic gray and had a sort of "exposed parts" look.

The more I look for this thing, the more I think it doesn't really exist.

and it's not this either.

http://www.autoblog.com/2005/10/04/nissan-cube-coming-to-the-u-s/

Cute though it may be.

How about this one:

http://www.allautoreviews.com/auto_reviews/isuzu/isuzu-vehicross.htm

Nope.

You know what, I give up. I'm convinced it doesn't exist.

And if I see the commercial again, I'll take closer note of the name.

You'll find out it was an ad for dessert pastries.

Mmmm pastries.

There's this one:

http://trucks.about.com/od/conceptcars/ss/jeep_gladiator.htm

and this one:

http://trucks.about.com/library/photo/bl_jeep_d5_03.htm

But I don't know if either of those are rolling into production yet... (And I bet that they wouldn't be as cheap as in the commercial)