Honda SEMA build is a pickup with dirt cred

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Updated Nov 2, 2018
Honda Rugged Open Air Vehicle Concept for 2018 SEMA Show
Honda Rugged Open Air Vehicle Concept for 2018 SEMA Show

While the Honda Ridgeline may not exactly evoke scenes of gravity-defying jumps and gag-inducing dirt plumes, the automaker’s off-road build revealed today at SEMA certainly looks like it’s on its way to earning a dirty pedigree that would make any truck maker proud.

First up, the Honda Rugged Open Air Vehicle concept is an impressive marriage between the Ridgeline and Honda’s Pioneer 1000 side-by-side. The vehicle combines the utility of the Honda Ridgeline with the off-road ruggedness and extreme styling of the Honda Pioneer 1000.

While the Rugged Open Air Vehicle is a concept, it nonetheless uses existing Honda components, such as modified Ridgeline body and suspension, along with production Pioneer doors and custom designed bed and tailgate panels modeled after the Pioneer.

The Ridgeline-based interior has been modified to take on the outdoors and features a Pioneer 1000 steering wheel adapted to the Ridgeline steering column, along with Civic Type R seats reskinned in waterproof Pioneer 1000 material, smartphone holders from RAM Mounts, and durable paint-on surfaces to protect the exposed instrument panel from the elements.

Honda is certainly no stranger to off-roading. In June, Team Honda Racing Ridgeline won the Baja 500 for the second time in the last three years.

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