Is a small Ram pickup in the works?

Chrysler’s Ram truck division has been beefing up its lineup with a little help with Fiat.

The Ram Promaster and Promaster City vans are both European style cargo carriers that have been modified for U.S. duty. Could a small, car-based pickup be next?

Pickuptrucks.com reports that what appears to be a modified and heavily camouflaged Fiat Strada pickup has been spotted testing near Chrysler’s Michigan HQ.

The trucklet is currently sold overseas, and the prototype could just be a new model getting some engineering input from the American arm of the company.

But it’s longer than the existing vehicle, and features four full doors, fueling speculation that it’s being tailored for the U.S. market.

General Motors took a similar course for its upcoming Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, which were originally designed and built for foreign markets, but those are traditional pickups, not crossovers like the Strada.

For it's part, Chrysler's recently unveiled five-year plan did not mention adding a product along these lines.

However, if it turns out to be heading for Ram showrooms, it won’t be the first of its kind from Chrysler. In the 1980’s it had a pair of pickup-cars called the Dodge Rampage and Plymouth Scamp, which were based on the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon compact cars, and in 2006 unveiled a HEMI V8-powered front-wheel-drive Dodge Rampage concept.

Ram Rampage? Ram Scamp?

Who knows? But Chrysler did bring back the Dart, after all.