The Best-Looking Pickup Trucks of 2026

What are the best-looking pickup trucks for 2026? Design has long been one of the six key criteria MotorTrend uses to determine our Of The Year (OTY) awards and to steer the outcome of our comparison tests. So we channeled what we’ve learned over the years from the master class design walkarounds provided by OTY guest judges including Chrysler alum Tom Gale, Jaguar’s Ian Callum, his brother, Ford alum Moray Callum, and others as we scanned our Ultimate Car Rankings list of Best Pickup Trucks for inspiration.

We then pored over truck configurators in search of the best trim, wheel, and color combos and ended up with a list that touches on pickup trucks from all size categories and includes two that aren’t yet available for sale. But hey, they still promise to be trend setters, and Trend is part of our name, after all. We trust you’ll let us know if we missed your favorite.

Excuse our niche cab fetish, but this exercise is focused on design, and we think the new Toyota Tacoma’s angularity and abundant graphics and surfacing work best when applied to a longer box and a shorter cab. That setup isn’t widely available outside of work-truck configurations, but it’s fetchingly rendered here as the TRD PreRunner. This rear-drive, leaf-sprung model is budget friendly and doesn’t skimp on wheels, fitting all-terrain tires on beefy 17-inchers. The snazzy press photo shows the truck Underground gray, but we’d choose the much more fun Mudbath option shown in the inset, perhaps with the Topo-Graphics tailgate applique and an ARB Bed Sport bar accessory to further dress it up. Our preferred configuration rings the register for just under $44,000.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 Toyota Tacoma

We’ve been attracted to the pint-sized Ford Maverick since its inception, and this year we loved it enough to put our Truck of the Year calipers on it. Design was among its many strong suits, and we especially dig the street-truck-styled Lobo, with its sleek vertical-bar grille in black to match other exterior trim elements. The Lobo also improves upon the Maverick’s already enticing proportion and stance by lowering the truck by just over an inch.

We’ll take ours in Velocity Blue (the only “color” available for the Lobo), and don’t you dare touch a wheel option box and deprive us of the standard 19-inch black Turbofan wheels, which give ’80s Trans Am vibes. We’ll also stick with the default black-painted roof to complement the grille and wheels. The more ubiquitous pickup trucks become, the harder it is to configure one that turns heads. We think this one does just that.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 Ford Maverick

To our eyes, the full-size pickup that best nails our Design key criterion in Of The Year judging—both outside and in—is the 2026 Ram 1500. And to us, the current design champ among the perhaps 23.1 squillion different available build combinations is the Ram 1500 Tungsten, with its carlike, fully painted, fully integrated into the bodywork front fascia. Naturally, this is the most expensive variant, so it’s dripping in chrome accents and big-diameter (standard 22-inch) wheels—which, tastefully, are not chromed. We’ll take ours in Forged Blue or Molten Red.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 Ram 1500

There’s something about beefing up a small truck for killer off-road duty that lends it a toylike, Tonka Truck character we really dig. The 2026 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison gets a suspension hiked up to the moon, rock sliders that look the business, and gigantic tires—five of ’em on optional beadlock rims. That includes one that mounts in the bed and completely fills the rear view (maybe budget for an aftermarket camera mirror, as Chevy doesn’t offer one). We’re also still motivated by all the fond memories we made putting 53,226 miles on our 2024 Colorado ZR2 yearlong test vehicle, scuffing up every skidplate, scarring both rock sliders, and repeatedly plugging tire punctures. Handsome is as handsome does, and that truck did a lot.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 Chevrolet Colorado

Truth be told, no heavy-duty pickup on sale these days strikes the editorial eye as particularly beautiful, but we find the GMC Sierra 2500 HD in AT4 trim (especially painted in Coastal Dune with the optional body-color wheel arches framing 22-inch black wheels with machined accents) to be perhaps the best-looking of the 1-ton-plus set. The facade looks less angry than most, and the entry AT4 strikes us as more attractive than the Denali, Denali Ultimate, and AT4X trims, which either add too much bright or smoked chrome or black out the bumper. This design, we think, looks cleanest and best accentuates the red tow hooks.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 GMC Sierra HD

You can’t get more than two doors and one bed size on an electric 2027 Slate Truck, no matter how much money you throw down—if indeed we all get the chance to throw money at Slate later this year. We expect to learn definitive pricing and get the opportunity to order a truck “soon,” but the personalization configurator is live now. As you may recall, all Slate Trucks are built as two-door, two-seat pickups, with bodywork molded in gray. Any other color comes courtesy of inexpensive, cut-to-order wraps and decals designed for DIY simplicity. Similarly, kits are available to remove the rear bulkhead and install rear seats, as are a choice of square- or slant-back SUV roofs. We’re drawn to the extreme simplicity of this design and think it looks fantastic in this Blue Wanderer four-seat open-top configuration, shown wearing a “Throwback” decal kit and optional 17-inch alloy wheels.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2027 Slate Truck

Ford F-150 trucks have been bestsellers for so long, they tend to blend into the scenery—especially in their most popular Super Crew short-box configuration. But we think your head would swivel if this regular-cab, 6.5-foot-box, stanced-out truck went by. That glowering look comes courtesy of the Ford Performance FP700S Classic package, which bolts a 3.0-liter supercharger onto the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 to achieve the 700 hp that gives the package that name. This image is of a 2025 FP700S Bronze Edition, and there are some slight changes to the wheel design for 2026, but the look remains super cool.

The package includes a front splitter, a lowering kit, Ford Performance fender vent and tailgate badge, stripe package, hood decal, and 9.5 x 22-inch wheels wrapped in 275/50 performance rubber. The kit costs $13,250, with installation taking 15 hours (figure $3,100 or so). You can only get this top-performing, lightest-weight regular-cab configuration as an XL model, so the price of the truck will start out well below $50K, but you may want to budget for aftermarket spiffs like Katzkin leather and an audio system upgrade.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 Ford F-150

Some people hate those vertical Tylenol caplet headlamps, but we happen to love them. We’re also smitten by the astonishing capabilities the Rivian R1T demonstrated as it transported us across the Trans-America Trail. And we think the R1T Dual Motor, with the $5,000 Performance package, kind of hits a value/performance sweet spot. Happily, it’s also available with some of the best-looking options. Paint colors at this trim level include Forest Green, Red Canyon, and our fave, Rivian Blue (skip the black, white, and silver).

Like the Maverick, it’s also available with a handsome, somewhat unique 22-inch wheel design with an aerodynamic cover that helps boost range. One more necessary splurge: the Ocean Coast off-white interior, for $4,500, to make the truck look as good inside as it does outside.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2026 Rivian R1T

OK, it’s risky putting the 2027 Scout Terra pickup on this list, as the truck has yet to reach production. Right now, it’s touch and go given that the brand’s proposed direct-sales model is under attack, it’s running into development challenges implementing the promised range-extending combustion engine, etc. But it looks so cool, we’re pulling hard for the company to succeed. The modern reinterpretation of the circa 1961–1980 Scout captures the spare line work and minimalist graphics. The simple surfacing and the use of LED lighting to accent the design are all masterful. It may not end up being the strongest at pulling or hauling stuff, but it’s going to look darned sharp doing it.

Read Our Experts’ Full Review of the 2027 Scout Terra