Plymouth does not build many cars like the Plymouth Backpack: a 2-door compact pickup with 2.0 L I4, built from 1995 when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Its designer of record is Tom Gale.
The background
The Plymouth Backpack is a compact pickup truck concept vehicle manufactured by Plymouth. It was unveiled at the 1995 Chicago Auto Show. The 2+2 seating with an "El Camino-esque" versatility could carry two passengers with ease, and even left enough room for a small integrated table for a laptop inside the cabin.
A built-in bike rack on the back was also built into the vehicle. Tom Gale, Chrysler's design chief that had visions of the future vehicles of the company; 'not what Plymouth is today, but what it will be', designed the sporty Backpack. The Backpack was based on Dodge Neon platform and featured a MoPar 2-liter OHC straight-4 engine producing 135 hp sending the power on the front wheels.
The engineering
Under the skin sits 2.0 L I4. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the BMW Z3, the Honda CR-V, the Toyota Tacoma. Its Plymouth stablemates include the Plymouth XNR and the Plymouth Laser.