Designing the McLaren P1 and designing a $21,500 work truck sound like assignments from opposite ends of the automotive universe. Frank Stephenson’s design studio is now taking on the latter challenge.
Texas-based startup REO Trucks has selected Frank Stephenson Design as the design partner for its upcoming Runabout lineup. The planned family consists of two pickups and an SUV built around affordability, durability, and ease of repair.
Stephenson’s résumé includes some of the most recognizable vehicles of the past few decades. He designed or led design work on vehicles including the McLaren P1, Ferrari F430, Maserati MC12, original BMW X5, modern MINI, and revived Fiat 500.
REO is hoping some of that experience can help revive a historic American automotive name with a very different philosophy from today’s increasingly complex trucks. Instead of enormous screens and endless software, the startup is promising simple combustion-powered vehicles with physical controls and owner-friendly repairability.
Three Affordable Models Are Planned
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Frank Stephenson Design is working on all three vehicles in REO’s planned Runabout family. The T4X will be a work-focused pickup, the T4C a crew-cab truck, and the S4C an SUV.
REO has previously targeted a starting price of around $21,500 and says its vehicles will be engineered around reliability and right-to-repair principles. The company has also discussed straightforward mechanical components, traditional switches and levers, and vehicles designed to be serviced outside a proprietary dealership network.
Those are ambitious promises, particularly for a startup that has yet to put a production vehicle on the road, but pricing, durability targets, and production plans should be viewed as goals rather than established accomplishments at this point in time.
From The McLaren P1 To A Work Truck
Stephenson may be best known for his supercar work, but some of his other projects may actually be more relevant to REO. He played major roles in the modern MINI and Fiat 500, two designs that successfully reinterpreted historic vehicles for a new generation.
REO presents a similar challenge on an American scale. The original REO Motor Car Company dates back to the early 20th century, and the revived company wants to attach that heritage to uncomplicated, affordable trucks.
Stephenson described the brief as creating vehicles that are “simple, honest, and built to last,” while confirming his studio is shaping all three Runabout models.
We’ll See The Designs Soon
REO says teasers will begin appearing over the coming weeks before a digital reveal planned by November. The first physical vehicle is expected to follow sometime in 2027.
Production remains farther away, with previous reports pointing toward a possible market launch in late 2028 or 2029. REO is currently accepting refundable $25 reservations, meaning there’s still a long road between today’s plans and customers actually receiving trucks.
Still, bringing the designer behind everything from the MINI to the McLaren P1 aboard is one way to make an affordable work truck considerably harder to ignore. Now we get to find out what a $21,500 pickup looks like when a supercar designer is handed the pencil.