What does a real man drive?

Gas prices and a rough economy have truck-loving guys (reluctantly) rethinking their wheels

Stylish economy cars, like the BMW-owned MINI Cooper (left), are gaining favor among image-conscious men who typically prefer to drive SUVs and trucks like the Hummer (right). (BMW AG/GM)

North Shore tree surgeon Fred Blatchford is a big guy - 6 feet 3 inches, 270 pounds, he reckons. And he drives a heavy-duty truck to match: a fully loaded 2006 Chevy Silverado Extra Cab pickup.

Or rather, he did drive the truck, until gas prices shot higher than an old-growth pine. Now he's keeping the Silverado, which doesn't quite get 20 miles to the gallon on the highway, off the road as much as possible while he tries to sell it.

Like many fellow kings of the road, Blatchford is reluctantly coming to terms with his new driving identity, as he prepares to fold his large frame into a much smaller ride. "I always had a pickup," he says ruefully, "but it might not be worth it anymore."

Given the price of gas, the crummy economy, and the flight from plus-size gas guzzlers, the automotive industry is scrambling to retrofit its marketing plans to lure more guys behind the wheels of smaller, more economical cars - traditionally the province of female drivers.

"We often say that women can drive anything," says Rebecca Lindland, an auto industry forecaster for Global Insight in Lexington, "but men are usually very particular."

American men typically see themselves driving vehicles that will get them noticed and reflect their masculinity, says Lindland. "A [Toyota] Yaris is not exactly a chick magnet," she said. "It's a cliche, but size matters. Size and style."

Now, however, gas prices have finally knocked the driving expectations of image-conscious men down to size.

"You have someone coming in with, say, an F-350 [Ford pickup], looking at a four-cylinder Saturn Vue," says Steve Ferguson, a salesman with Saturn of Worcester. "It's definitely not something they would have imagined doing."

While most of the auto industry suffers through a prolonged drought, some smaller cars are actually enjoying sales spikes. Greg Stern, CEO of Butler Shine Stern & Partners, the San Francisco agency that creates advertising for the MINI Cooper, says his client is seeing plenty of male buyers trading in SUVs for the BMW-owned brand.

"It's fair to say the car hasn't been pigeonholed as a 'female' car,' " as some small vehicles sometimes are, says Stern. Perhaps more than its fuel economy, the car's classic British design and emphasis on performance has boosted it during the current shakeup. "People are buying these cars with almost an attitudinal motivation as much as a rational side."

But not every small car can claim that kind of allure for men. If Blatchford sells his Silverado - and that's a big if, given the lack of calls he's received - he's considering a variety of options.

"I was looking at a tiny pickup, a four-cylinder. I said, 'Geez, I don't know,' " he said. Next he test-drove a Honda Accord, and was surprised to find it reasonably roomy. Now almost everything, he says, is on the table. "I'd drive a Briggs & Stratton 12-horsepower [mower] if I could find one," he jokes.

Even if they can rationalize the jump to an economy car, many owners are feeling chained to guzzlers they can't unload. Sales of SUVs, the showpiece of the auto industry just a few years ago, are down dramatically. Ford reported its SUV sales figures for September were off a staggering 57 percent from last year, and truck and van sales slid more than 38 percent. Desperate dealers are dangling unprecedented rebates, even undercutting Kelly Blue Book value on trade-ins of used SUVs and trucks.

The picture is brighter for fuel-efficient compact cars. Sales of the compact Ford Focus were up almost 5 percent in September compared to a year ago. There's a one-year wait for a Smart car, the pint-sized European import, at the Somerville showroom owned by Herb Chambers. MINI, says Stern, enjoyed "back-to-back record-breaking months" this summer.

Still, says Lindland, manufacturers and advertisers have only recently begun searching for effective ways to convince men to go small. While one European ad for the Smart car, for example, depicts a very tall man slipping comfortably behind the wheel of the two-seater, the American market is just starting to see such advertising.

There are a couple of examples: the Toyota Matrix and the Ford Focus are now emphasizing performance and featuring men in their ad campaigns. But it may take time for the wider industry to follow suit.

"It's not an easy task, overcoming decades of assumptions and beliefs that your vehicle needs to reflect your physical size and power in the world," says Lindland.

She believes the old-school muscle car - the Ford Mustang, the Chevy Camaro, Dodge's revived Challenger - could get a boost from the move away from oversize cars and trucks.

"They'll be the new cool," she says. "They sure as heck get better fuel economy than an SUV. You can look pretty cool in a Camaro getting 20 miles to the gallon."

Still, the car industry seems uncertain how many men are prepared to change their driving habits dramatically, and how many will simply downgrade a notch or two. John B. Heywood, longtime director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory at MIT, says he's curious to know just how many drivers are transitioning from very large vehicles to very small ones.

"It's easy to talk about this if you say, 'I used to drive a Hummer, but now I want a Honda Fit,' " he says. "Sales of smaller cars are up significantly, and sales of big cars are down significantly, yes. The data says that. But it isn't too clear what's in the middle." Whatever the case, it is clear that radical changes are imminent.

"The industry, I think, realizes it's got to do everything - take the weight out of the vehicles, produce attractive, less-big vehicles, and improve the technology," says Heywood. "All of these changes are likely to happen quite a lot faster over the next decade." In the meantime, some guys who are thinking about switching to smaller cars are holding out slivers of hope that the economy will settle down and the price of gas will sink further. As for Blatchford, the tree trimmer, one of his employees recently bought a scooter. He will not be following suit. "You gotta draw the line somewhere."