50 Years of Toyota: The History of the Toyota Truck
Toyota Motor Sales was founded in the U.S. in 1957, and in the 50 years since Toyota has grown from a small Japanese car company to one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world. The history of Toyota is the quintessential rags-to-riches story, and a big part of that story is the growth of Toyota trucks. Toyota’s 50th anniversary seems like a good time to tell the history of Toyota trucks in the U.S.
The first Toyota truck sold in the states was the 1963 Toyota LandCruiser truck. The Landcruiser truck was only available in small numbers for just four years (from 1963-67). Today, these vehicles are highly sought-after collector’s items. In addition to being imported to the US, the LandCruiser truck was produced by Toyota internationally for many years after 1967, and can still be found overseas.
Following the LandCruiser truck, Toyota imported the “Stout”. Available in 1964, this was the obvious predecessor of the Toyota HiLux. The Stout, like the HiLux that followed, was only available in one configuration – a reg. cab and a 4-cylinder engine. The Stout’s last year was 1968, after which the Toyota Hilux Pickup truck officially replaced the Stout.
The “HiLux” was the first Toyota truck to achieve notable sales and commercial success. The “HiLux” name, as hip as it is, was dropped from the Toyota Trucks nameplate in 1975. From that point forward, all small Toyota trucks were known as “Toyota Pickups”. The HiLux/Toyota Pickup developed rather quickly. The SR5 package was first made available in 1975. In 1979, Toyota offered a four-wheel-drive option. In 1983, to great critical acclaim, Toyota offered the “Xtra Cab” Toyota Pickup. The popularity of Toyota’s value and quality helped Toyota trucks come into their own in the 80′s, even helping them reach top cultural status. After all, Who could forget the Toyota truck in the movie Back To The Future?
In 1993, Toyota introduced their first full-size truck, the T100. While many critics found the T100 supremely lacking in terms of power (a V8 engine was not available), there are a lot of loyal Toyota fans who will argue this was one of the best Toyota trucks ever built. The T100 was a commercial flop, selling in very small numbers.
The “Toyota Pickup” finally got a proper name in 1995. Officially branded the Tacoma, the “Taco” is revered by off-road enthusiasts everywhere. In fact, the Tacoma is easily Toyota’s largest commercial success in the U.S. truck market. The 1995 Tacoma offered an excellent combination of performance, power, and off-road ability, while still being a very inexpensive vehicle in it’s basic form.
In 1999, Toyota released their next attempt at a full-size, the 2000 Tundra. This new full-size truck featured a powerful 4.7L V8, as well as a larger frame, interior, and greater hauling and towing capabilities than the T100 it replaced. When this model debuted, it was declared Motor Trend’s “Truck of The Year”. Toyota experienced moderate success with this model, selling about 126k units in 2004.
Toyota brought out a completely re-designed Tacoma in 2004. This new larger Tacoma managed to rival it’s big-brother, the Tundra, in size and power. Despite this new Tacoma being the biggest and most expensive Taco yet, it still managed to honor Toyota’s compact pickup roots in terms of value and off-road performance. The new Tacoma has been nothing short of a complete success, as it is currently the best-selling compact truck on the market.
In 2007 Toyota released the 2nd generation Tundra. This new Tundra overcame all the criticism that Toyota’s full-size trucks were really only 7/8th size. The new Tundra offers the most powerful engine in it’s class, a 5.7L V8 with 381hp. The new Tundra has been extremely popular, setting full-size Toyota truck sales records. Much of the new Tundra’s success is due to it’s class-leading 10,800 lb tow rating, which is made possible by the powerful engine and advanced 6 speed automatic transmission.
What will Toyota come up with over the next 50 years? The future could bring a hybrid truck, the first diesel offered by Toyota in the US, there is even talk of selling a small, simple, and inexpensive truck as a Scion. Whatever happens, it’s definitely going to be exciting!
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