Toyota 50th Anniversary: A Brief History of Toyota Trucks

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 brought to the US was the 1963 Toyota LandCruiser truck. Available in small numbers for only four years in the U.S. market (1963-67), these are highly sought-after collector's items. In addition to being imported to the US, these vehicles were produced by Toyota internationally for many years after 1967 and can be found overseas.

After importing the LandCruiser truck, Toyota began importing the "Stout" in 1964. The Stout was the father of the Toyota HiLux. Both the Stout and the HiLux that followed were available in only one configuration - a reg. cab and a 4-cylinder engine. The last year that Toyota imported the Stout was 1968, after which it was officially replaced by the Toyota Hilux Pickup.

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 generically named "Toyota Pickup" got a real name in 1995, officially labeled the Tacoma. Abbreviated as the "Taco" by some, it is revered by off-road enthusiasts everywhere as an excellent combination of performance, power, and reliability. Not surprisingly, the Tacoma is easily Toyota's biggest sales success in the U.S. truck market. Toyota's Tacoma was also an excellent value in the work-truck configuration, being one of the most inexpensive trucks on the market.

Toyota made another attempt at a making a full-size truck in 1999, releasing the new 2000 Tundra a year early. The new full-size Tundra featured a reasonably powerful 4.7L V8, a larger frame, bigger interior, and greater hauling and towing capabilities than the truck it replaced (the T100). When the Tundra debuted it was a decent seller and a critical hit. The new Tundra was named Motor Trend's "Truck of The Year" in 1999, and sales topped 126k units in 2004.

Toyota released a completely re-designed Tacoma in 2004. This new, larger, "Taco" rivaled the 2004 full-size Tundra in terms of size and power, yet still honored Toyota's compact pickup roots in terms of economy and off-road performance. The new Tacoma, while nearly as expensive as many competitor's full-size trucks, has been nothing short of a complete success. The Tacoma 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 next? The future seems to hold both hybrid and diesel engine trucks, as well as the possibility of bringing back the concept of a small, simple, and inexpensive truck in the Scion line. Who knows all that could happen in 50 years...

Article Source: http://www.a1-articledirectory.com

About the author: Jason Lancaster has been working in the car business and with the Toyota Tundra for almost 10 years. Get more Tundra Reviews at his website, www.tundraheadquarters.com.

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