It’s shots like this that really define the essence of CC: old vehicles still earning their keep. There’s still quite a fair number of these RN20 generation Hiluxes (1973-1977) at work here. They were still called Hilux in the US through the 1975 model year, but for 1976, the name changed to “Toyota Truck”, while the rest of the world kept getting Hiluxes. Understandable, really, and it represents the growing importance of Toyota Motor North America, which increasingly influenced the manufacturing, sales and marketing of Toyotas in NA. And “truck” does rather define this more than “Hilux”. And although I can’t make out the exact year, it sure is still working like a truck.
One of my best friends bought a new 78 SR-5 which looked almost identical to this one. Bulletproof engine and transmission but the body pretty much rotted away by the time it was 10-12 years old. Kind of surprising in Mobile, Al. No road salt and the truck did not spend anytime to speak of at the beach. We did have some fun times in it and probably overloaded it many times hauling and towing old junk around with it.
That is a bit odd. I just never see any signs of rust (except minor cosmetic) on these old Japanese cars and trucks ever, and we sure have plenty of rain….
Perhaps the amount of sun in Alabama ruins the paint, leaving it vulnerable? Just a thought.
He had Toyota do a repaint when the tape stripes started fading out after 1 year. That may have been the problem or the fact he owned property down about 3 miles of dirt roads. Anyway I remember a few places in the cab roof rusted through as well as the floorboard. The 87 he replaced it with did not have that problem though.
Wow – I had a ’72, and it rusted away terribly. My buddy’s ’78 dissolved in Denver. Great solid engines – frighteningly tinny little bodies.
Where the rust keeps away, the Hilux will play!
I liked the Hilux name, and still do. There is something simple and unaffected about it. I wish we still got something called a Hilux here.
That’s a funny photo, because in the salt belt those Toyota trucks pretty much looked like that after one year.
After a few they had rust holes big enough to stick your head through.
I was at Mosport once in the 90’s and watched some guys off roading their rusty old Toyota 4X4. While jouncing up a hill the sides of the bed completely collapsed. The guys got out, pulled off what was left and resumed driving. Wish I’d taken a photo.
They used to rust especially badly, along that horizontal seam halfway down the bed. Talk about inviting water and corrosion.
Amazed to see this still on the road… even in Oregon.
The popularity of small import pickups was about to explode.
Ford and Chev were still importing the Courier and LUV around this time.
The Datsun pickups seemed the most popular in my area.
The way the bottom of the box came in at the height of the bottom of the door,
and not at rocker height, gave it a bit of a clunky look.
I liked their look, especially with the quad headlights.
Is this free-verse poetry? I’d like to think it is.
Haha, you’re right. I sometimes write a few thoughts in point form (with returns) in MS Word before posting a comment. Poetry wasn’t my intent!
Yeah, you don’t see too many of these old Toyota pickups any more, even here in the Pacific Northwest. They rusted like nobody’s business, especially the beat-the-chicken-tax made-in-California beds. This one looks like the delivery truck for Pallets ‘R’ Us, serving all of your pallet needs!
Those things lasted maybe 5-6 years here in n.e. Ohio. Only thing that rusted worse than a Japanese pickup was the Vega. Did happen to see that truck’s Nissan counterpart a couple of weeks ago, an ’81 or ’82 based on the Datsun by Nissan badge on the tailgate. Been many a year since I’d seen a Japanese pickup on the roads up here
Shocking rust buckets but they go forever car bodies rust from the inside out humidity and poor paint application are why.
I love these trucks, I like the front end, nice and characterful. They occasionally come up on Trademe, but they’re almost always flat-decks, and I really would want a wellside. I’d tidy it up a bit, but the goal would be for it to be put to work, in that regard I’d probably be better off with a flat-deck, but I just think wellsides look so much better. Of course I don’t actually have any room for one at the moment, but I think if the right one came up I’d find a way to make it happen!
Love it. Among the pony cars and the broughams sits the Hilux. Keeps me coming back for more.
How about dusting off a couple of old tractors or bikes from the archives. Love them.
A Hilux of this generation or the one before it (which is super hard to find) is my plan for my next project. Either that or a 1st gen Ford Courier or perhaps a Datsun 520, 521 or 620.
I really want a Hilux though
My dad had a ’78 Chinook camper, same body as in the picture but with a fiberglass camper box in place of the pickup bed. It was a 4-speed and had the 20R engine. This is what I learned to drive a stick shift on when I was in high school. This Chinook was a lot of weight for the 20R, not to mention the truck’s suspension, and it wasn’t exactly quick. But, it seemed to go everywhere, including camping in the Sierras. I don’t recall this particular Toyota having rust issues, but my dad was “out of the picture” starting in the early 80’s and I didn’t really see this Toyota much after that.
At one point I had a used ’74 Hilux, which had the 2.0 liter 18R-C engine and also had a 4-speed. It had a slightly different front grille than the one in the picture, which is a later model. This truck was a beater and I used it mostly for going to the dumps and hauling car parts from the pick-n-pull back when I used to work on cars as a side job, in a previous life. I miss that little truck!
As I recall, in California the late model (’76-78) SR-5 short bed with the tape stripes was the Toyota pickup to have at that time. I remember seeing them everywhere at the time and thought they were really neat trucks. Toyota used to advertise them heavily, at least in California.
Funny to see a small truck loaded like that. That’s more load that most full sized ones will ever see.
I like that old Toyota logo. They should kick the Sombrero guy to the curb and go retro.
That’s what I’ve always liked, an old car or truck still being used today. It shows that it can be done, that you don’t have to buy a brand new car or truck every few years. If you take care of it, do proper maintenance as often as necessary, it’ll last indefinitely.