I’ve documented a whole lot of these old Toyota pickups still at work in and around Eugene. And then the other day, I came across this scene a few blocks from my house: another one getting ready to earn its keep for the day.
This is a ’78, according to its owner, and it’s been doing this for a long time. But these old Toyotas keep on trucking, no matter what’s thrown at them, or in their beds.
Good catch there Paul and did any of these come with factory AC? With the recent weather in the Willamette Valley it sure can be handy.
Not factory back then. Even my ’84 was only available with a dealer-installed kit.
All those tree stumps in the truck bed . . . I wonder if the collective weight of them is more than the Toyota itself? Looks like a heavy load.
These are probably doing more real work than the most modern trucks — that are likely better equipped to handle that load.
And this Hilux is doing it without cupholders!
While the 4th and 5th-generation Toyota pickups are still all over the place in Southern California, the ’70s Toyotas (like this one) have mostly been phased out by now — there are still a few out there earning their keep, but their numbers are dwindling. And I can’t even remember the last time I saw a 1st-gen Hilux; they seem to be all but extinct in these parts.
I’m in Northern California, but I saw one from this generation on the road just last week. Unfortunately it was headed the opposite direction from me and I wasn’t able to get a picture of it.
I lived in South Lake Tahoe / CA – Stateline / NV the whole winter of 1999-2000. Being from Brazil, I didn’t knew about Toyota trucks legendary dependability and toughness until I inquired my co-workers at Harrah’s Casino Resort why there were so many of these rigs, generally they looked pretty beat up just like this one. The guys just advised me to don’t get fooled by appearances. They were quite right!
When I was in LA a couple of years ago, I saw a lot of these still in use. There was a lot of late 70’s early 80’s Toyota pickups in use by landscapers. I have no idea why they used those old trucks, but I guess they were cheap, could take a beating, and was easy on the gas. I think I saw at least a dozen of those in daily use only over a couple of days. It was more or less the only used car of that age that were still in daily business use.
Doesn’t look all dented up like the scrap metal haulers around L.A. .
My Step Mother (R.I.P.) bought a long bed SR5 in 1977 and it lasted fine right up to her death a few years back, I’m sure some kid in Whidby island, Wa. is still working it .
-Nate
I have fond memories of these. My dad used to drive one like this, but it was a flatbed dually. Talk about handling a heavy load! My dad loved it. The only complaint he ever had was that the brakes were lacking when it was fully loaded.
I put in a ton of seat time in 1974 and 1977 Toyota pickups in the last few years of the 1970s – I was a young soil surveyor/technician for a Central Florida architecture/engineering firm and I usually drove these two trucks in my extensive time in the field. I was frequently bouncing and bashing around big construction sites and undeveloped areas. The conditions were often very tough – sometimes I was hauling so much stuff that I could smell the clutch burning when offroad. The Toyotas generally fared better than the Chevys and Dodges in the company fleet. A few things of note…
1. Traction was minimal with street tires and an empty bed. Usually I was carrying enough stuff to avoid problems but once I earned ridicule from the company’s engineers and draftsmen when I was seen helplessly spinning my tires on a patch of tall wet grass in full view of the office windows.
2. The standard bench seats were quite uncomfortable on long trips and cabin space was marginal for a six-footer.
3. The 1974 model had different front end styling as seen in the attached photo.
4. The engine took a second or two to drop revs when the gas pedal as released. This made shifting a deliberate affair. I understand that this was due to the smog controls.
5. When you pressed the brake pedal, you could hear the brake light switch click on and off.
#4, yes that was an emission control Toyota called it the THOP for throttle opener and it was essentially a fancy dashpot. It also served the purpose of preventing stalling on a quick throttle release.
In 1978 I stopped by a Toyota dealship to look at a used Chev Lu. The salesman said he would do a deal on a 1978 Toyota SR5 because each sale got a larger aquisition of the upcoming all new 1979. The bed was made in Long Beach CA, probably from old oil drums. In two years, in Central Ohio the taillights had grounding problems from rust. I sold it for close to what I paid when the windshield posts began to bubble. The bed all began to rust in the horizontal seam
I buddy had an identical truck in brown. At least his hid some of the rust. Mine was white with brown rust stains.
These were great trucks, and as the pictures show last almost forever and can endure tons of abuse and over loading. As long as they live in no salt no rust climates.
This is a very common scene Down here.here we build homes with bricks and cement mainly due to the lack of enough wood.each cement bag weights 50 kgs(110 pound)they put so many bags on back of those poor trucks which if you let clutch pedal go fast both of front wheels would be up in the air and these poor trucks still keep going.we did not even get 20R&22Rs like USA.all 1600cc motors till 1987.after 87 we did get the 2400cc(22RE).
There’s still a number of these old pickups here in Northern California, thanks to the climate (no salt on the roads), still doing yeoman work – such as landscape and yard maintenance people.
When I see the name “Hilux”, I just can’t help but think of some armed militia folks riding in the back bed with a mounted machine gun somewhere in the Middle East, West Asia, or sub-Saharan Africa…
This reminds me of the local electrical rebuilder that was in the town I went to college. I worked part time at a local shop and we maintained their trucks. One of the trucks was the generation that came after this one. He used it to run to Montana to pick up cores from the wrecking yards out there as he said they were cheaper. I think it was when I was mounting some tires or checking the rear brakes when I noticed something strange. IIRC it was called a load toter and it was essentially a new solid set of stops that prevented the ass from dragging when it had way more than its rated capacity or the capacity with the overloads they also had installed. They did use up the clutches and brakes pretty quickly. I did stick a new trans in it one time but it had something like 200k or so at that time. When it wasn’t running to Montana and back it joined in delivering starters and alternators to the local shops and independent parts stores.
Awesome lil truck, love the 1972-83 earlier generations of Toyota Hilux.
Aye Carumba, that’s a load.
Hopefully, the original owner ordered the One Ton suspension package. 😛