Toyota Cleans Up in “Bravest Trucks” Article

Sometimes the fact that the Toyota Tacoma (and the Toyota Pickup before it) have been so successful in the US and Canada helps us all forget that two of the world’s most popular 4×4’s – the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 and the Toyota Hilux – aren’t available in the USA.

These trucks are popular around the world because they’re reliable – so reliable, in fact, that Car and Driver listed them both as some of the World’s Bravest Trucks. The Land Cruiser is the first SUV listed, the Hilux is the first truck listed, and the stories as to why these trucks are the “world’s bravest” are pretty impressive.

First, let’s start with the Land Cruiser (aka Land Crusher). Since 1954, Land Cruisers have been hauling tourists across African safari, hauling families across the Australian desert, lifting off-road enthusiasts over mountains in the US and Canada, and even prowling the badlands of Afghanistan. The Land Cruiser was Toyota’s best-selling US model in 1965, and arguably helped launch the company.

Land Cruisers are available in most countries in two models. The Land Cruiser 200 (similar to the $70k+ US-spec Land Cruiser) is an unstoppable luxury vehicle. The Land Cruiser 70 – available since 1984 – is the most commonly found Cruiser because of it’s lower price point and numerous configurations. The 70 can be had as a two-door or four-door SUV or as a two-door pickup or cab-and-chassis (with configuration options varying by country). Toyota says that 70% of all 4wd’s in Africa are Land Cruisers (wow).

The Hilux is known for it’s reliability and never-die durability, as seen in the internationally famous BBC clip below:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWKz7Cthkk[/youtube]

The Hilux also has the dubious distinction of being a common military truck. A war between Chad in Libya is officially known as the Toyota War of 1987 because it featured rolling desert combat between armies that relied upon recoiless rifles mounted in Hiluxes (Hiluxi?) as some sort of motorized cavalry.

Image copywright Flickr user Sidelife - click to see original

Says Car and Driver:

From Ethiopia to Yemen, Nicaragua to Afghanistan, the Hilux is highly regarded not only for its bulletproof reliability – sometimes literally – but also for its versatility.

The Land Cruiser 70 and Toyota Hilux are ubiquitous in every country but the United States, and frankly that’s a sad commentary on US emissions rules that are too anti-diesel (but that’s another story). For now, we’ll have to find an excuse to drive one on our next International trip.