50 Years Of Toyota: The History Of The Toyota Truck

On October 31st, 1957, Toyota Motor Sales was founded in the U.S. In the 50 years since, Toyota has grown from a small Japanese import auto manufacturer that no one took seriously to one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world. The history of Toyota is a story about success. Part of the story is the growth of Toyota trucks, and 50 years seems like a good time to review the history of Toyota trucks in the United States.

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.

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.

In 1995, the "Toyota Pickup" finally got a name of its own, the Tacoma. Known as the "Taco" by off-road enthusiasts everywhere, the Tacoma is easily Toyota's largest commercial success in the US truck market. The Tacoma offered an excellent combination of performance, power, and off-road ability, while still being a very inexpensive vehicle in it's work truck configuration.

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 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 a new, bigger and more powerful Tundra. This new 2nd generation Tundra overcame all the criticisms of the old Tundra, offering the most powerful engine in it's class, a large 5.7L V8, as well leading all other full-size trucks in towing capacity at 10,800lbs. This new Tundra has been extremely popular, setting full-size Toyota truck sales records in its first year of production. Clearly, the new Tundra's big V8, big size, and big towing capacity have lifted Toyota's credibility as a truck manufacturer.

What will Toyota do over the next 50 years? The short-term future is fairly clear -- Toyota will probably bring out a hybrid truck, as well as the first diesel engine offered by Toyota in the US. Looking back at Toyota's roots, there is even talk of Toyota selling a small, simple, and very inexpensive truck under the Scion brand. Toyota's next 50 years should be just as interesting as the last 50 - that's for sure.

Article Source: http://www.search4allinfo.com

Author Jason Lancaster has been working in the auto business and with the Toyota Tundra for the better part of a decade. Get more Tundra Reviews at his website, www.tundraheadquarters.com. Get your own completely unique content version of this article.

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