We’re all familiar with the long and legendary line of Toyota pickups known as the Hilux, which was renamed as the Toyota pickup, and later the Tacoma. But they are of a lineage that goes back to Hino, and its Briska pickup that dates back to 1961, and was adopted as Toyota’s own after it acquired Hino. And this new pickup lineage came to replace Toyota’s own pickup, the Stout, which was sold in the US as the Stout 1900 from 1964 to 1969. They were not uncommon in californai and other parts of the West Coast.
CC Cohort mincholandia found and posted a couple of Stouts found in El Salvador, including this rather rare double cab version, which needless to say, was not imported to the US.
The first generation Stout was built from 1954 to 1960, and shared quite a bit with the Toyopet Master, from the front half of its body right down to the ladder frame and solid front and rear axles. The Master was designed mainly fro taxi cab use, hence the truck-like underpinnings.
The second generation appeared in 1960, now sporting independent front suspension and new styling. Like its predecessor, it used versions of the R-Series ohv pushrod four, from 1.5 to 2.0L. The Stout 1900 sold in the US obviously used the 1.9L version, essentially the same engine as used in the Corona.
It should be noted that the Stout was a notch bigger than the diminutive little Datsun pickups sold here at that time, and was rather better suited to US-sized expectations and body sizes.
The Stout was kept in production until 1978, and the grille of this one suggests it’s from the later years of its life.
That applies to the double-cab version too. These were more popular in developing countries, as they were big enough to do some pretty serious work. And plenty rugged too. As in the name.
Obviously, the double cab version involves a bit of rear overhang. And an aftermarket “fart can” muffler too, on this one. Wonder if it’s still the original engine exhausting through it?
There looks to be some serious International pick up truck influence going on in some of these examples, notably in the cab.
And speaking of International… In 1965 double-cab pickup trucks barely existed in *any* form in the US. The rare exception was the International Travelette.
And when they did exist in 1965, they could be really awkward looking.
Another amazing post from CC. I had never heard of these – they certainly did not make it to the UK – our early (1970’s) volume Japanese imports started mostly with saloon cars. Great styling. I have an 1983 HJ60 Toyota Landcruiser diesel – beautiful build quality – the Stout comes from the same era of Japanese vehicles. Wonder how it got its name? We had, for example, Starion, Cedric and Cherry names here for cars – they never sounded quite right to an anglophone ear as automobile names, although they sound delightfully retro these days.
Think I saw one of these about 15 years ago in nh. From what I can tell these were sold in the us from model years 1965-67
I never knew about these until one popped up at Cars and Coffee recently. Neat little trucks.
Small but mighty.
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I drove a red one like this in the summer of 1967 as a parts truck for a M-B, Porsche, Jaguar, BMW dealership in Lexington, MA. I remember it having a manual shift on the column. A couple of summers later, I was issued a new white Toyota Hilux at a separate parts-chasing job with a Toyota dealer. During one of those state police roadblock state inspections, a trooper complained that he couldn’t see the highbeam dash light illuminated on one of the brightest sunny days in July. This on a new truck with 500 miles on it!
I think it looks a lot like the early 60s GMC trucks, front grill, quad headlights, directional lights on the hood and wrap around windshield.
I really like these trucks.
This Japanese interpretation of early ’60’s American pickup styling is just fantastic.
If I ever come across a decent rebuilder on the cheap, I’m gonna grab it.
Excellent idea
The “grill” out of that early green Stout looks like they took one off of a ’52 Chevy and cut it down to fit. Hmm…do you think…?
“When in doubt, make it Stout!”
I was thinking 1953 Plymouth, but I guess we’re in the same ballpark.
That Stout double cab checks many boxes for me: old, obscure, midsize, manual, four door pickup. Now to make it my own, I’d have to have some help from some friends to add a small inline six (or four) cylinder diesel, four wheel drive (while keeping it low to the ground), and lengthen the bed (perhaps using two beds to do it). I’m 41 years old and could happily drive that combo for the rest of my life.
Would you keep the 4-speed column shift?
Yes, definitely.
I used to see a lot of these in Montana. They were sold by Knievel Imports (run by Evel Knievel’s grandfather) in Butte and probably elsewhere in the state, too.
I live in Montana and ended up buying two from a local junk yard. I am currently restoring the better of the two. I have seen quite a few around but none of them running. Still looking for a Toyota Crown that Knievel imports sold around Helena Montana.
Very nice ~
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Twice I had the chance to buy one of these in the 1990’s, foolishly I passed on both .
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-Nate
It’s interesting that the double-cab rig was seen in El Salvador. When we were in Costa Rica in 2012 we found that the double-cab pickup was a pretty popular body style.
Another one I’ve certainly never seen “in the metal”. I assume back when these were on the market, Toyotas were more common on the West Coast and in bigger cities. Or maybe they all just rusted away, if the amount of swiss cheese 70’s Hiluxes that I’ve seen over the years is any indication. About the only pre-1970 Toyotas I’ve ever seen on the road are Coronas here and there.
In Australia we had Toyota Lite-Stout with a 1600 and the Stout 2000 with heavier suspension and the bigger engine. I fitted a 253 V8 when the engine died.