(first posted 5/9/2012) About thirty years ago, Toyota pickups such as our featured CC were everywhere. And why not? They were tough, efficient, and hauled a fair amount of stuff. For those who needed a truck but not a BIG truck, this was a great compromise.
By the time the third generation Hilux debuted in the late summer of 1978, Toyota was already firmly entrenched in the United States market. Starting small in the late Fifties, Toyota gradually built momentum.
The first Toyota pickup sold in the states was the Stout, which looked an awful lot like an early ’60s International pickup. While it was available for a few years, it was not exactly a big seller. It successor would be much more popular.
The first Toyota Hilux came out in 1968. All in all, it looked very similar to the contemporary Datsun pickup. Both the Datsun and Toyota mini-trucks were very popular during the late ’60s and early ’70s. The first Hilux featured a 1.5L four cylinder engine (in home market versions) which was bumped to 1.6 liters in 1971. US-bound 1969 models came with a four speed manual transmission and the 3R inline four, good for 84 hp. It was replaced with a 97 horsepower 8R SOHC I4 for 1970-71. A long wheelbase Hilux was added to the range in 1969, though it was not available in the North American market until 1972. The second generation version (shown above) was introduced in spring of 1972, for the 1973 model year.
The second gen 1973 Hilux lost the “upside down” headlight and turn signal design for a conventional arrangement that was not all that different from the Corolla. Despite being all new, it didn’t look drastically different from the 1968-72 model. It retained the 2.0L, 109 hp 18R inline four cylinder that original Hiluxes received in 1972. Also new was a long bed option for greater hauling capacity. 1975 models had a number of improvements, inlcuding fitment of a larger 2.2 liter engine and an available five speed manual. Another change was that the “Hilux” name was dropped on US models, becoming simply the Truck.
In 1979, the third generation Truck came onto the scene. Like its earlier brothers, these were tough little trucks. True, you weren’t going to be towing a horse trailer or RV with it, but you could haul quite a lot and not be overly beholden to the gas pump. The body was more modern, with a front end that no longer had any resemblance to 1960s models. Big news came in 1979, when a four wheel drive version became available, called simply the 4WD. The 4WD was also the first Toyota Truck available with an automatic transmission. These models would continue until 1983, to be replaced with the more modern “Marty McFly” edition.
I had just had lunch with my sister and was walking out to the car when I spotted this remarkably clean (for the Midwest) Truck. I am not really familiar with these trucks, but I believe it is a 1982 due to the rectangular headlights. Most of these pickups disappeared from the streets when I was in 5th or 6th grade, so seeing this one still in service was a treat. I really like the simple lines and practicality of 1970s and early 1980s Japanese cars, but they are nearly extinct here. I saw it again today, in the same spot, so whoever owns it must work around here.
It’s probably a good thing this is in Iowa, or Michael Freeman might be tempted to make an offer!
Michael Freeman hell; darn good thing I’m a couple states away or I’d make an offer. And I’d love it and squeeze it and name it George.
Hello, I am here in Bakersfield Ca. This is my baby girl, which I have been driving daily for 27 years. 1982 Toyota pickup. I also bought my daughter a 87 toyota 4WD when she turned 16 years old. My parents both own 1991 toyota pickups. My husband wants me to get a new car, I said NEVER will I get rid of my old gal. She has a straight body, and dependable. Although someone tried stealing her 3 weeks ago. Thank God for her eccentric way of needing to be started, or they would have had her. Yes she is lavender, I did that so my husband would not drive her. And I did all the work on her myself, during summer break while off from work.
Here is a picture of her interior. I really made sure my husband won’t drive the gal. LOL!
This hurts to see an awful pile of garbage like a…a…toyota (lower case intentional)!
Just teasing, really, but my predjudice against them is tempered with grudging respect for many reasons. Here’s one of them:
A close friend bought a Toyota pickup, blue, in around 1977. I was engaged but not yet married and still driving, as wifey still refers to it as “the fire engine”, my 1976 3/4 ton Chevy Custom Deluxe truck, red with white roof.
The issue was fuel economy (I’m cheap and hate paying for gas, remember?). While I averaged exactly 13.5 mpg no matter how I drove the beast, my friend was getting around 28 mpg! I was really ticked-off about that and promptly went to a local Toyota dealer and test-drove a pretty yellow SR-5 pickup. I was duly impressed, to say the least. I should have dumped the “fire engine”, as I had a person at work who really wanted to buy it. I didn’t do it, but can’t recall the reason why. Wedding plans and all that, I guess…
In any event, I really liked my friend’s Toyota pickup, but I liked the looks of the Ford Courier better and considered buying one of those. Our wedding and a sudden(!) job change took priority, so I kept the Chevy. In case anyone is interested, I also checked out a new colonnade Chevy Malibu coupe stripper – the horror!
What did I do after we were married? Well, I sold the truck two months later to the couple who wanted to buy it in the first place – I owned it two years to the day! Then what? Ummm…I bought a 1976 Gremlin! (slap to the forehead!) I also paid off the loan, paid for a new tranny for wifey’s 1970 Mustang and put about $800.00 in the bank. Suddenly, we were debt-free! I suppose we came out ahead, after all…no car payment for the next 17 years!
Uh…the photo is from 1978 as we were moving into our first home!
I see the Gremlin doubled as the UHaul for the move into the new house, uh?
Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt!
🙂
You bet! Hard to see in the photo, but there was room only for me!
I can definitely see that, been there, done that with an ’83 Civic in the mid 90’s, though the front seat held the 19″ late 70’s color TV and I forget what was in the back as I blazed south on I-5 doing around 70 moving back home after my first unsuccessful attempt to move out on my own (adult student at a community college and no really job due to school).
That little beast did the job well.
As for hatchbacks of any stripe, they may be ugly, but you can’t argue with its versatility and practicality with a stick!
The Gremlin. A proper car with fixed rear windows. Like they should be.
Curse you, Syke! Ha ha!
You realize when you die and go to hell, you’re going to be issued a car with NO windows that roll down, unbreakable glass, and no air conditioning.
Be Gone Old-Baptist! Be gone Syke!
…and automatic seatbelts with a warning buzzer that never shuts off.
That’s annoying as hell.
While I’m all for SRS air bags, I’ve never been a fan of automatic seat belts. I’ve always preferred being able/allowed to fasten my own seat belts.
Shackles on the rear leaf springs? A little sag in the back or did somebody want the hot rod raised look in the back?
My all-time favorite light truck; thanks. The outfit I worked for had them in both 2- and 4wd versions, and I loved both, although the 2wd, naturally, rode and handled much better on the open Interstates of Colorado and Wyoming. My sole knock on them was a total lack of corrosion protection, which of course is the main reason they are almost non-existent today. The single-wall beds, especially, would practically evaporate within a few years. Nevertheless, in my recollection they were dead stone reliable mechanically, and no doubt were a major contributor to Toyota’s reputation for bulletproof vehicles.
It truly baffles me why no one makes this size truck any more; for me at least, it’s the perfect size and cargo capacity for anything I might want to haul, with far better fuel mileage than the road pounders that predominate today. To go off on a tangent a bit, I’ve always felt they fit the niche once held by British sports cars (2 seats, rwd, low horsepower but decent power to weight ratio), but with the ability to haul stuff around when one wants to. I seem to recall an article in an old Car & Driver that mentioned some outfit making replica Jaguar XK120s on the chassis of Hi-lux pickups from this era, so at least one other person seems to have shared that opinion.
I share your opinion on the sportiness. Even today compact PUs have a decent power/weight ratio and with 5spd manual can be sporti-ish, in an underpowered British sports car sort of way.
They don’t make them this size anymore because they were too small. The bed is fine, but the cab is claustrophobic and there is no secure place to leave your stuff, unless you leave it on the passenger seat, in which case you can’t have a passenger. Extended cabs make a lot of sense.
IMO the last generation Ranger is the perfect size small truck. I know many feel it’s too big, but I think they’ve forgotten how small the Hilux really was. Of course when we were young we were a bit thinner, and more limber.
Besides, the only place you hear moaning about “why don’t they make them anymore?” is in the car blogs. And car companies learned a long time ago that if they actually make what the bloggers claim to want, the final product will be nit-picked to death for reasons not to buy it . . . . . and in the end those bloggers who actually do buy will only buy the car once its used, so somebody else can suffer the depreciation.
Amen! Here is how it goes.
“Build it!”
“It doesnt look like the old ones!”
“I got mine used”
“Why are they cancelling it?”
“They messed up the marketing”
“They never sell what ‘people’ want”
on and on….
Amen, chicagoland!
Don’t forget these.
“no manual trans?”
“I’d rather have an El Camino”
or
“the rest of the world gets all the cool cars”
Totally agree, had a ’92 Ranger and agree, it’s a nice size, not as small as these little trucks, even the 82 Nissan Hardbodies weren’t quite as large as the Rangers/S-10’s but the Ranger/S-10’s weren’t quite as large as the Dakotas so it’s a perfect size IMO, especially in the extended cab versions like I had.
Mine suffered from extreme high mileage and old age and I had to replace it in January.
I recall one of the sports car magazines had an article by Dick O’Kane (?) who made the statement that “sports cars are just little trucks”.
+1
The current Tacoma and Frontier are HUGE. And I also doubt Ford in killing the Ranger. The logic that the same guy who wants a Ranger will be happy in an Eco-boost F150 just doesn’t wash. I think if some auto maker could put together a viable, truly small small-truck, they’d mop the earth with the low-end half tons and whatever they’re calling the current Taco and Fronty.
But gimme a good hardbody Nissan any day.
How does the bed size (length and width) and payload on these compare with a current full size crew cab F-150? Anyone with hard data on these little buggers?
I see a lot of small trucks and hate the guts of every single one of them. Its probably because they’re all diesel and with no concept of driver comfort whatsoever. But they are very rugged. Older Hilux are the same. This is probably the reason Toyota doesn’t sell them in India. They would be murdered by Tata offerings.
Bed length is about 7.5′ on a single cab (it sounds like you had slightly longer in the US so perhaps 8′), 6′ on an extra-cab and 5′ on a double cab. At least that is how they traditionally were with a single wheelbase and variable cab/bed length. Width on this generation would be just under 1700mm overall or say 66-67″, less the thickness of the sides – near 5′? Over here they more often wear an 8×6′ dropside tray.
Are these figures for the old Hilux or the new F150? What about max payload?
The US didn’t get anything other then a single cab for these trucks, the bed options where a short bed at 6ft and long bed at about 7ft (I can’t remember the exact lengths) Capacity ranges from 1,000lbs to 2,000lbs depending on the model. I’ve had about a 1,000 in mine, brakes and power was Ok, but the handling was not. Fine for around town, but not recommended for long trips.
I believe the King Cabs from Datsun came out in the late 70’s, don’t know about Toyota, but would assume they did have an extended cab by 77-78 or so but could be wrong there.
This is for the Hilux, and admittedly more based on slightly later models – I don’t think these actually had an extra-cab model in this generation (the “Marty McFly” generation had them) but they did have a double cab here in Australia. Load capacity would be roughly 1000kg here too.
I will take a LUV any day over these as the cabs actually fit me, unlike Toyotas of the 70’s
This is the type of truck I drove for years only they were labeled as Datsuns. I found them to be very reliable and workhorses. It depends on what you are looking for but for some, all of these little trucks fill the bill. The first one I ran across in the states was my BIL’s Toyota Stout. What I remember most about it (other than the severe rust rash that eventually consumed it) was the four on the tree transmission and the 200k it hit before he parked it.
I am a little happier with the slightly grown version that is my S10 (or ranger or dakota) but I miss the quick steering response from my Nissan. My last Nissan still sits in a back pasture with a frozen engine. That after a batch of $$ and a year in the high school auto shop. I guess it was my last donation to the education system.
Its an 82 or 83, and a base model at that. Toyota made 3 trim levels: Base, Deluxe, and SR5. The base models do not have vent windows or a sliding rear window, DLX and SR5 do. This one does have a few options, a long bed and maybe a radio. My base model didn’t even come with a cigarette lighter it was so cheap. Notice also that it does not have a passenger side mirror! Not fun on the freeway when trying to move over, ask me how I know. The beds for these where made and installed in California, hence the reason they rust faster then the rest of the truck.
You are right that the beds were made in CA and thanks to CARB they rusted worse than the rest of the truck, but those beds were not installed in CA they were installed in WA where the trucks entered the country. Back in the 80’s I’d take trips down I5 on a fairly regular basis and it was a regular sight to see 2 or 3 trucks full of beds convoying their was to WA to meet their truck. Often times there would be one truck full of beds in that blue color. However not all of the trucks got beds made in CA some of them, had beds that were made in Japan. I found that out after a friend of mine bought a new 4×4 one in 1985 and not to long after it took a hit to that filler panel behind the rear wheel. When he went to the dealer to get the part they asked was the bed made in Japan or the US.
Very cool thanks for the info, especially since I live in the area. Mine was bought new in Auburn and has stayed in the area ever since.
Actually there was 4 different types of beds, I just learned this through Google, copy and paste from another site:
Bed w/o rails or tie-down hooks & center tailgate latch: “California” bed;
Bed with rails, but no hooks, center latch: “Federal” bed;
Bed with rails and hooks, center latch: “Canadian” bed;
Bed with rails and hooks, side cam-latches: “JDM” bed.
I knew there were Canadian beds too, that mostly stayed in Canada, but this is the first I’ve heard of the “Federal” bed.
I forgot to mention that this list was in reference to the 84+ trucks which have both a smooth side more modern bed, and the older style with the rails. From what I read elsewhere, the 79-83 beds where all made in Ca. The 79-83 all had rails. In 79 they only had side latches, but by 83 you could get a center latch. My knowledge is very limited to what is on the internet, and personal experience with the two 83’s that we own, being that I wasn’t around when these where made.
Is the reason the beds were installed in CA due to the “Chicken Tax” – which levied a high tariff on finished imported trucks?
Yes the beds were made in CA and installed in WA so they could be considered incomplete vehicles and avoid the chicken tax. The current twist with the Ford Transit Connect is to import them all with back seats and seat belts so they are “cars” and then un-latch them upon arrival and throw them away. On some they also remove the side glass and replace them with steel panels.
“The beds for these where made and installed in California, hence the reason they rust faster then the rest of the truck.”
Soooo true. A workmate had a mid-80’s white one, and the bed dissolved before my eyes my five years at that place before that company moved me to Ohio in 1992.
Man, riding in that thing to pick up White Castles for lunch in the St. Louis summers with no A/C was an experience. Of course he drove it like the 4th of July thinking he was in a Porsche or something!
At one point he was getting so aggravated at being stuck behind a slow-poke, I suggested he mount bottle rockets behind the grille and rig up an electrical ignition/launching system to scare the heebie-jeebies out of whoever got in his way! He almost ran us off the road, he was laughing so hard! Kids…
For what it’s worth, in the 70’s, several times I saw these that instead of having the name stamped into the tailgate, had decals on the bed spelling “TOYOTA” with the last three letters removed, leaving “TOY”. Pretty cute, I thought.
The guys with the Low-rider Mitsubishi’s did much better with removing the tailgate decals. Remove the ts& is and you get MI UB HI.
Theres the difference the brand name is pressed into the tailgate on Japanese utes no decals
Note this one has the Japanese made bed hence it is not near as rusty as the one in the recent article.
I also remembered that a lot of them around here, instead of removing the OTA for TOY removed the TO & TA for YO.
I bought an 82 Truck in about 98. Had 200K+, very little rust, 5 speed, ran very well. (Oregon rig, so rust a non-issue.) Used it to move temporarily to Colorado. Filled the back with what little music gear and other worthwhile possesions I had and hit the interstates. Ran great and got good mileage, there and back. Not that mileage mattered much that year; around Salt Lake City on the drive home unleaded was 72 cents a gallon.
Those were the days…
Only mechanical issue I ever had was the muffler falling off driving north on I5 one night.
I remember these rolling around the Chicago area all the way to the late 90s. They were really popular with small contractors. Window and door guys and siding installers.
I don’t recall the whole bed rusting badly on them though.
I may be wrong here. I think there was a seam hidden in that character line and from there down they’d turn to dust. I could be thinking of the Datsun/Nissans though.
My daughter found a short-box 4×4 Toyota pickup that she wanted in the worst way, back when we were looking for a Civic for her. This little rig had a chrome roll bar and chrome wheels, and had been spit-shined until it was almost concours-ready. Her second automotive disappointment…when I found out that by the time we insured it we’d be paying for it twice I turned the big thumbs-down. (Her first automotive disappointment had been the white on white leather Rabbit convertible we’d looked at a few days earlier: “But Erin, see how the steering wheel is turned sideways when the front wheels point straight ahead?”)
For a number of years while in college my brother had one of these, and he absolutely loved it. It was in rather… decrepit shape to put it mildly, I believe that he paid $50 for it after he destroyed his 1991-ish Ford Probe GT.
It had a strategic floor plan hole that gave him a nice spot in his crotch when it rained, and also was perfect for the keys to fall out of the ignition – they never really stayed – and onto the moving road. Oh, and a pack of cigarettes, he got made at it that once.
I’ve got no doubt in my mind he’d still have it had it not been totaled in a collision. He was truly and honestly upset when it got killed, and even though he now was a much “superior” vehicle he still misses it.
For the sake of my sister in law, however, I won’t send this to him as we’re in Nebraska, and I have no doubt he’d buy it.
“The 4WD was also the first Toyota Truck available with an automatic transmission.”
For the record: My 1978 short bed Toyota P/U had the 20R engine and an auto tranny.
Aisin, I believe.
Very robust and always worked as it should.
And, it was definitely a 1978 model.
I had a 1985 long bed 4X4 and it was a great vehicle. It the first year of fuel injection and mine was a 4sp auto with o/d so my girlfriend could drive it. It was a great until with simply fantastic off-road ability. Downsides? The seat was horrible. Oh, and if you tried to pull a trailer up the Rocky Mountains with the bed full, you’d burn out the motor.
Which is exactly what I did. My fault, not the truck’s.
The same engine went in Dolphin and Winnebago Phoenix (?) mini motorhomes. The way you drove them was: put it in drive and pin it. I saw one (a Dolphin) with over 150K, and that include seven crossings of the Continental Divide! It was a 22R-E and an automatic, I think a 1989.
That’s one of the things I like about the Toyota truck of the late 70s and early 80s. The 20R and 22R engine.
You are right, it’s a good one. But you know me, I gotta have four wheel drive.
Tuff little utes these carry a tonne easy good on gas or diesel dont break down and plenty still in regular use here.
my cousin had an orange 1970 hilux for years. he drove it from oregon to nj and back many times. that was the vehicle that made me a toyota believer.
I remember when compact trucks were popular. Not everyone needs a huge Ford F Series pickup truck. Sometimes a small pickup truck is just perfect in size. My stepdad had a 1978 Toyota Hilux pickup. What I loved about the truck was its relative simplicity compared to today’s pickup truck. It had everything I think a truck should have, a reliable 2.2 litre 20R 4 cylinder engine, a 5 spd. manual shifting transmission. It had an AM/FM radio. It got better fuel economy than anything else I’ve driven.
In the mid-1980s, I worked for a towing company that had two of the early-1980s Toyota trucks converted to tow trucks. They had (as I recall, remember that it’s been almost thirty years ago) rectangular headlights, but doors similar to the ’79-83 blue truck pictured above. The conversion included dual rear wheels and a scaled-down single-cable towing unit that bore a lot of resemblance to the Holmes 440 unit that was still popular in that era. The winch was electric, with a second battery mounted near the mast. The 22R engine in that truck was worked VERY hard, and kept running well.
The biggest thing I ever pulled with one of them was a ’75 Olds Toronado. THAT was an experience, to be sure, as I had “bump steer,” by which I mean that every time I hit a bump I had a moment of steering…
Anybody have any idea who was doing that conversion?
What’s always bothered me was the lack of a diesel engine option. Is diesel for everyone? No, of course not. But I believe that should people want a diesel engine option or need a diesel, they should be allowed the option.
My Dad bought a longbed in 1980. The bed and cab were different shades of yellow. I beat it hard in high-school (mid-eighties). It was the first car I replaced an engine in (Japanese market lo-mile 21R). I also installed what I thought was a five-speed junkyard gearbox, but found only four gears when I put it in. Dad and I drove it until replacing it with a new one in 1991.
I have a 1982 toyota pickup california truck. Long bed. Runs great. Selling or trading if anyone is interested! around 140k orig miles.
What’s the transmission? Interested in your truck.
831.535.3884
I actually own a MUCH better version of this exact truck, blue and all…
I purchased this one from the son of original owner (fireman that used it as a camper for local camping ONLY). It has 63K miles on the odometer. Apparently it sat in the sons yard for decades before he decided to get rid of it…lucky me! It was quite faded and the wiper arm covers look to have boiled in the direct sunlight. But dang, what a gem! I gave her a tuneup, replaced the clutch, shined her up and she’s good to go for several more decades. I am in California, so rust and corrosion are not a factor. And with a camper on her for most of her life, the bed’s still in great shape, aside from some paint chipping. If one of you are looking to rekindle your appreciation for this fine piece of machinery, hit me up. I MIGHT consider parting with her…for the right price!
I remember this generation Toyota pickup truck. My dad owned a 1978 Toyota Pickup when I was a boy. It had a 20R 4 cylinder engine, and a 5 spd manual gearbox. Although the seats themselves weren’t very comfortable, there was still enough room in the cab for two adults to ride in comfortably. Anyone who complained about the discomfort of these trucks is either crazy, or you’re too big to fit comfortably.
One of the best things about the old Japanese mini trucks was the exposed tie down hooks. There was always some way to tie down your load with those. Securing your load is a legal requirement. Too many truck owners don’t seem to care.
I know what you mean. How anyone can carry anything in the bed of a truck and not care whether it stays in the bed is beyond my comprehension. 🙁
Most modern trucks have tie down points inside the bed down low, where they work better for securing a wider range of load sizes. I can’t think of one time where I would have preferred external ones.
Whether inside or outside the bed, people still refuse to tie down their loads.
Can’t tell you how may sofas, sofa cushions, recliners, or mattresses I see along the interstate; especially on a weekend!!
Wow, sounds like quite the obstacle course. Doesn’t seem to be much of an issue around here, though it does happen from time to time.
These still arent rare here tghe 2nd gen though is almost extinct, they did come with 4wd though the 3rd gen really put them on the map here with ads done by Barry Crump hooning them thru bush roads, NZ Toyota ute ads win awards but for some reason get censored when shown in Aussie as their delicate sensibilities cant abide rude words.
The current HiLux looks massive next to the older ones. I wonder how long it will take before it’s as big as a Tundra.
Real compact pickups are still very popular in South America.
I’m not a fan of today’s Toyota trucks (Tacoma here in the USA). They look so huge next to the Toyota trucks of 30-40 yrs ago. I miss the Toyota truck of 30 yrs ago. They were rugged, the engines were simple, they produced all the power and torque needed for the job from a rather small (2.2-2.4 litre) 4 cylinder engine.
I was at a radiator shop yesterday that has survived by branching out into fabricating all things line and hose related. They have an Isuzu P’up from the mid ’80s, and I mentioned it. The proprietor told me he wanted a Mazda, but the Isuzu dealer dropped it off and wouldn’t take it back when he said he didn’t like it. He was disgusted when his mother bought it from the pushy dealer, as she still managed the place 30 years ago. Since then, the Isuzu has been through four 1.9 liter gas engines and four additional top end rebuilds while covering a total of 120,000 miles. If he’d bought a Toyota and only put 120,000 miles on it, it would probably be worth close to what he paid, having been through a few more oil changes than the Isuzu needed heads.