In recent days a couple of old hardworking Toyotas have become regulars in my San Salvador neighborhood. From what I see, both still earning a daily living. We’ll start with the more familiar, relatively speaking, to American eyes: A ’64-’66 Stout –Toyota’s light truck entry model, briefly sold in the US from ’64 to ’69.
Along the Land Cruiser, the Stout was among the first products to introduce the Toyota name to US buyers (If we leave aside the shortlived Tiara/Crown). The model sold stateside as the Stout 1900, but was dropped when the new HiLux appeared. Elsewhere, the Stout had a fairly long life and found much acceptance in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. History and details previously covered at CC (links below).
Today’s find belongs to the ’64-’66 model years, as its grille indicates. It’s clearly been recently resprayed, which is somewhat of an anomaly with Salvadorian daily workhorses. Whoever the owner happens to be, is trying to keep this Stout going for another 4 decades. From the looks of it, it seems more than ready to do so…
… with a recently sealed cargo bed to go with that new paint. New tires would have been nice to go along with that overhaul, (look at their tread on the opening shot), but hey, budgets over here at tight.
Even the embossed Toyota lettering on the tailgate was kept in white, just as I remember it from my youth. About those taillights, I believe they’re from Toyota Publica utes, a common fix over here.
Some of the styling details on these old workhorses have a charming industrial simplicity, as can be seen on the Stout’s grille and headlights. As for its styling influences, the grille seems to owe its looks to the 1961 IH C-Series.
Meanwhile, the turn signal hood eyebrows have a jet-era feel that seems GM-inspired. More pending maintenance details up close; headlights need replacement, and a wiper is missing. But well, those aren’t noticed until close at hand, while that paint job does cause an impression from afar. At least around San Salvador’s old workhorse fleet.
From the profile, the Stout’s windshield has a 1950s wraparound logic to it, a detail that seemed rather quaint to my kid eyes when these roamed San Salvador’s streets in the 1970s.
For a hardworking vehicle with six decades on its chassis, I’m pretty surprised that most of the dashboard and instrument panel are still there. Mostly. I do see some missing levers, so perhaps no wipers? No door cards either, but old time readers know that’s a CC staple. And well, at least this Stout got see-through side windows (more on that, soon).
What I do wonder is what might be under this one’s hood. These came with Toyota’s R-series ohv pushrod fours, ranging from 1.5 to 2.0L displacements. Some, have been even converted to diesels in recent times, though that’s not the case with this one.
Moving on, here’s a face I hadn’t seen in a while, a 1970s Dyna. You never got any of these in the States, but were a daily fixture around the roads of Latin America and Asia. This one, like the Stout, seems to be slowly coming back to daily service.
After all, here it’s a few days later with “new” rearview mirrors. Perhaps an urgent necessity due to those homemade tin-sheet side windows?
That’s right. Don’t try this at home, kids! Homemade tin-sheet windows are perhaps a quick fix to unobtanium glass, but it’s not recommended for your long-term health. Then again, weather over here is hot, so these must remain down most of the time. Still… what about a tropical downpour? We get a lot of those too.
Yeap, pretty claustrophobic in there. Do those new rearview mirrors really help with this setup?
The Dyna’s lineage can be traced to the Toyopet Route Truck, which was rechristened Dyna in 1956 and whose platform later served as the basis for the Stout. See how what goes around comes around?
By the third generation, the Dyna moved to the larger “U” platform, part of the hardware inherited by Toyota’s acquisition of Hino motors in 1966. Now a medium-duty truck, the 1969 Dyna arrived, still in cab forward format, with a choice of powerplants available under Toyota’s corporate umbrella. All inline fours; in petrol, a 2.0L 5R, a 3.0L from the B family, and a H family diesel in 3.6L displacement.
Long and short wheelbase versions were available, with the mightiest setup able to carry up to three tons. A double cab and a minibus version were also sold, mostly in Asia.
This generation ran from 1969 to 1977, with very few exterior changes appearing throughout its production. As a sign of Toyota’s sprawling network, a badge-engineered version was offered as the Daihatsu Delta, which also had a choice of additional powerplants.
And should you wonder, that’s a later Dyna badge over the headlights of this one. So not period correct, but family correct. Right?
Enough of a tour around these two. As far as I can tell, they seem to belong to a pair of welders, with the Dyna used to carry large iron gates and the Stout used for daily transport and smaller chores. I still can’t tell if they’ll stay around for the long haul, or if their presence is the result of some nearby home being refurbished. Whatever the case, be near my home or elsewhere, these two seem destined to remain as working elders, and quite willing to do so.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1964 Toyota Stout – Steady And Stoutly Does It
Cohort Outtake: Toyota Stout, Double Cab And Regular Cab – Doubly Stout
Not everyone wants a 4 door short bed pickup. These would sell like hotcakes if they were available in the US. I see a lot of old Rangers around with high prices listed for sale.
Some of those mordor asian pickups have a rear seat based on British sports cars, rear seat yes but rear leg room no.
I saw one of these for sale cheap when I first moved to Bellingham. I wanted it, but I was concerned about parts availability. It’s probably an expensive collector’s item now.
Not selling my Ranger, either.
I had a thing for the Stout; still do. The smaller Japanese pickup cabs were too tight for me, but the Stout would have worked.
The Dyna is a real find. But why not buy some cheap acrylic sheets from the hardware store for the windows?? Well, actually the last time I bought some I was a bit shocked at the price. But still…this is a CC first, sheet metal (non)windows.
Those old Dynas were a good light duty truck and continue to be one I see Dynas doing their job everyday though not the classic version like that Toyota continued to build them in both lite Toyota and heavy duty Hino though mostly in diesel and more recently in diesel hybrid.
Loved these trucks, the Dyna is one I’d never seen, and I don’t recall seeing a Stout here, and only a few of the 1st series HiLux. I bought a new mustard yellow ’73 HiLux and I, too, found it very confining for a 6′ 200 lb’er (well, back then…add more than a few more nowadays lol), but otherwise it was a typical Toyota quality, if spartan truck, A ’72 F-100 360 V8 3 Spd bought later fit much better. I’d like to have that HiLux back now though. Thanks for grabbing the great shots!