Greatest Toyota Trucks of All Time
Toyota’s new trucks are some of the best on the market, but these five are the best of the best. That’s our opinion and we’re stickin’ with it.
The pickup truck segment has always been one of the hottest markets in the U.S. and Toyota is one of the major competitors. To stay ahead of the pack, Toyota plans to give the Tundra a refresh for the 2018 model year before coming out with an all-new model, which is expected to arrive in 2019. Not to be outdone in the mid-size segment, the Toyota Tacoma was also updated for the 2016 model year, as well.
While we patiently wait for future trucks from Toyota, we went over our five favorite trucks from the automaker and here there are. We should point out that the vehicles are in no particular order.
Toyota Stout
Any Toyota fanatic has heard of the Stout before and for good reason. While the first generation of the vehicle came out in 1954, Toyota didn’t sell the Stout in the United States until ’64, when it became the first pickup in the country by the automaker. The vehicle featured a 1.9-liter four-cylinder engine, a far cry from the monstrous V8s found in pickups today, which put out just 85 horsepower. With a ladder frame chassis and four-wheel drum brakes, this is the truck that paved the way for modern Toyotas today and has to be on every top five lists for Toyota trucks.
Toyota Hilux
It’s hard to imagine a list of the top five trucks from Toyota without the indestructible Hilux. Before the Tacoma was introduced in 1995, Toyota sold the Hilux to replace the larger Stout. The Hilux, which was also powered by a 1.9-liter engine, came with rear-wheel drive, a four-speed manual transmission, and the traditional suspension setup for a truck at the time. By the time the sixth generation of the truck rolled around, in 1989, the Hilux had grown to adopt a 3.0-liter V6 engine and bulletproof reliability that still adorns the truck today. If it weren’t for the Hilux, the Tacoma wouldn’t be around today.
Toyota Tundra
It’s no secret that Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge own the full-size pickup truck segment. After T100’s short run, Toyota finally decided to take the fight to the American automakers with a full-size offering of their own. Powered by a 4.7-liter V8 putting out 245 horsepower and 315 lb-ft. of torque, the Tundra was heralded for its comfort, drivability, and maneuverability. How good was the truck? Good enough to win Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year award in 2000. The Tundra is still a strong competitor to other full-size offerings today, with a new model in sight soon.
Toyota T100
After revealing just how capable its smaller offerings were, drivers wanted a larger pickup truck from Toyota and the automaker answered the call with the T100 in 1993. Built until 1998, when Toyota began to develop the Tundra, the T100 filled a niche that no other automaker was in. While larger than its other offerings, the T100 still appealed to drivers not interested in getting into a full-size model from American automakers. The truck originally came with a four-cylinder engine, but was also offered with a 190-horsepower 3.4-liter V6 unit in 1995. With the new engine, and an Xtrab option, Toyota saw the upsides to having a full-size offering, leading the way for the Tundra.
Toyota Tacoma
The Tacoma is the best-selling midsize pickup truck for the last ten years, according to Toyota, and it’s easy to see why. The truck, which came out in 1995, allowed drivers to have the versatility and usability of a pickup truck, without having to deal with a bulky, hulking vehicle. The compact truck has received a large amount of updates since then, with highlights including nabbing the Truck of the Year award from Motor Trend in 2005 and more recently being named a Best Overall Value by IntelliChoice for 2016. The latest model continues the trend of being multifaceted with both a four-cylinder and V-6 option. Being the best-selling midsize pickup truck on the road is a sure fire way to get onto the top five list.