We did for many years. Or to be precise, a version with a slightly different body. Like the article said, that truck was basically bulletproof -- it was a tank on wheels. It was way, way overbuilt for what it was intended to do and that's why they last so long and are so popular with offroaders (the reason I got mine!). Typically the bodies rust out after about 10-15 years but the rest of the truck: engine, frame, driveline, etc is still rock solid so there was an aftermarket industry in fiberglass bodies.

I sold mine (1987 4x4) with 130,000 miles on it for about $2,000 in 2005 and it would probably have gone another 100,000 easily with minimal maintenance. The kid who bought it got a hell of a deal (it was pretty heavily modified by the time I sold it) and he was grinning from ear to ear when he drove off.

The Tacoma was the "new, improved, bigger version."

There is an even more awsome version available in North AMerica/Canada. The Mine car version is built for underground mine use.

Basically the original Hilux with sealed bearing everywhere, guards over everything that can break when a rock drops on it, loads of power take-offs and an interior that you can wash down with a hose.

It even has cup holders (although not a multi-screen DVD surround sound)

Care to give a link (or an easily searchable name) for this "Mine car version" ?

Not 100% sure this is the same but it looks plausible:

http://www.mobileparts.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&ca...

Look for 'mine spec', at least that's what it's called in Australia. E.g. http://www.google.com/search?q=mine+spec+hilux

We did, for some time. A pre-Tacoma Toyota 'pickup' is a Hilux. I drive an '88 and it's still in great shape.

My wife had an 88 SR5 pickup when we met. Now we have an 88 land cruiser and a 74 fj40

My uncle had one in the 80s. You can get it in Mexico. It's not that important in the rest of North America because we have legitimate roads that go almost everywhere. When I lived in a driving state, I had a 4WD Tacoma and it was overkill for almost every situation I encountered.

I thought it was known as the Tacoma in North America?

Tacoma looks the same but it is overall weaker than the Hilux

Are you sure about that? The Wikipedia articles for the Hilux[1] and the Tacoma[2] make no mention of this. The Hilux article heavily implies the Tacoma is the same truck, just under a different name.

Ah way down in the sixth generation section it says: "The Tacoma frame differs from the Hilux frame, although both appear similar from the outside. Both the Tacoma and Hilux variants are sold in Mexico."

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Tacoma

The Hilux has a solid front axle while the Tacoma has a wishbone suspension, IIRC. The latter while good for high speed travel on road and sand, lacks performance in wilderness and rocky terrain. It is the reason the Hilux outperforms the HUMVEE in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As well the Tacoma does not have a diesel option (one of the main reasons it survived submersion).

On another note the Suzuki Samurai is another off-road vehicle that is virtually indestructible.

My understanding is that the (no longer produced) T100 is the closest equivalent NA gets to the Hilux, it has a fully boxed frame and was offered in a 1-ton form (with larger brakes).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_T100

The venerable 1st generation 4Runner was essentially a 4th gen HiLux. The original 4Runner is still remembered as an extremely dependable and overbuilt vehicle here in the US.

It must have been available at some point - because it appears in the Back to the Future series as Marty's truck. Unless it wasn't called a Hilux.

I always assumed it was a T100.

The truck in Back to the Future was a Pickup, not a T100: http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/out-of-production-truc...

But was it called a Hilux or not?

No, the North American (or maybe just US) models were just called "Pickup". What most of the world called the Hilux Surf was called the 4Runner in the US.

Well, in Australia the pickup version was always called the 'Hilux'. I know of a plumber with a 1982 model with 300,000kms on it and it's still going strong.

The 'wagon' version was also called the '4Runner' in Austraila, but,because of used Japanese imports, you're more likely to see a 'surf' than a 4Runner.

I find it very odd that manufacturers seem to always choose a different model name in the USA, despite worldwide success with the original model name. Golf-Rabbit-Golf springs to mind.

From what I can tell, up to 1997, the Toyota pickup truck sold in the US was essentially the Hilux.

I think they have it in Mexico, or at some point they imported a bunch of them. In my east LA neighborhood I see them all over the place, they are a staple of junk haulers and gardeners