DELUXE HILUX
The new Hilux is a world away from the first humble pick-ups
The remarkable transformation of Toyota’s ever-popular pick-up
‘That’s nice,’ said the man to whom I was delivering gardening machines out of the back of the new Hilux. He was admiring the lustrous paintwork and the looming, powerful presence of the latest in a line of Toyota pick-ups that dates back nearly fifty years.
‘Thirty-six thousand pounds to you,’ I answered. ‘It’s not that nice,’ he replied.
As a matter of fact, this man could pick up a Hilux for just under £30,000 if he used it solely for his business, by taking advantage of the government’s dispensation on commercial vehicles weighing over one tonne whereby the operator can reclaim VAT on the purchase. Even so, what has happened to the lowly pick-up that it now costs thirty big ones and more?
This, after all, was always the kind of vehicle you were reduced to if you couldn’t afford a proper car. With the Hilux, Toyota effectively invented a global style of transport for the hard-up. More than 16 million have been sold worldwide and more of them probably remain in active use than any other four-wheel vehicle. You’ll see 30-year-old models doing the business from Alaska to the Australian Outback.
Gradually, the pick-up assumed a less humble identity as a lifestyle choice. A second car for buyers who valued its ‘go-anywhere’ capabilities, its towing powers and capacity for galactic quantities of junk. As the wallets of potential purchasers enlarged, so did the comforts on offer. In place of the crudeness of brakes and suspension in earlier models, manufacturers introduced disc brakes and wishbone suspension, along with upholstered seats and insulation to deaden the racket of the tractor engine up front.
The new Hilux takes those civilising tendencies to new heights. Here is a pick-up so luxurious and so powerful in performance that, despite it’s length of almost 5.5m and height of 1.85m, it could almost be called sprightly.
The sumptuous leather upholstered front seats of our test car came with bottom heaters. It had carpets, a cooled glovebox and a 4.2-inch information screen with touch controls for satnav, DAB, Bluetooth and six-speaker audio. Not many women, however, will want to go on a date in a pick-up likely to grime the backs of their legs when they get out.
Sophisticated driving aids abound. There’s a pre-collision system to stop you running into a pedestrian, a lane departure warning, hill start assistance and active traction control. Some of this electronic wizardry takes the Hilux into new territory for pick-ups, such as trailer sway control and an automatically disconnecting differential for the all-wheel drive. I’m not at all convinced I’d back a Range Rover to better this Hilux in a competition for off-road capability.
On-the-road performance could hardly be called urbane, though rack and pinion steering allows corners to be taken in one swoop rather than through a dozen corrections and adjustments; while the new 2.4 litre D-4D diesel engine is stonkingly powerful, with acceleration from 0-60 mph in 12.8 seconds and fuel consumption around 30 mpg. But is it nice enough to cost
£36,000? Almost.
‘ Here is a pick-up so luxurious and so powerful, it could almost be called sprightly’