Tale of 1st made in SA Toyota
LEGEND: BAKKIE TRANSFORMED OUR MOTOR SCAPE Collector of veteran cars sells trailblazer model to museum.
Arguably the oldest “made in South Africa” Toyota in running order – a 1963 Toyopet Stout – has found a new home at the Toyota Museum of Nico and Tanya Fourie in Klerksdorp.
Dr Doeke Tromp, of Pretoria, said that after a relationship of 58 years with the Toyopet Stout he has decided that it is time for it to go to a new home.
He found that new home recently when reading the February 2022 edition of Car magazine, which had a feature on the Fouries’ ever-expanding museum in Klerksdorp.
“I am now 72 and realise I need to scale down my classic car collection and its related activities, so it made sense to sell the bakkie to somebody who will appreciate it and its important place in South African automotive history,” explained Tromp, a former university lecturer and chief financial officer at several large institutions.
“My father bought the Stout in December 1963, but it was first registered in January 1964. Toyota South Africa was founded in 1961, and these newcomers to the South African market were first imported from Japan as built-up units, but ‘our’ Stout was assembled by Motor Assemblies in Durban.
“Assembly of the Stout RK45 model began at Motor Assemblies in Durban in 1962, and then in 1963 the improved RK100, with a 1900cc engine and twin headlights, went into local production.
“This is the model my father bought. The retail price was R1 770, which was very reasonable for a bakkie that could carry a load of 1.5 ton, while the popular American Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, and GMC bakkies were only rated at three-quarters of a ton.
“Our Toyopet Stout served a very productive life on my father’s poultry farm, as well as providing transport at various building projects in Vereeniging. I also used it when doing my test for a driver’s licence in 1968,” said Tromp.
“The well-used bakkie was given a basic repaint in the same light-blue colour in the early ’80s, along with the load box being reconditioned and the upholstery retrimmed.
“The Stout was inherited by my sister as part of the poultry farm’s property following my father’s death in 1990. When my sister emigrated to New Zealand in 1996, my sons suggested that we acquire the Stout in memory of their grandfather.”
Tromp said it was then used as daily transport by his sons during their studies at university and later used on their farm in Ventersdorp in the North West.
“The Toyopet was retired to Pretoria when I sold the Ventersdorp farm in 2017, and I began a nut-and-bolt restoration,” he said.
“I had the body resprayed in the original colour and I am immensely proud of the restoration to its original appearance, while the bakkie still does 16km/h in first gear and 110km/h in fourth, with an unopened engine.
“Even in its retirement, my son Jan-Hendri found a use for the Stout in 2018. He was the facilitator of a Deloitte strategic planning session for Toyota SA executives and used the bakkie as a prop.
“There was an artist drawing on a whiteboard during the discussions and his illustrations included a rendition of the Toyopet with Andrew Kirby, president and CEO of Toyota SA Motors, behind the bakkie’s steering wheel,” added Tromp.
The Toyopet Stout was an important product for the fledgling Toyota company in Japan when it was launched in 1954, sharing its chassis with the two-ton Dyna light truck.
It remained in production in its original form until 1960, and was sold only in the Japanese domestic market where its main competitor was the Nissan Junior.
The second-generation Stout went into production in 1960, and a year later an example of this model was sent to South Africa for evaluation by industrialist Dr Albert Wessels, who asked an employee, Hennie Klerck, to go to Durban to do the actual test driving.
The vehicle was then driven to Johannesburg for further tests, after which Klerck believed this pick-up could be a winner in South Africa.
The first shipment of 10 Stouts arrived in Durban in January 1962, and were all sold at the coast because the 1.5-litre engine was considered too low powered for highveld conditions.
The second shipment arrived in October 1962, and these were fitted with an enlarged 1.9-litre engine, while quad headlights were an external identifier.
Cumulative sales amounted to just over 30 000 units in the 28 years this model was on the local market.