Some of us may still remember a time when we could still find used cars in Orange County, particularly the Toyota Hilux sitting around the Toyota of Orange dealership. For those of you who are younger and were born in the noughties, you probably have no idea what the sales reps of used cars for sale are talking about. However, the Toyota Hilux was a pickup truck you could purchase in North America in the mid-’70s to the mid-’90s. It was eventually replaced by the Toyota Tacoma in 1995 and hasn’t been available in America ever since.
If you are wondering why you can’t just head out to Toyota of Orange to test drive these magical Toyota Hilux used cars, you can thank something called the Chicken Tax. Yup, we said it. Chicken Tax is actually a 25% tariff (tax) imposed by the American government on imported brandy, dextrin, potato starch, and light trucks, just like the Toyota Hilux.
The Toyota Hilux is one of the world’s most sold pickup trucks because of its sturdy dependability and luxurious styling. Although it isn’t offered in the U.S. (thank the 25% Chicken Tax), the Hilux still ranks fourth in global light pickup sales. The Hilux is a fan favorite for many different types of people for various jobs and purposes, including state and non-state militaries and paramilitaries in order to achieve political aims.
Next time you are watching the news, and they are reporting about conflicts that are happening around the world, keep a good lookout for a Hilux which is usually armed by large guns or armed men crammed like sardines in the bed of a Toyota Hilux pickup, cruising through the desert or a mountain battlefield.
History of the Hilux
Toyota started to manufacture pickup trucks in 1968, which was a modification of the Briska trucks that Hino had just required. Since then, the Toyota Pickup, or known as the Hilux, has witnessed eight generations, with each one upgrading on durability. As it turns out, seeing increased usage in lost more brutal functions. At the moment, the Hilux is available in four grades which are a single cab, an extra cab, the four-door double cab, and the beefed-up Invincible double cab. If they were available in America, they would go for about $17,000 USD to $52,000 USD.
First Use in War
The representatives of used cars in Orange County tell us that it started in 1986, during the last stages of the Libyan-Chadian conflict that would come to be known as The Great Toyota War (really, this is so true). France, which was in support of Chad forces, sent a shipment of 400 Toyota pickup trucks to the Chadian military, possibly since they were less expensive than Humvees. The next year in January, Chad’s forces were deployed to regain the city from the Libyan military in their Hiluxes.
During the battle, they wasted no time killing about 1,600 men in the Libyan force stationed in Fada, then successfully outmaneuvering the Libyan Air Force’s jets with their Toyotas. Chadians only lost 18 soldiers and three of their Toyota trucks.
Weapons Systems
The Chadian military was working with modernistic inventions that would eventually be known as ‘technicals’: they were Toyota pickups equipped with machine guns or missile launchers. The design is extraordinarily easy: you take what is usually a stationary weapon on the battlefield and nail it down to the bed of a pickup truck. That’s all it is. The process normally takes as little as ten minutes, and then you have a mobile weapon that is often nearly as well-armed as a tank. These technicals are oftentimes fitted with the Russian anti-aircraft DShK machine gun or MILAN anti-tank missile systems.
Involvement In Recent Conflicts
Throughout the decades, there was an admiration between skint non-state actors and these technicals. The Mujahadeen used them a lot to combat the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and then, in turn, the Taliban weaponized them against American forces when the United States invaded the country. Maybe the most distinguished use of the technicals is by ISIS militants in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Syria, with the machine-gun-equipped Hilux making regular appearances in Daesh propaganda videos and seeing heavy usage in combat. Here we are going from the traditional technicals to the armor-plated, explosive-laced VBIED.
The trucks were also involved with large-scale use on the other side of that conflict, with the U.S. sending 100 Hilux pickups to the YPG (People’s Protection Units), the Kurdish force which was responsible for most of the fighting against the Islamic State in Syria. YPG “cavalry” units were created in which YPG forces would aggressively drive their trucks and badger enemy ISIS combatants. Some who have experienced the war in Syria first hand have said that they drove to the frontline in a Toyota Hilux, were shot by what was likely an ISIS unit’s Hilux-mounted DShK, received a ride to an American hospital in a Hilux that had been converted to an ambulance, and then hitchhiked a ride back to their unit at 110mph along dirt roads in, you can just say it now, another Toyota Hilux. The Hilux is modern warfare’s version of the American iPhone: it’s everywhere, and if you don’t have one, people usually throw you weird looks.
Toyota’s Reaction
Therefore, what has Toyota done to ward off the representation of rebel fighters, terrorists, and armed paramilitary groups in uniform, hanging from the beds of their trucks possessing AK-47s or handling anti-aircraft weaponry? In a nutshell, not a whole lot, and even when they are encountered by American officials who question how terror groups are able to purchase so many Toyota pickups.
Nevertheless, a spokesperson was bold enough to declare to the New York Times in 2001 that, “It is not our proudest product placement, but it shows that the Taliban are looking for the same qualities as any truck buyer: durability and reliability.” And this is certainly true with the Toyota Hilux. We will probably see the Hilux in combat for many more years to come and be involved in future conflicts in the Middle East until a less expensive, studier, more dependable, or even more indestructible vehicle shows up. May we remind you, though, that has not happened since 1968.