There is an undeniable, and unbreakable, link between the Toyota HiLux and the tough and testing country that is Australia, with the country's most popular ute so common across the vast outback that they're almost like a part of the landscape itself.
The first HiLux was launched in 1968 in Japan, and it quickly found its way Down Under where it would go on to become not just a tool of the tradie and a reliable work horse for hundreds of thousands of Aussie workers, but something unexpected as well — a treasured family transport.
Its popularity has reached so far and struck so deep that we've not only bought more than 1.2 million Toyota HiLuxes in this country alone (more than 18 million have been sold worldwide), but it has been - regularly - the best-selling vehicle in the country. In fact, the HiLux has been the best-selling vehicle in Australia for the past seven years in a row — the only vehicle of its type to ever have achieved that feat.
It's the kind of ubiquity and popularity that Sir Leslie Thiess could never have imagined when he became the first Australian to import the all-new ute. Let's take a look back at the history that's happened since 1968.
Moon Shots and Dam Good Ideas
As the 1960s came to a close, the whole world seemed to be engaging in big, bold ideas. In 1968, a year before we put a man on the moon, Sir Leslie Thiess, the owner of Toyota commercial vehicles distributor Thiess, had already seen the benefit of the off-road versatility of the Toyota LandCruiser, decided that it would be perfect for his workers who were toiling on the enormous Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme and imported a fleet.
Thiess also heard about the first-generation HiLux, which replaced the redoubtable but less-catchily named Toyota Stout, and he ordered some examples of the nifty, single-cab original HiLux for other projects he was running.
The first-generation vehicle, the RN10, was two-wheel-drive only and was powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine making 57kW. It wasn't big, but it was the beginning of something huge.
Living in the '70s
The era of disco in Australia was made visually worse by the love of local males for facial and chest hair, but there was plenty of growth in the HiLux line-up as well, starting with an update for the RN10, which got a bigger, 1.6-litre engine and a long-wheelbase variant in 1971.
The HiLux grew along with its popularity and the second-generation vehicle was launched in 1972 and kept running right through to 1978 (a 2.0-litre engine arrived with the mid-life upgrade in 1975).
It was in this period that the HiLux got noticeable more attractive, inside and out, but the big changes really happened in 1978 with the arrival of the standard-setting third-generation.
This is where the vehicle Australia still knows and loves today really came to being with the introduction of go-anywhere, outback-ready four-wheel-drive variants and the now familiar and more practical dual-cab variant. This was also the point at which the hard-working farmer's friend, the diesel engine, arrived.
Big Hair and Bigger Utes - the 1980s
While people the world over made fashion mistakes that would never be forgotten, the Toyota HiLux grew to be even more widely accepted than permed hair. Indeed, it was in the 1980s that the HiLux became the most popular light-commercial ute in the country, a position it still holds, with ease, today.
That hugely popular third-generation HiLux was replaced in 1983, and it was even more roomy thanks to the invention of the "Xtra-Cab", which provided family friendly seating, or storage space, in the second row. This was the birth of the idea that a HiLux could be your work ute during the week and yet still ferry the kids to the footy at the weekend.
Jump forward to 1988 and it was time for the launch of an even classier HiLux with a new and improved cabin. The late 1980s also saw the launch of a more powerful V6 petrol engine in the HiLux for the first time.
Feeling Hawkish - the 1990s
The 1990s began, as incredible as it seems now, with Bob Hawke still our Prime Minister and our country riding a wave of sporting dominance that would continue through the decade. In 1997, the sixth-generation HiLux arrived - a vehicle that still looks familiar today, as we've all seen so many of them on the roads.
It featured a stiffer, stronger and more spacious cabin as well as a new multivalve 2.5-litre diesel engine, the first common-rail turbo-diesel unit to be used in a ute.
Sky's the limit - the 2000s
In 2010, a modified HiLux was driven to the heart of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland — just hours before the volcanic eruption that stunned the world and brought European air travel to a complete halt.
Modern Love - Recent History
Australia's love affair with the Toyota HiLux began to grow and expand as it became more of a lifestyle vehicle as well as still being a hugely popular work horse. In 2018, the HiLux Rugged X, Rogue and Rugged X variants — fully designed and engineered in Australia — were launched into the local market, targeted at "urban adventurers".
More and more, the HiLux was becoming the weekend warrior, the family car for adventurous types.
In late 2022, Toyota updated the locally developed Rogue with wider tracks and increased ride height for even stronger performance, on and off road. In the second half of this year, Toyota will introduce the most powerful diesel HiLux ever offered in Australia, the HiLux GR Sport — a flagship off-road-focused vehicle equipped with wider tracks, tuned suspension and bigger disc brakes.
HiLux Trivia
• The HiLux name is derived from the words ‘high' and ‘luxury'
• Toyota HiLux has been sold in 180 countries around the world
• Six different countries manufacture the HiLux. By far the largest is Thailand with production of 310,000 utes annually. The others – in order of output – are Argentina, South Africa, Malaysia, Pakistan and Venezuela
• One of the HiLux's smallest markets is... Japan
• The biggest market for HiLux is South-East Asia ahead of South America, the Middle East, Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), and Europe
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