The auto industry designs vehicles with certain jobs in mind. There are vehicles made to accommodate families, vehicles for fuel economy commutes, vehicles to transport goods, and then the best kind: vehicles that cause heart palpitations. These machines have at least one common denominator: The owner needs insurance coverage in case of an accident.
Enter Toyota Hilux, the truck all insurance companies want to insure. Why? According to a well known motoring program out of the BBC, “Top Gear” destroying this truck might just take weapons of mass destruction.
“Top Gear” presenters are self proclaimed Hilux groupies and have footage to prove their praise for the ‘took a licking and kept on’ Toyota is justly deserved. Jeremy Clarkson, who likely needs no introduction, took on the Hilux and to his amazement, the Hilux won.
This test was not one to find the most insanely exotic curves and angles nor cloud like suspension nor unheard of 0 to 60 run. The truck bounced down steps, was rammed into a tree, cast out into the ocean, set on fire, and lifted 240 feet up to be included in a building demolition.
The winner of ALL the tests was, of course, the Hilux which is fantastically unbelievable and why when the Hilux was spotted near the Icelandic volcano that recently erupted was given credit for that feat as well.
“Top Gear” drove the Hilux up the unstable rock about to pitch a smoke plume up to the heavens and molten lava to the valley is little surprise: the cool mountain air meeting with all that hot air was bound to cause a disturbance then add in the rumbling Hilux and the stage was set for the Eyjafjallajökull to go KAPOOEY. Well, that scenario sounds plausible if you have a British accent or work for Toyota.
Toyota execs, looking for the sun to come back out after facing one recall after another now look to the Hilux to metaphorically ride their Company roughshod through that plume of smoke—and begin a new era of strong reliability.
