The Toyota Pickup has been for sale in the US since it was first introduced in 1969 as the Toyota Hilux. Even though Toyota had been making 4-wheel drive vehicles since 1941 at the request of the Japanese government, they did not release the “Pickup”, its first 4-wheel drive pickup into the US market until 1979.
Over the years Toyota has evolved the pickup through many different generations and models, with the current model being the third generation Tacoma. Toyota trucks have long been a status symbol of quality and even over time, are very much based in it’s roots of simplicity and functionality over frills and ornamentation. The Toyota Pickup is a symbol of quality for its owner and Toyota understood the value that quality brings to its brand.
I have been a car guy since I could make engine noises and pretend I was shifting from my baby seat in the back of my Mom’s 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. For me, a car is one of the greatest inventions known to man. There are a lot of systems that go into making a car capable of performing its functions and it is supposed to do this while also being safe, user-friendly and many times, a fashion statement. When I think of design, I think of a dashboard and all of its controls, the context of the user (probably driving) and the need to maintain an aesthetic quality driven by brand. All of this, and cars are generational and typically go through major revisions on a regular schedule. Back in the 1970s, Cadillac’s were some of the most ornate cars ever made and yet were completely redesigned almost every year.
For me, the Toyota truck is an icon of capability and ruggedness built on a foundation of reliability. I have used my trucks to travel, work as a carpenter, go camping, off-roading and to take someone special on a first date. When I think of the Toyota pickup, it’s the older trucks that come to mind. I think the of the trucks I have owned in the past and all of the adventures they have allowed me to have that wouldn’t have been possible in a car. It’s incredible how different a truck is in comparison to a car just in terms of capability and how limiting a car can feel.
A design principle I apply to the Toyota Pickup would be Form Follows Function. In fact I see that principle in how Toyota presented itself within the market; as a high-quality, high-capability, low frills vehicle that performs its function while asking little from the user.
The design principle of Form Follows Function as presented within the Universal Principles of Design employs the two interpretations of descriptive and prescriptive. Descriptive is presented as “beauty results from purity of function” and prescriptive described as “aesthetic considerations in design should be secondary to functional considerations”. Interestingly the example in the book for Form Follows Function presents the H1 Humvee Military vehicle along with its commercially available offspring the H2 and H3 by Hummer.
The Toyota Pickup truck maintains aesthetic qualities beyond those that are more functional as they are within the design of the Hummer. However, it is simplicity of its form, with a high-focus on capability and function that makes the Toyota a truck that many users enjoy.
Thanks for sharing your passion for automobiles and specifically detailing your top favorite. It’s fascinating to read and learn a lot about the humble machine – the automobile in general.
I’d love to hear more on how cars might be limiting in comparison to the pickup truck when you consider perspectives of different users. How might that equation (car vs. truck) shift depending on the person and what they perceive to be functional? Say, someone who is not a car person, who is constrained by factors around the form or maybe prefer, as you had put it, a certain look and feel or a certain brand.