Anyone
interested in international relations, wars and conflicts has probably remarked
an ever present theme from the war zone pictures; a Toyota pickup ridden by
armed men. This image from the war zones is as common as the image of people
holding AK-47s, aka Kalashnikovs.
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| Toyota Hilux and AK-47s |
Ever since
Toyota’s pickup, the Hilux, was introduced in 1968, it has become the
indispensable commodity of all conflicts, especially in Africa and Asia. This multifaceted vehicle was as good as for carrying people as for mounting machine guns. Toyota gained a so great reputation that a war has even been named after it;
Toyota War. The war fought between Libya and Chad in 1986 and 1987 has been
named after Toyota’s indestructible pickup, which has intensely been used as technical
by Chadian troops.
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| Libya civil war 2011 |
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| Toyota in Afghanistan |
From Liberia to Mogadishu it has been used in
almost every single conflict in Africa in the 80s and 90s. The Toyota pickup
continued its successful career in the next decade in Afghanistan. Rolling
against the heavily armored humvees of the American army the Toyota pickup continues
to be the vehicle of choice of Taliban and other groups. Like the AK-47, the
Hilux is somewhat easily accessible, affordable and probably most importantly
during a conflict, is astonishingly reliable.
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| Top Gear's Toyota Hilux |
Actually its reliability and the indestructibility
of this car is so well known in the automotive industry that few years back the
British TV show Top Gear proved it with a series of ruthless tests. After managing
to survive in one piece all the savage tests, the Toyota pickup was finally
given a rest in a Top Gear fashion hall of fame.
It seems that as long as wars will continue to exist and that Toyota will be producing it,
the Hilux will continue to be the real hero of the terrorists, freedom fighters and many others.
