Mexstan

Here is a news story I just read that may be of interest to some:

Toyota goes Tonka with giant FTX concept truck

January 7, 2004

By Les Stephenson

Auto analysts in the US are forecasting that 2004 will be "the year of the truck" and Toyota US has indeed just the thing for commuting, taking the garden rubbish to the dump and popping down to the corner shop for milk and bread.

There are other benefits: you'd be very unlikely to be hijacked and may heaven protect any other driver (no, let's leave the taxi drivers alone for once, folks!) who might want to get pushy in the traffic.

On the downside, it'd be a squeeze to get the nearly two metres tall Toyota FTX into the average suburban garage – perhaps even down the average suburban street at nearly six metres long and more than two metres wide
Hopping into the double cab might require experience in the high jump
.

And hopping into the double cab might require experience in the high jump.

Just as well, then, that the FTX is not actually destined for production (sorry, Koos, you're going to have to stick with your tried-and-tested Hilux!) but instead, the company says, indicates
Toyota’s future full-sized pick-up plans.

The hybrid-power FTX was developed by Toyota Motor Sales USA and Toyota’s Calty design centre in California and demonstrates bold styling with a heavily sculpted body and massive front end.

While it is on display at the Detroit auto show as an eye-catching design exercise the FTX is also packed with practical touches. It has been built as a double-cab for sumo wrestlers and follows the trend towards rearward-opening back doors.

They open to 90 degrees and the rear seats can be removed
There's a loading ramp for the jumbo-sized load bed – it extends when the tailgate is opened
.

There's a loading ramp for the jumbo-sized load bed – it extends when the tailgate is opened – and there's a multi-function unit beneath the rear skid plate that houses an electric generator, air compressor and other system outlets.

The driver faces a different kind of office. Instrumentation and a control lever are mounted in an armrest angled towards the driver to create what Toyota calls "an integrated work station".

Each front seat has a miniature suspension system to iron out bumps that sneak past the FTX's cartwheel-sized tyres – the latter turned by a hybrid system that combines a large-capacity V8 petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver way more than normal torque – but fuel economy to match a conventional V6.

Pick-up trucks form a key section of the US new vehicle market, Toyota believes, and says the FTX follows the company's recent launch of the Tundra Double Cab full-sized pick-up.

Toyota has a strong truck heritage in America that goes back to the FJ Land Cruiser of the 1960s and 1970s and the hugely successful Hilux compact pick-up of the 1980s and 1990s.

Tundra models are built in the US and production is set to increase in 2006 with the opening of a new plant in San Antonio, Texas.

The FTX? Well, Toyota says it won't go into production but then doesn't the Hummer need some competition?

Dieseldude4x4

Don't even get me started on Toy trucks.
I bought the most expensive one I could get and lets just say I took a $3500 loss on it to get rid of it. Anything with toy in the name can't be taken seriously as a useful vehicle.

Toy trucks and anything Mercedes has been permanently burned off of my list of vehickles to own with a one inch rosebud.

Now don't tell me you don't know what a rosebud is....

I told you not to get me started.

Mexstan

I know you are dying to tell us, so what is a rosebud? Did I get you started? Did I crank your tail? Or are you just plain cranky?

DPG

My daughter calls 'em "Tonka Trucks."

PackRatTDI

I wouldn't mind one of those Toyota turbo diesel 4WD crew cab trucks they sell in South America.

Dieseldude4x4

Not normally just plain cranky, just that cold weather and toyota trucks will fire me up.