Toyota Hilux Heavy Duty Is a Brand-New Type of Truck, but Would It Even Make Sense?

Well, to be fair, probably a lot of people would flat out refuse to acknowledge such a product. What makes a HD truck special is not just its towing capacity or its beefed-up suspension and durable transmission, but also its hauling capability.

That massive truck bed is often put to good use, and if you take something like a Hilux or a Tacoma and stretch it out a bit, it still wouldn’t provide you with the practicality of an F-250 Super Duty or a Silverado 2500 HD.

There are plenty of Heavy Duty trucks to choose from if you live in the United States. Aside from the Ford and the Chevy, you also have the Ram HD, GMC Sierra 2500 HD, and the Nissan Titan XD. Interestingly enough, Toyota doesn’t offer a Heavy Duty model within its truck line-up, as the Tundra can only be considered a Light Duty option.

The same is true in Europe, Australia, India or South Africa where the Hilux reigns supreme. Of course, HD trucks aren’t exactly popular in other parts of the world, but if there was ever a demand for them, it would be interesting to see which carmakers would step up.

The previously-mentioned Hilux is, of course, a compact pickup – on its best day. Technically, it’s a little bit smaller than a Tacoma, and it’s not as capable when it comes to towing. Where it does edge out the Tacoma is when carrying heavier payloads, but don’t expect a tremendous difference between the two.

Would a Hilux HD model make sense?

Obviously, the real answer is no, it wouldn’t. You’d basically be creating a Frankensteinian vehicle, probably the same size as a Light Duty U.S. market truck. Basically, you’d be making an F-150-sized Hilux, but with the ground clearance and beefed-up suspension of an F-250 Super Duty.

This rendering by Kolesa does a great job at depicting such a truck. They took the modern-day Hilux and stretched out the wheelbase, lifted the suspension, added Dually wheels at the back, flared fenders, HD mirrors, and so on.

I think there could be a market for such a product, but it would be rather niche, and probably not worth the investment in R&D. Still, compared to the real-world Hilux, a hypothetical HD variant would blow it out of the sky in terms of utility and capability, not to mention looks. It would truly be worthy of the moniker ‘Invincible’. Just don't let Mark Grayson hear about it.