Now that’s my kind of turn signal. Most drivers today don’t even use the ones built into their vehicles, let alone U.S. market turn signals like the ones on this 1969 Toyota Hilux. This pickup can be found posted here on craigslist in the Tracyton, Washington area, and the seller is asking $10,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
Toyota’s Hilux, sometimes seen as HiLux or Hi-Lux, came on the scene a bit later than Datsun’s small pickups, actually, quite a bit later. But as the name suggests (Hi = High and Lux – Luxury), they were meant to be a nicer, more user-friendly pickup compared to what was out there at the time, at least in Japan. Trucks were for working, small or not, and they were usually a bit more agricultural than something you would just drive to the store or to the office. I couldn’t find a 1969 Hilux brochure, but here’s a very cool Japanese brochure of the 1968 Hilux.
Made from early 1968 through 1972, the first-generation Hilux (N10) was conceived and designed by Toyota, but engineered and assembled by a company called Hino Motors. Hino made passenger cars beginning in 1953, and forged a partnership with Toyota in 1966. The company became part of the Toyota family in 2001. Early Hilux pickups only came to the U.S. as regular cab, short-bed models, and in 1971, cab/chassis trucks arrived in Long Beach, California, and were fitted with beds made here, in order to get around the 25% tarriff on small imported pickups. The fender-top-mounted turn signals were also added, as regulators didn’t think the small blinkers in the grille would be noticeable. Little did they know what 2026 would be like on American roads.
This isn’t the official color for this year; it would have been a lighter green called, yes, “Light Green.” In a couple of years, Toyota offered “Deep Green,” which is closer to this color. This Hilux looks pretty nice so far, but the biggest problem sounds like it’s lurking below that black rubber/vinyl floor covering. Please click on the listing to read this one; it’s long. If I had taken a screenshot of the whole thing, it would have been in microscopic font in order to fit it all in. They describe every square inch of this truck, including the rusty floors that need work.
Sadly, with a 493,049-word listing and good photos otherwise, they didn’t bother to pop the hood to show the engine. Just when I thought things had turned around and sellers were starting to show engines again. The U.S. market trucks had a 1.9-liter OHV inline-four with around 85 horsepower. The seller says this is a 3R-C, the California emissions version, and it has a new water pump, a new battery, and it starts, runs, and drives as it should. It sounds like rust is an issue here, and I’d sure want to see under those floor mats, or better yet, underside photos. I can’t imagine them getting $10k for this truck, but maybe someone wants to take it on as a labor of love and get the rust corrected and restore it back to original spec as it would have looked in Long Beach 57 years ago.
Neat Toyota pickup. I’m a bit surprised about the floor condition, the rest of the body looks really good. It’s a long description in the ad, like Scotty already said, but they’ve put a lot of work into it. Hope it finds a good new home.
A decent old truck, well used, but not abused, but far from perfect. The seller is playing games with the asking price, they aren’t asking $10,000, that’s his minimum, he’s fishing for higher offers, that alone will drive many potential buyers away.
Steve R