"Amoore100" (amoore100)
08/03/2015 at 15:49 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Volkswagen Taro, Toyota Hilux
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"Amoore100" (amoore100)
08/03/2015 at 15:49 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Volkswagen Taro, Toyota Hilux | 4
| 8 |
Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history.
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Ridiculous Rebadges is back after a six month hiatus! I got busy with school and AP testing in the meantime and so had to wait until summer to get a chance to restart the series. In that time, however, I discovered (or I should say re discovered) that Demuro’s old blog !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! also had a series called Ridiculous Rebadge. Therefore, I will attempt to continue this legacy by not repeating any of the vehicles highlighted in his articles found !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
Anyways, today’s Ridiculous Rebadge focuses not on cars but trucks. Small pickups of the ‘80s and ‘90s, in fact. The vehicles in question are the Toyota Hilux and the Volkswagen Taro. This corporate partnership was the result of Volkswagen recognizing a need for a small pickup in their line-up and the fact that Toyota realized that by providing this service to Volkswagen they could further gain market share in the European pickup segment. The deal was arranged and the first Taros rolled off the VW Commercial Vehicle Plant (VWCV) of Hannover in February of 1989. The only available engines were the standard Toyota four cylinder petrol and diesel variants producing between 82 and 110 bhp. In 1994, the 4WD extended cab variant of the Taro was released, also in Hannover. However, this was eventually produced in Japan at the Tahara Plant with an even more pathetic 78 bhp diesel. The Taro went out of production in 1997 after anemic sales resulting from the fact that no one wanted a truck named after an Asian root vegetable (actually named after the Japanese word for older brother/son). Eventually the Taro would be replaced by the Amarok in 2010. As for the Hilux, I’m sure we all know where that went: Top Gear and ISIS.
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Toyota Hilux RN80 (US Edition)
[First two images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]
[Third image courtesy of gtcarlot.com]
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Volkswagen Taro
[First two images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]
[Third image courtesy of all-volkswagen-images.info]\
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Sources:
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Takuro Spirit
> Amoore100
08/03/2015 at 15:53 |
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a.k.a. the most reliable Volkswagen..........................................IN THE WOURLD
HammerheadFistpunch
> Amoore100
08/03/2015 at 15:58 |
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interdasting, did the Taro have any “vwness” about it? different radio, hardware, etc? I mean besides the branding?
dogisbadob
> HammerheadFistpunch
08/03/2015 at 16:02 |
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I hope not!
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dogisbadob
> Amoore100
08/03/2015 at 16:02 |
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best VW ever made :)
Anyone want to put Taro badges on their Hilux/Tacoma? :p
Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
> Amoore100
08/03/2015 at 16:14 |
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The only Volkswagen you could easily dump a 2JZ in.
Also, single turbo setups can GDIAF
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Amoore100
> Takuro Spirit
08/03/2015 at 16:16 |
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The only indestructible Volkswagen...
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Amoore100
> dogisbadob
08/03/2015 at 16:17 |
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Don’t see why not, though I don’t have a Hilux...
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Amoore100
> HammerheadFistpunch
08/03/2015 at 16:17 |
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Don’t think so...at least, none that I could find...