The Taiyo 4WD Toyota Hilux is a radio controlled truck manufactured by Taiyo R/C and released in Japan and other countries across the globe in 1984.
Perhaps the most well known might be the Taiyo Super Roader, however there were many other variants sold not just under Taiyo, but also Tyco, Dickie, Radio Shack, and Tomy brands depending on the store and which part of the world you lived in.
Real life vehicle
In the early 1980s, radio controlled pickup trucks were super popular, with Taiyo, Nikko, and other Japanese brands manufacturing their own interpretation of the quintessential American vehicle. The Toyota SR5 pickup driven by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future was what always stuck in my mind (shown below), however this particular R/C car seems to be based on the real life Toyota Hilux Beach Pickup of the same year.
Features and Performance
As one of the first vehicles based on Taiyo's classic 3xC+9V and 4xC+9V chassis, it's important to keep in mind that this was the dawn of toy-grade, or consumer grade radio controlled cars.
This car took 4 C-Size batteries to run the motor and steering, plus a 9V battery for the radio receiver, both inside the car, plus another 9V for the transmitter/controller. In later Taiyo designs you might assume they would improve the circuit to allow it to reduce the full power down to something the radio could manage, however that would be highly inefficient, especially given these chew through batteries quite fast already. Instead they simply tapped into some of the batteries for the radio, and all of them for the motor controller. For example in the Jet Hopper (8xAA) they'd wire directly into the first 4 AA batteries only for the radio, with the complete 8xAA circuit wired into the motor's speed controller. Smart!
Slow by today's standards sure, but there's still something about its bulky chassis, fat tires, and 40+ years old but still going build quality that make me want to take it off the shelf and give it a run!
This particular model was fairly simple, with only the rear canopy/cover as a feature, while others had a powered winch and crane accessory that made it into a whole other kind of fun for imaginative boys and girls back in the day.
Availability and Collectability
All of these early Taiyo pickups are naturally collectable, with most Taiyo collectors having at least one.
The fact so many of these remain in excellent condition and available online for reasonable prices is testament to Japanese quality... oh and the price of 4xC batteries in the 80s! I'm guessing people didn't get a chance to drive them much!
