I know there were Fords, Chevys, GMCs, Jeep, Dodge and even a Datsun, but was there a Toyota pickup truck? I know they’ve done them in 1/35 scale recently to add to the middle eastern dioramas.
I think I’ve seen off scale and snap together ones, but a standard pickup truck in either 1/24 or 1/25 by one of the regular car model makers, Revell, Monogram, MPC (who used to do many cars), I don’t recall seeing. I’m thinking of a kit I had as a kid in the 70s.
Yeah, but that’s a 2016 release and not one from back in the day, 1970s and 1980, back in the car modeling hayday.
I remember someone even doing a Chevy Luv and Jeep pickup, and I know I once built a Revell Datsun Desert Rat pickup truck molded in orange. But I do not seem to remember Toyota from one of the common US manufacturers.
From what I can see, here are the kits that are or were once available:
AMT 1980 Toyota 4x4 Snap Fit
AMT/Ertl 1992 Toyota 4x4
Aoshima Toyota Hilux (4x4, 2wd, stock, custom, 2 &4 doors)
Meng Toyota Hilux 4x4 with ZPU-1 gun (1/35)
Arii Toyota 4x4 (early version)
There may be more than what I’ve listed and I know they are still out there. I also know that they made some die-cast in 1/24 or 1/25 for the NASCAR truck racing series.
My search was for one available in the US circa late 1970s made by one of the “standard” US car model makers like Revell, Monogram, MPC or AMT/Ertl.
I remembered building a small pickup truck which I my faulty memory thought was a Datsun. I searched for Datsun pickup and found another model kit that I had built that was a Datsun. It was an orange pickup truck.
So it wasn’t a Datsun. So my search continued thinking it might have been a Toyota. It definitely wasn’t a Toyota after coming up virtually empty in vintage Toyota pickup truck models.
Then I ran across a Subaru BRAT reissue kit. The box art and look of the kit ended my search. The small pickup truck I built in the late 70s was the Subaru BRAT.
That was the first hit I came up with in my search. Maroon paint scheme? It wasn’t the one I remembered, just was trying to jog my memory.
Some of the older common car kits we built in the 1970s bring back great memories. One of my favorites was a Chevy Chevette in a red, white and blue motif that came with a rally tent (like a Chevette would be a rally car). Another favorite was a stationwagon called Quicksilver by Monogram.
Yes, I finally found the Subaru Brat at Hobby Lobby for $29.99 but used the 40% off coupon ($17.99). I just couldn’t see paying $30 for that old truck that I saw on eBay.
