Originally posted by Racer X 69 I had a 1975 Toyota Hilux, SR5 Long Bed. Bought it used in 1981 with about 60,000 miles on it, and a bad clutch. I replaced the clutch, and finally parked it in 1998 with over 500,000 miles when the bearings for the differential wore out.
Haven't seen one of those in a long time. I recall seeing one, new around 1974 at the local Toyota dealer in my burg, where I had bought my '73 Corolla.
Toyota used the Hilux model name back then and this one was an SR, believe it had a 5 speed manual and had the long box as the one in the picture (yours) had.
I could be wrong, long time ago, but I thought Toyota was rating it as a one ton, which surprised me, as to me a one ton to me would of been a F 350, D350 , C 3500 of the domestics.
Anyway, I liked the length of the pickup box, thought it would be great to get a cap for the box and my wife and I could use it for camping, as tent camping was not our thing, as we had found out.
Well we didn't in the end, as we needed to pol our money to both go to school. But did like that early Hilux...big 4 cylinder (2.4 liter ?) for the time, 5 speed manual, long box and good payload rating for a smaller size truck.
Another small truck that impressed me back then was the Datsun pickup of the time .
You could also get a diesel in some of the Datsun (Nissan ) trucks. I recall the last older Datsun truck I came across. It was in the mid '90's, in the Black Hills in South Dakota and we were behind it, going up a mountain road. Many small diesels back then didn't have turbos and of course the resultant power that a modern truck turbo diesel has now....and it showed.
The little Datsun was the little engine that could, black smoke pouring out of the exhaust (too rich a setting ?) as he worked his way through the gears going up that mountain road. Even in the mid '90's this truck was probably, my guess 15-20 years or so old and probably had a hard life, but it was running and working. What more could you want from a vintage truck.
---------- Post added 08-13-20 at 12:49 PM ----------
Originally posted by MarkJerling In terms of your query, it depends largely on what part of Africa you're planning to return to. If you're going somewhere like Angola, Mozambique or such, where roads are questionable, then a sporty type car like an Alfa Romeo would probably not be a good idea, especially considering spare parts and repair knowledge. For such an environment, you'd ideally want a Toyota Hilux ute / truck, either in single or double cab configuration. Parts are plentiful and repairs can be made most anywhere. In terms of driving, it's really very little different to a car although not, of course, sporty. Certainly avoid USA style trucks as spares would be nonexistent and any repair is likely to hurt your wallet.
Of course, as you point out, a car and trailer will work well in most situations and it's not hard to learn how to back a trailer. Most cars cannot tow very heavy trailers and if you're hoping to tow a tonne or more, you really want to ensure that you buy a vehicle that is rated for towing something heavy as brake failure with a heavy trailer is not a pretty sight.
Depending on where you go in Africa, it will make sense to establish the common / cheaper fuel source. It could be that diesel is more easy to come by than petrol and you'd want to make sure you buy a vehicle that can be fueled easily and cheaply. In some parts of Africa, petrol stations are few and far between, so it would make sense to find out what will work for the distances between refueling options, especially if you're planning to drive the vehicle there from Europe rather than buying it there. I would suggest that, in most cases, buying it there may be the better option as roadtripping through Africa has it's own special pros and cons.
As for a trailer, the only other thing to consider is secure storage when the trailer is not in use. Trailers have the uncanny ability to disappear in some parts of the world and some parts of Africa. Parking a vehicle with a trailer, only to find the trailer gone when you return, is never fun, so a good quality lock and a sturdy chain may be a good investment.
Excellent advice. And with particular reference to trailers having the uncanny ability to disappear, lock it up. I can vouch for that as our Folder RV trailer was stolen from our back yard.
Fortunately we had insurance. But if we had a trailer now, we'd have a hitch lock, and maybe even remove one of the trailer wheels to make it more difficult for thieves, when the trailer is not attended. Although I think a problem with a hitch lock is sometimes thieves get around that by clamping the trailer to a truck and hauling it away to somewhere quiet, where they can work away at removing the hitch lock, etc.