Toyota Hilux: The unexpected war machine.
Toyota Hilux: The unexpected war machine.
The car that won a war.
When I was, a young boy, my mom bought a 2004 Toyota Hilux and it was a bulky truck she mainly used for work because she has a small company that meeds to move mid size industrial machinery. But it was a reliable good truck that she used for almost 12 years and with minimum issues.
And it remained as a staple of my teenager years of my mom picking me up from my friends houses after staying playing gamecube until the late hours of the night. But What I had no idea was that I was riding in one of the most efficient war machines in the world.
Wait what?
Exactly as you just read in the lines above the Toyota Hilux , and also many of its older vehicle lines such as the Toyota Land Cruiser(sometimes other models but these two are the rockstars, specially the Hilux), have been disproportionately been used as war machines by rebel forces, freedom fighters, insurgent armies, and warlords in conflicts all over world.
On one hand they are very reliable and durable which proves invaluable in rugged terrains, and makes them pretty flexible for a varied array of battlefields. Which can be pretty unpredictable environments, But no matter where it is the Toyota Hilux will be an unstopable machinery!
Also due to it’s cost it is incredibly cheap compared to other military vehicles:
Military Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV): The average cost of a new Humvee is around $220,000.
Military trucks: A new military truck can range from $100,000 to over $500,000.
Anti-aircraft gun: A new anti-aircraft gun can cost millions of dollars
Tank: A new tank can cost anywhere from tens of millions to over a hundred million dollars, while a used or surplus tank can range from several hundred thousand to several million dollars.
A New Toyota Hilux is between $20,000 and $40,000 while a new Land Cruiser can go from $50,000 up to $80,000 depending on country model and year.
But still, even the most expensive Toyota is less than half of the cheapest military vehicle, and thats talking only of new vehicles straight out of the factory. Which makes Toyotas way more cost effective just strap a big machine gun or an anti-air gun to the back of a bad boy and you got yourself a fighting war machine
. And that’s not even counting the cost of ammunition, fuel, specific parts, and specialized mechanics needed to repair most military equipment while Toyotas have massively manufactured and readily available parts and equipments and can be equipped by any type of mechanic doesn’t require special training to operate like a tank or other complicated machinery involved in a war effor just 5 minutes training on how to drive a car and that’s it.
They named a war after them
Yes! Because of the success of the Toyotas as part of warfare in the Chad-Libya Conflict part of it is known as the Toyota War a conflict that happened in 1987 when Muammar Gaddafi decided to invade Chad with the stated goal of annexing the Aouzou Strip, a mineral-rich area along the border between the two countries. The Aouzou Strip had long been a source of tension between Libya and Chad, with Libya claiming it as part of its territory and Chad insisting on its sovereignty over the area.
However, the conflict between Libya and Chad was also influenced by broader geopolitical considerations. Gaddafi, wanted to expand its influence in the region and promote its vision of pan-Arabism and pan-Africanism and what’s the best way to do that than by invading another country and exploiting their resources for your propaganda and war machine.
And the main characters of this war come into play because of the French (yay heritage of colonialism) Since France had a informal agreement of Libyia to respect and not enter into their zone of influence (which Chad was a part of) by starting this invasion France decided to support the Chadian forces but of course since it’s not a full on war on French soil or whatever, it’s not like they gave them proper military equipment (Just see how hard it is for NATO to give equipment to Ukraine with the Russian invasion) So they did then ext best thing and gifted them with a whole bunch of old Toyotas and some Guns.
The thing was that it totally worked, thanks to its versatility, speed, effectiveness and low cost the Chadian forces were able to defend themselves against Gadaffi’s invasion of their territory. Libya lost one tenth of its army, with over 7,500 men killed and US$1.5 billion worth of military equipment destroyed while the Chadian forces only suffered 1,000 deaths, making honor to their names, what Chads!
Brand Awareness
They say any publicity is good publicity but is it true? Hard to tell Toyota has been incredibly quiet about these occurrences, and after the war in 87 more and more has the role of Toyotas been more ubiquitous in conflicts around the world. From the war on terror to ISIS, to Somalia and Niger practically everywhere that there is a armed conflict you are bound to see a Toyota.
But even so these vehicles had to come from somewhere they don’t magically appear, so Toyota is profiting from this? could we say their relationship with these conflicts is direct? Are they war criminals? to most of these questions I would assume nah, I don’t think the leadership of Toyota is trying to instill political instability to sell cars to freedom fighters, more they just accept it and people will get a hold of vehicles wether they like it or not, so might as well make a profit out of it.
So not only is it a reliable truck for you and your family but also if you have enough of them and enough guns why not try to do a hostile takeover of your own country with your group of friends, it might be more effective than the army of your own country. ( PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY I DO NOT CONDONE COUP’ DE ETATS!)
Hope you enjoy this great video as a farewell for now and let’s forget about what I said in the previous paragraph…