VW Taro/Mk3 Hilux pickup

[ja1983]

i`ve just gone and got myself a VW Taro this weekend.. so naturally i`m curious as to just wat the differances are between the mk3 pickup and this "dubbed up pick up" ...

..as far as i am aware VW and toyota did a deal as toyota werent selling many hilux`s in europe and VW didnt really have a decent pickup..

looking round it all i can see is the tail gate has a VW decal in the centre as opposed to the toyota emblem, and the grill has VW instead of T.. the steering wheel has the toyota badge, but i guess this could be down to 15 years of repairs etc...

any more inspiration would be useful! (gaurenteed will find more differances when bits need replacing!)

[Gizmo]

simple use of the google search engine....


http://www.brian894x4.com/Hiluxgeneration3.html

snippet from the very informative site
The 1989 - 1997 VW Taro (European Hilux)
In 1989, Toyota struck an agreement with VW to produce all of it's Toyota pick-ups and sell them in Europe.
The deal was a win/win for both parties. VW never had a decent pick-up and Toyota was having a hard time
selling Japanese made trucks in Europe. To allow the trucks to be manufactured in Europe would help sales
and get by some government restrictions. The trade off was that the trucks would not be badged as Toyotas.
Instead they were badged as VWs. But they were were Toyotas in every sense of the name. The trucks
were nearly identical to their 1989-1997 Hilux counterpart and as with the Hilux they retained the solid front
axle. All of the parts were Toyota designed and many were Toyota made. These VW Taro trucks were sold
all over Europe, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany. In 1998 Toyota introduced an all new
body style and suspension for the Hilux. It was determined not to continue with the VW production and
nameplate because of lagging sales. Today, the European Toyota is once again called the Hilux and
produced by Toyota. It is the same 1998-2003 Hilux found in the rest of the world, except North America.
But sales still lag. Europe is one of the smallest Hilux markets in the world.

[TonyN]

Europe is one of the smallest Hilux markets in the world.[/b]

Thats cos they palmed us off with rubbish engines! from 84 in the US, the pickup came with a 2.4 or 2.4 TURBO petrol engine, and after 86 a V6! What did we get? lame 2.4 diesel, 2.0 petrol or if you are lucky.. a 2.2 petrol motor!!!!