The Car That Just Wouldn’t Give Up: The Toyota Hilux Test
When this series of segments first aired (or rather, when I watched them for the first time), I honestly thought there multiple Hiluxes used, and that it wasn’t really a single one that was essentially indestructible. To be completely honest, I’m still not 100% convinced there wasn’t something fishy going on behind the scenes, but regardless, if true, I am absolutely blown away at how resilient the Toyota Hilux is.
For this week’s Throwback Thursday, let’s take a walk down Memory Lane and revisit the time the boys tried their damndest to destroy a Toyota Hilux.
This particular Hilux was put through an incredible gaunlet of tests, and wouldn’t you know, it survived them all. It started out innocently enough, with the Hilux being driven down a flight of stairs by one Jeremy Clarkson. No biggie. The truck was then driven straight into a tree. Pfffff…like a tree can stop the Hilux.
Jeremy then decided to up the ante by drowing the Hilux; literally submerging it in the sea for a number of hours. After a little bit of TLC once it was pulled from the water, the Hilux was up and running again. Next, Jeremy simply drove it through a bunch of stuff, dropped a caravan on it, hit it with a wrecking ball, and then burned it to a crisp. Yet, it still lived.
Obviuosly the boys woul have to up the ante when they revisited teh Hilux, and that’s exactly what they did. James had the next crack at killing the mighty Hilux, and took it straight to a building demolition site. If anything could destroy the Hilux, it would be the act of blowing up a tall building with the Hilux on top, right?
WRONG.
After coming down with the building and being buried beneath all that rubble, the Hilux still lived and made a triumphant return to the Top Gear studio where it was treated with the respect it deserved by being turned into a display.
Honestly, watching the boys do everything they could to destroy the car was incredible, and watching the Hilux keep coming back after everything it was put through was awe inspiring. I’ll be completely honest with you; after seeing this segment, I may have jumped on eBay Motors to look up old Hilux diesels. Don’t lie, you did too.
