Toyota T100: Toyota’s first full-size pickup for America

The Toyota T100 is a full-size pickup built and sold for the United States and Canada for the 1993 to 1998 model years over a single generation. It was designed specifically for North America, where Toyota dealers had long asked for a full-size truck, and it was also sold in the Middle East as the Toyota Grandlux between 1993 and 1996.

Toyota T100 at a glance

Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Toyota T100.

History of the Toyota T100

Why Toyota built it

As Toyota established itself in the North American compact pickup market through the 1980s and 1990s, dealers asked for a larger truck to keep buyers who moved on to domestic full-size models. The T100 was designed for the local market, part of the same philosophy that produced the wider XV10 Camry in 1991 and the Sienna in 1997. It had a full-size eight-foot bed but kept the engine and suspension layout of the smaller Toyota Truck. It was slightly larger than the Dodge Dakota yet still smaller than some American full-size trucks, occupying a niche, and Toyota deliberately kept it modest to avoid direct confrontation with the Big Three and import quotas. Sales were slow at first but reached the mid-40,000s in the United States by 1996, against about 700,000 Chevrolet C/Ks a year, and they fell roughly 30 per cent when the new Dodge Ram arrived in October 1993.

Design and engines

At launch the T100 had one cab, a regular cab, and one engine, a 3.0-litre V6 with 150 hp and 244 N·m. In 1993 a 2.7-litre four-cylinder with the same 150 hp joined it, promising better economy and a lower price. It was the first imported pickup able to carry a 4 by 8 foot plywood sheet between the wheel wells, and the regular cab seated three abreast on a bench, split on the SR5. Automatics used a column shift, manuals a floor shift, with the transfer-case lever alongside on four-wheel-drive models. For 1995 Toyota added a 190 hp 3.4-litre 5VZ-FE V6 and, from 12 December 1994, the Xtracab with a 6.25-foot bed on the same wheelbase, which added 606 litres of interior room and lifted sales by 150 per cent that year. A driver-side airbag arrived for 1994, and 16-inch wheels became normal on four-wheel-drive models from 1996.

Supercharger and the end

In 1996 Toyota Racing Development introduced a supercharger for the 3.4-litre V6, raising output to about 260 hp and 339 to 359 N·m; it was available only on 1997 and 1998 T100s because earlier engine computers could not support it. The truck was manufactured and partly engineered by Toyota subsidiary Hino in Tokyo, and so was subject to the 25 per cent American tariff on imported trucks. Three trims were offered, base, DX and SR5, with a maximum towing capacity of 5,200 lb and a payload limit of 2,450 lb; a one-ton two-wheel-drive version was sold for a few early years. Toyota announced in August 1998 that the next full-size pickup would be called the Tundra, which replaced the T100.

Design and features

• Full-size bed: the first imported pickup to carry 4 by 8 plywood between the wheel wells.
• Hino build: manufactured in Tokyo by Toyota’s truck subsidiary.
• Xtracab: added in 1994 with 606 litres more interior room.
• TRD supercharger: a dealer option for 1997 and 1998 V6 trucks.

Toyota T100 versions

• Regular cab (1993): 3.0-litre V6, then a 2.7-litre four.
• SR5: the top trim with a split bench.
• Xtracab (1995): extended cab with a 6.25-foot bed.
• 3.4-litre V6 (1995): 190 hp engine.
• Grandlux (1993): the Middle Eastern name for the same truck.

The T100 was the predecessor of the Tundra and the larger brother of the Tacoma; its smaller ancestor is the Stout. More cars are in the Toyota collection.

Sources

• Toyota T100, English Wikipedia: history, engines, variants