Toyota Drops A Caravan On New Gen Hilux – Durability Stunt

Toyota Hilux has garnered a reputation for being one of the most reliable and dependable vehicles in the past decades. For good reason, we would say. This is thanks to a series of TopGear stunts which aired on BBC 2, some 23 years ago where Jeremy Clarkson tries to kill a Hilux Diesel truck and it emerges unkillable.

These series of stunts took the automotive world by storm and quickly established Hilux nameplate in high regards. 23 years after these stunts were aired, Toyota is now recreating just one of those stunts with the electric version of 9th Gen Hilux pickup truck by dropping a 760 kg Caravan on it.

Toyota Hilux Caravan Drop Stunt

Hilux has just reached its 9th generation version and the latest Hilux pickup truck is offered in multiple fuel options (Petrol and Diesel), depending on the market. However, there is an electric version of new 9th Gen Toyota Hilux which doesn’t run on any fossil fuels at all. Now, Toyota has recreated the iconic ‘Killing a Toyota’ stunts by TopGear UK aired on BBC 2.

In the stunt video, we can see a 9th Gen Hilux EV at Brentwaters Airfield in Suffolk and a Caravan suspended roughly 9 meters (30 feet) above it. This Caravan weighed around 760 kg and it was dropped on the 9th Gen Hilux EV. In the battle of Hilux vs Caravan, it was Hilux that emerged victorious.

Similar to original stunts which aired 23 years ago, this Hilux EV subjected to this stunt, drove away without any major issues. As seen in the video, Hilux EV took some damage which can be seen on the slightly deformed roof along with broken front windshield. While pillars mostly held on to their original shape and structural integrity, we could see some deformation in the load bed.

This stunt recreation was suggested by Reddit users when the company asked how to test the new Hilux. Caravan drop test was the one chosen and the other one was hitting new Hilux EV with a 1,000 kg wrecking ball multiple times.

Original Stunt 23 Years Ago

This stunt by Toyota was an attempt to recreate the ‘Killing a Toyota’ series of tests performed by Jeremy Clarkson on a 1980s rusted, used and old Hilux Diesel pickup truck. Original tests were far more grueling involving driving down steep stairways, grazing bricked walls, crashing into a tree, tied down on a harbour, subjected to 40-foot tall tides and even submerged for 5 hours, dropping it hard on its suspension, driving through stables, caravan drop, wrecking ball and lit up in fire in the first part.

In second part, the tests got even more bonkers as the same battered Toyota Hilux was placed on a 23 storey building (240 feet above ground) which was about to be leveled in a controlled demolition. In the demolition debris, the smashed and bashed Hilux could start with basic tools and basic mending and even drive away. This cemented Hilux’s reputation in the automotive world, giving it the “Unkillable” tag.

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