Well, this is silly – but endearing. Toyota has released a short series of short ‘Little and Large’ YouTube films, pitting its latest Hilux pickup against the Tamiya Hilux Bruiser 4x4, a 1/10th-scale radio-controlled model based on an earlier version of the Hilux.
There are four Little and Large clips in total, named Pull, Wade, Tow and Mud, all drawing inspiration from a 1980s advertising stunt in which Tamiya had a bunch of its period radio-controlled Hilux models tow a contemporary Toyota Hilux.
In fact, the new Pull film recreates this very experiment.
Toyota Hilux Little and Large: Pull
Toyota has gone into some detail about this particular film. With each Tamiya Bruiser capable of towing 2kg, it was calculated that 15 of them exerting 30kg of towing force would be able to get all two tonnes of full-size Hilux moving.
You’ll note there is a driver in the Hilux, but Toyota says all he did was steer – the pickup was otherwise in neutral with the engine and brakes off. The only modification was a special towing arm with 15 eyelets at the appropriate level for the r/c cars, attached to the Toyota’s regular front towing points.
The Bruisers, meanwhile, had tyres inflated to the maximum 60psi, were locked into their low-range transmission setting (yes, they have a low-range transmission setting) and were each loaded with two 500g diving weights to improve traction.
You can watch the other films below. They’re all only around a minute long, and well worth a gander during your next tea break. Let us know if you can figure out how Tamiya waterproofed the Bruiser in the Wade video…
As a special treat, we’ve also found the original advertisement that inspired all this charming nonsense, which you can check out at the bottom of the page.
