Truck racing out in Thailand is extremely cool, with its production-based pickups that make our American NASCAR trucks look like Le Mans prototypes. Yet Toyota has found a way to up the coolness ante, by offering a Gazoo Racing-backed race-ready version of its cheapest pickup: The Toyota Hilux Champ.
The Hilux Champ, also known as the Tamaraw, sports a 2.4-liter turbodiesel just like its production sibling according to Top Gear Philippines. It’s built on the long-wheelbase variant of the truck, yet beyond that engine and chassis there are plenty of track-focused goodies to differentiate the race version. A wide-open bumper out front to funnel air to the intercooler, big fender flares out the sides, a massive wing in back — this is perhaps the perfect truck.
This kind of boxy, function-over-form design seems like the aesthetic BMW targeted with the new M2, only executed far more cleanly. The base Hilux Champ is already a boxy vehicle, so the fenders and bumper fit here in a way they don’t on the BMW. The truck just looks so, so good.
If Toyota offered this truck as a street-legal vehicle in North America, it’s one I would genuinely consider purchasing. A hauler for all the broken bikes I see on Facebook Marketplace, that’s all dressed up in racing garb? That’s the perfect vehicle if ever I’ve seen it. And, for under $14,000, it’s almost affordable on a car journalist salary. Almost.
The Gazoo Racing Hilux Champ is perhaps the coolest truck out there. You may think otherwise, and you’re welcome to be wrong, but this is about as good as it gets for on-road pickup performance. Just look at it.
