This 1984 Toyota Hiace stares at me with its cold round eyes all day every day. The garage in which it sits directly faces my office window, so it was inevitable I go shoot it one day. It also seems to be a well-enough preserved example of a trusty hauler, so it easily makes Truck Thursday.
One thing you need to know is that over here no-one ever pronounces “Hi-Ace” the way it’s correctly pronouced in English, “haɪ-eɪs”. It’s always been “Hiase”, like you’d pronounce a Japanese name.
Snugly parked in the garage corner, the milky white Hiace with seat covers looks surprisingly rust-free. As the body style was introduced pretty much 30 years ago, all the rougher ones have by now been either scrapped or shipped to Africa.
Yeah, a large number of Hiaces that have finished their working life in Finland are shipped to Nairobi or Addis Abeba (pictured below) or so, continuing running around with the Finnish Toyota slogan stickers still on the rear window. “You Can Count on Toyota Quality”, “Finland Runs on Toyotas”.
But the Finnish-photographed Hiace is still amidst snow, on white Mangels wheels which are always a nice touch. The engine is the two-litre 75hp diesel, and the Toyota has been outfitted as a bus. It would then make sense to sell it on to someone shipping it south when the time comes.
But the Hiace still gets regular use, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t. As long as the salt worm is kept at bay and the thing makes inspection, it’s all good. Run on.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
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