Gosh, it’s dark outside. The weather is getting gloomy. It’s cold. We may be fog-bound for days. I don’t think I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder because I’m committed to all-season grumpiness, but I miss the bright colours of summertime. Even the vivid gold and auburn leaves of autumn are gone all too quickly. Now that winter is undeniably here, nature is slowly turning down the hue and saturation, so everything is getting gradually more muted.
It’s not all bad, because winter means I can make more legitimate use of my non-ViaRETRO approved modernish pickup truck. Pickups are very handy things to have at any time of the year, but they’re particularly welcome when the nights get dark and the roads get slippery. We might get some snow so I can play with the four wheel drive on the open road (he says secretly crossing his fingers). I may get called upon to embark on some kind of sheep/cow/haybale emergency. Perhaps I’ll get to strap on the tow rope and pull somebody in lesser machinery out of ditch. God, I could even wear my hi-viz whilst doing it!! Oh yes, I wouldn’t be without a four-wheel drive commercial but there’s no denying they are utility vehicles, particularly so when painted refrigerator white. I do often think white pickup trucks could do with a bit of jazzing-up, an injection of colour along their flanks. After all, the yards of metal are like a big artist’s canvas, by which I mean a big canvas rather than a big artist. Any size of artist will do, assuming they are either tall enough to reach or bring a step ladder. Having a stripey pick-up would be a good mood lifter in the dark days of winter, and I’m clearly not the only person to think so.
Firstly; some ground rules. I’m only interested in legitimate pick-up trucks, so whilst Mitsubishi Pajeros and Delicas with groovy graphics are wonderful things, they have too much roof for my purposes. On the other hand, the Toyota Hilux Surf was clearly begat by its commercial parent, so it makes the list. You may notice those examples involve Japanese models from the 1980s, as in my view that country and era represents peak pick-up decoration.
Americans may disagree as they gave the world many a two-tone paintjob from the 1970s onwards, but whilst a long load lugger with a contrasting lower half or bold coloured insert is eye-catching, the classic look doesn’t technically qualify as a stripe. That’s another visual pleasure for another time. But whilst the two-tone look is out of scope, that’s not to say I haven’t found some very attractive qualifying trucks from across the pond.
However, the Japanese are really the masters of the graphically alarming commercial. I can give an honourable mention to the Mitsubishi L200, but the good old Toyota Hilux provides the perfect opportunity for the application of some colour. Toyota took a while to get going as evidenced by this early photograph; not only are there no stripes but it’s literally monochrome.
Not a happy pick-up.
The stylists soon gathered pace however, embellishing groovy 70’s paintjobs with a dash of extra brio. Stripes made trucks more attractive and almost certainly improved performance, otherwise they wouldn’t have been called “go-faster” stripes. Are they still known as “go-faster” stripes? They should be. Peak-stickering was achieved in the 1980s when Mitsubishi and Toyota perfected the art of the triple hue stripe set over a contrasting body.
Several much happier pick-ups!
The 80’s represented the glory days but when fashions and tax regimes changed in the mid-90’s, pickups started to be marketed at car drivers. Multi-coloured graphics were phased out and the pick-up market split into fully utilitarian mono-colour, versus “lifestyle” trucks with stupid names like Warrior, Barbarian and Meathead. The innocent joy of a stripey pickup became a thing of the past. I think the time is right for a revival. People could do with some cheering up after a couple of difficult years and the onset of another winter. Perhaps this gallery will give you some ideas, or at the very least it might give you a reason to smile.
