What Was the 'Back to The Future' Toyota Tacoma?
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 4 min read
It’s always fun when car manufacturers create vehicles inspired by movies and events. Toyota, an award-winning carmaker, is one such company that has embraced the concept.
The Back to the Future trilogy featured a Toyota Tacoma, driven by Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox). To commemorate the popularity of this movie and to celebrate Oct. 21, 2015—which is the day Marty McFly travels to the future in the second movie—Toyota recreated Marty’s
truck
from the movie with a 2016 Tacoma Toyota.The company even made a special video that featured Doc Brown, McFly, and a Mirai fuel-cell car. The concept truck was built on the reliability of the Tacoma model.
The 2016 Toyota Tacoma takes you back to the future in style
Back to the Future Part II was the sequel to a 1985 movie where Marty travels to the future. He is faced with several challenges and needs a truck to move about.
In the movies, the Toyota Tacoma displayed reliable performance, especially in off-road conditions. This most likely boosted its appeal among the viewers.
The movie-inspired Toyota Tacoma was only available for viewing in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Toyota engineers built it with the foundation of the 2016 Toyota Tacoma. One day, perhaps, the world will see mass production of the Back to the Future Toyota Tacoma trucks for the masses.
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Revolutionary engine for performance and fuel economy
The redesign of the truck brought in some classic features while retaining the powerful engine and reliable body of the 2016 Toyota Tacoma. This truck runs on a 3.5-liter Atkinson cycle V6 engine. It is a reliable, powerful engine for navigating rugged terrain while offering good fuel economy ratings.
According to
White River Toyota
, Atkinson cycle engines attempt to use the entire energy in a piston cylinder. They do this by keeping the air intake valve of the engine open for longer and creating a shorter compression stroke. This makes these engines very efficient.These features are improved by port and direct future injection. The engine does 100 km with 12 liters of fuel in the city and 100 km with 10 liters on highways.
What makes the concept Toyota Tacoma truly classic?
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Toyota wanted to add a “1985 feel” to the road monster. They made a few changes to the concept car as follows, according to
Gale Toyota
.It comes with a custom 1985 exterior paint and a black hue, giving it a classic look and feel. The engineers also added a reliable off-road suspension system to match the reliability seen in the movie. It uses TRD wheels that run on BF Goodrich tires.
Toyota added custom tubular bumpers on the body to give it a rugged feel. It also installed a custom light bar, a common feature on the trucks made in 1985.
The lights used on the vehicle are KC HiLites Gravity LED G46 and the bright Daylighter Gravity LEDs from the same brand. KC used yellow vinyl covers on lights used for this project to match the ones used in 1985.
According to
MotorTrend
, trucks in 1985 had badges that read “4WD EFI” to show that the vehicles used an electronic fuel injection system. This was replaced with four-wheel drive, D-4S to show the new direct and port injection system.Modern Toyotas have an elaborate tailgate that comes with exposed hinges. However, the Toyota team relocated the hinges, hid them, and welded a cover on the lift gate's face. The Back to the Future Tacoma also features fabricated 4WD mudflaps.
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