Where is Crumpy’s original bush-bashing, rut-busting, river-running Toyota Hilux? Not to mention ‘Scotty’s similar ‘city-busting version.’ The two iconic Toyota Hiluxes were the stars of arguably the most beloved advertising campaign ever in New Zealand, Barry Crump’s 1980’s Toyota Hiluxes.
Toyota New Zealand is keen to find the red 1982 Hilux used in the first television commercial starring the unflappable bushman-poet Barry Crump and his sidekick, city slicker Lloyd “Scotty” Scott. They are also on the hunt for the yellow 1983 Hilux from the second commercial, which also featured the comedic duo.
A new marketing campaign is about to be filmed to launch the new 2021 Hilux and Toyota is looking to include one or both iconic Hilux vehicles because, as Toyota New Zealand’s General Manager of Marketing, Andrew Davis, says, “the odds are that both are still going strong as they are virtually indestructible.
“We know the yellow Hilux was sold on TradeMe in 2016. So someone, somewhere will know who owns either one of these vehicles. We may have parted company with them a few decades ago, but we feel we still have an unbreakable bond with them,” he says.
The Crumpy and Scotty Hilux commercials were ground-breaking in their day and won many advertising awards. The campaign was so loved and successful, the pairing of the two characters with Hilux continued for 12 years.
Recently, the Crumpy and Scotty commercials featured in NZ On Screen’s Top 10 TV Ads from 1960 – 2020. Younger viewers who never saw the ads live on telly, can see them online at: https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/crumpy-scotty-toyota-ad
Anyone who has an idea where the red or yellow Hilux could be, is asked to contact the marketing team at Toyota New Zealand through private message to the Toyota New Zealand Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ToyotaNZ
