It’s a Pick-Up Jim, But Not As We Know It

Part Two – The Ironman’s Desert Racer

They do things bigger in America, which in part explains why Toyota has a desert racing pick-up truck with a 500bhp engine. Of course, once you’ve got such a beast it could only be driven by someone known as the “Ironman”.

In fact, 54 year-old Ivan “Ironman” Stewart is a genuine, 24-carat legend. The “Ironman” nickname dates back to 1975 when he was the first to achieve victory by driving alone through the arduous desert conditions of the famous Baja 1000. His career highlights include 84 victories, 10 drivers’ championships, including 16 Baja 500 victories and three Baja 1000 victories. 1999 is his 27th year of off-road desert racing, his 17th in association with Toyota for whom he has claimed 11 manufacturers’ titles.

Stewart’s Toyota desert racer is a pick-up in silhouette only. The driver sits in the centre of the cab with the engine – a 4.9 litre V8 pumping out over 500bhp – mounted right behind his back. The gearbox, spare wheel and fuel tanks take up the space where the load bay would be on a normal pick-up. However, lack of load space is not a problem since anything not bolted down would soon be tossed out as the vehicle bucks and bounds across the huge bumps and sand dunes at up to 140mph.

The suspension is fully independent with double wishbones and massive shock absorbers pushing down on massive off-road tyres. The body is carbon fibre and Kevlar, the chassis steel tube. All up, it weighs 1769 kg (3,900 lb) – more or less the same as the Hilux Double Cab familiar to builders and farmers across the UK.

The Toyota and Stewart’s popularity with young fans around the world is reflected in the ‘Super Off-Road’ and ‘Off-Road Challenge’ video games. There is even an Ivan Stewart off-road virtual-reality experience available at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas.

Stewart’s most recent victory, the 1999 Baja 500, made a nice 54th birthday present and set up a repeat of the Baja double he won in both 1993 and 1998. The Baja 1000 race is in November.

Victory in the 500 was far from easy thanks to a sticking throttle linkage caused by debris. “During the last 150 miles of the race, I could only go about 85 miles per hour, and I had to use my foot to pull up, as well as push down the throttle,” explained Stewart calmly. An Ironman indeed.

To find out more about Toyota’s desert racing visit the motorsport section of www.toyota.com.

TOYOTA DESERT RACING PICK-UP SPECIFICATIONS

ENDS