The Toyota Gazoo Racing team knows exactly how to get under the skin of car guys, and they proved it again this week at the Tokyo Auto Salon.
A few days before the show opened, they dropped a single teaser post on social media: something about a "two-seat, mid-ship" vehicle making its debut. That was all it took. Within minutes the internet exploded with one predictable conclusion—finally, after all these years, the MR2 was coming back. Forums lit up, Instagram comments filled with crying emojis, grown men refreshing their feeds like teenagers waiting for concert tickets. The little mid-engine Toyota that defined affordable thrills in the '80s and '90s seemed ready for round three.
Then came the press conference.
Instead of walking out to dramatic lights and a sleek new sports car, the Gazoo Racing crew rolled up in boxing gloves and shorts for what can only be described as a full-on comedy routine. When the curtain finally dropped, there sat not a successor to the MR2, but a tiny, jacked-up Daihatsu Hijet kei truck that had been given the full Toyota performance-division treatment. The crowd reaction went from hopeful silence to laughter to outright disbelief in about thirty seconds flat.
Image credit: Toyota
The whole thing was staged as a good-natured rivalry between Toyota Gazoo Racing and Daihatsu, two companies under the same big Toyota umbrella but clearly enjoying the chance to one-up each other. Each side brought its own hardcore vision of what a kei truck could become when you throw the rulebook out the window.
Daihatsu called theirs the Hijet "Star Climber." It looks like someone took a normal micro-truck, sent it to basic training, and then let it loose on a mountain trail. The roof is gone, replaced by a full wrap-around external roll cage that gives the little rig the stance of a miniature Baja racer. Beefy all-terrain tires stick out well past the body, the suspension looks lifted to the point where ground clearance must be ridiculous for something so small, and the whole vehicle has that purposeful, stripped-down look that serious off-road guys respect immediately. For a kei-class truck—vehicles that are legally limited to tiny engines and overall dimensions—this thing appears ready to tackle terrain that would make full-size pickups think twice.
Not to be outdone, Gazoo Racing answered with the Hijet "Morizo K-Trail." The name alone tells you they're having fun. "Morizo" is the well-known racing alias of Toyota's chairman Akio Toyoda, the guy who still straps into race cars when he can get away with it. So this is essentially his personal playground build, at least in spirit.
The Morizo K-Trail takes the overland concept and cranks it past eleven. Massive mud-terrain tires dwarf the tiny chassis. A heavy-duty roll bar supports a full light array that could probably turn night into day on a forest trail. The doors have been replaced with tubular cage-style panels, giving it that raw, race-inspired feel. And just when you think it can't get more ridiculous, they bolted two extra seats right into the bed, turning the back into what looks like the world's smallest party platform. Everything carries the custom "Morizo Rookie Racing" graphics, a nice little nod to the boss's racing roots.
The result is a vehicle so absurdly overbuilt for its size that it's almost performance art. A kei truck is supposed to be practical, cheap to run, and easy to park in tight Japanese streets. This one looks like it would rather be airing down tires at the Rubicon Trail than delivering packages in Tokyo.
Of course none of this brings back the MR2. The fans who spent days dreaming about a new mid-engine Toyota sports car walked away empty-handed—again. But the way Gazoo Racing played the moment was masterful. They dangled the carrot, watched everyone bite, then yanked it away with a grin and a perfectly executed troll. In the process they reminded everyone that Toyota still has a sense of humor, even if it's sometimes aimed directly at its most loyal customers.
The real winners might be the kei truck crowd. For years these little workhorses have lived quietly on the edges of the car world, loved mostly by people who appreciate function over flash. Now, thanks to this booth showdown, two of the biggest names in Japanese performance have put serious credibility behind the idea that a kei truck can be more than just a city runabout. They can be wild, capable, and yes—even cool.
So while the MR2 faithful are still licking their wounds, plenty of other guys are looking at these photos and thinking the same thing: maybe it's time to start saving for a plane ticket to Japan and a shipping container home. Because if Toyota and Daihatsu are willing to go this far with tiny trucks, the future of small, fun, go-anywhere vehicles suddenly looks a lot more interesting.
