Keep on Truckin’: The Toyota Hilux

We explore the modern history of putting big guns on wheels, then dive into the history of Chad and its border dispute with Libya to learn how a humble pickup truck became a quintessential weapon of war.

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Image: A Nigerien military convoy on a counter-terrorism patrol in the Sahara Desert (UNICEF)

Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel

THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Tatmadaw’s Shiny Happy People Committee for Lo-Fi Beats to Study To ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO This week, we’re in Southeast Asia, jumping just over Thailand’s north-western border to Myanmar, where the ongoing civil war between the country’s military dictatorship and numerous armed groups across the country is showing slithers of hope that a resolution might be on the horizon, nestled amidst a morass of repression and violence which has persisted, practically uninterrupted, for over sixty years.

Sources:

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Michael Maren (1997), The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity Sam C. Nolutshungu (1996), Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad Pierre Péan (March, 2001), ‘Les preuves trafiquées du terrorisme libyen’, Le Monde Diplomatique, available at archive.today Bryan Perret (April, 1979), ‘Ford Model T Patrol Car’, Airfix Magazine, available at Landships II Kenneth M. Pollack (2002), Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 Kenneth M. Pollack (2019), Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness Nathaniel K. Powell (2021), France’s Wars in Chad: Military Intervention and Decolonization in Africa Reuters (March, 1987), ‘Chad is Said to Capture Strategic Air Base’, The New York Times, available via archive.today Geoff Simons (2003), Libya and the West: From Independence to Lockerbie Ravi Somaiya (October, 2010), ‘Why Rebel Groups Love the Toyota Hilux’, available at Newsweek Chandra Lekha Sriram (February, 2013), ‘“Africa’s Pinochet” or the beginning of “Africa’s solutions”?’, available at Al Jazeera Toyota Global, ‘75 Years of Toyota: Vehicle Lineage’, available at Toyota Global Toyota Industries, ‘The Story of Sakichi Toyoda’ available at Toyota Industries Simon Whistler (March, 2026), ‘The Great Toyota War: How Chad Won a War with Pickup Trucks’, available at War Fronts Luc Wiesman (August, 2025), ‘How The Humble Toyota Hilux Became The World’s Most Deadly Warzone Vehicles’, available at DMARGE Ignacio Yárnoz (2018), ‘Toyota wars and the next generation in counter insurgency strategies’, available at Universidad de Navarra Global Affairs and Strategic Studies