Rod Millen is taking his monstrous 1000-horsepower 1998 Toyota Tacoma back up the Rocky Mountains in this year’s Pikes Peak Hillclimb.
This Tacoma truck that is really only a Tacoma by name wowed motorsport enthusiasts when it won outright honours in the famous Hillclimb in 1998 and ‘99.
It boasts a wickedly fast mid-mounted 2.1-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine and hits 0-100 in barely two seconds.
Top speed is gear-limited, primarily because of the stop-start nature of hillclimbs. But, even then, the Tacoma can still max out its speedometer at 212 km/hr.
To keep it sucked to the ground, the Tacoma has venturi tunnels hidden underneath its sleek bodywork to exploit ground effect and create bucket loads of downforce.
Basically, this ‘truck’ is one of the more badass race cars to have ever tackled the might of Pikes Peak.
Millen isn’t the only Kiwi heading to Colorado come June. His son, Rhys, is entered in a 2016 Porsche 991 GT3R.
Last year, Rhys finished second in class and fourth overall driving a souped-up Bentley Continental GT3.
Rhys and his father are the only two Kiwi overall winners of the event. Together they share seven victories.
‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett makes his Pikes Peak debut this year, driving a heavily modified Mazda3 hatch.
Docked out with an aggressive aerodynamic package and an impressive rear wing, expect Whiddett’s 1200-horsepower weapon to be spitting flames as it charges up the mountain.
This year celebrates 100 years of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, with the race slated for June 26.
