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2007 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 4X4 Long Bed Road Test

Before the Tundra slingshot Toyota into the vast world offull-size pickup trucks, the brand's mainstay, as far as workhorses are

V6 The only modern thing about the Tacoma's 4X4 system is its stylish new switch. (Photo: So large, there's distortion on my wide angle lens. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) Justin Couture, American Auto Press) Standard Toyota setup is calibrated to moving a pallet of bricks more so than people. Rides better when loaded. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press) SR5 - Classic Toyota trim level, but not your classic Toyota truck. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

Fun in the snow if you're a fan of power oversteer. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

width="200" align="right" />This is by no means a small truck in any way shape or form. Except if you park it next to a new Tundra. (Photo: Justin Couture,

Tacoma's cabin was conceived by madmen. Who puts such a nice interior in a truck? (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

American Auto Press) concerned, was little trucks. Little trucks, powered by little, economical four-cylinder engines, with little beds, little cabins dressed up with vinyl bench seats, AM radios and roll down windows. Dead reliable and cheaper than the dirt and bricks they hauled, these

Split/fold rear seats and folding front seats mean you can store stuff inside. Many other storage cubbies are also standard. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

are the trucks that formed the foundation for Toyota's “small” truck of today, the Tacoma.

Take the word “small” with a grain of salt, because the Tacoma is actually not a small truck at all. Its growth spurt, following a redesign in 2005, gave the Tacoma the stance and overall capacity to be associated with what we now refer to as the midsize truck segment.

Movable tow hooks and bedliner are standard. Ice sculpture optional. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

In fact, a four-door Tacoma with its 73.5-inch bed is longer than Toyota's first attempt at a bigger truck, the ill-fated T100. Of course, its competitors have grown too, but the Tacoma ate its greens and multivitamins and therefore looks bigger, stronger, and more muscular than its Japanese, and most of its domestic rivals, perhaps with exception of the Dodge Dakota. But it'll give the Ram's little brother a run for its money in most other categories, saving towing and payload.

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