The N50/N60 Tacoma PreRunner arrived in 1998 as Toyota's answer to trophy truck culture—a 2WD truck with coilover geometry and geometry lifted from actual Baja competitors. The platform proved that you didn't need four-wheel drive to move dirt, just the right suspension tuning and the kind of understated confidence Toyota does better than anyone.

Mitch Guthrie and Nani Roma swept a 371km desert stage, but Henk Lategan's Toyota isn't sweating. One stage win in rally raid is noise. Lategan's maintaining overall lead because consistency beats heroics on terrain that swallows mistakes.

Sanjay Takale's HDJ 100—a Land Cruiser 100-series diesel—made history by winning Stage 1 of Dakar 2026, the first four-wheel stage victory for an Indian driver. The engine gave up on Stage 3, a brutal reminder that even purpose-built rally machines are fighting against the desert's attrition. Sometimes talent and preparation aren't enough when you're pushing 30-year-old iron to its limits.