It's an extremely popular and durable truck, and yet in North America we don't get to have it. Blame it on people wanting bigger and comfier trucks instead of real workhorses.
I sold mine (1987 4x4) with 130,000 miles on it for about $2,000 in 2005 and it would probably have gone another 100,000 easily with minimal maintenance. The kid who bought it got a hell of a deal (it was pretty heavily modified by the time I sold it) and he was grinning from ear to ear when he drove off.
The Tacoma was the "new, improved, bigger version."
Basically the original Hilux with sealed bearing everywhere, guards over everything that can break when a rock drops on it, loads of power take-offs and an interior that you can wash down with a hose.
It even has cup holders (although not a multi-screen DVD surround sound)
Ah way down in the sixth generation section it says: "The Tacoma frame differs from the Hilux frame, although both appear similar from the outside. Both the Tacoma and Hilux variants are sold in Mexico."
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Tacoma
On another note the Suzuki Samurai is another off-road vehicle that is virtually indestructible.
The 'wagon' version was also called the '4Runner' in Austraila, but,because of used Japanese imports, you're more likely to see a 'surf' than a 4Runner.
I find it very odd that manufacturers seem to always choose a different model name in the USA, despite worldwide success with the original model name. Golf-Rabbit-Golf springs to mind.