As any good movie and tech fan knows, October 21, 2015 is (or was, depending on your timezone) Back to the Future day, the very date that was used as "the future" in BTTF II. And many companies couldn't let the day slip by without capitalizing on its marketing potential. Toyota made a particularly big deal of the event, revealing a specially equipped Mirai with DeLorean-like gullwing doors and a movie-inspired Tacoma pickup.
Toyota actually planned the official US sales kick-off for the all-new Mirai on Back to the Future day, giving its fuel cell car a bit of "futuristic" appeal. To further tie the car together with the iconic movie franchise from the 80s, Toyota revealed a very special Mirai with gullwing doors at a Mirai early buyer party in California. Attendees that scoped the Mirai out also found a time travel-style head-up display inside the gullwing.
Toyota takes time to point out that, while the Mirai can't be powered by garbage the way Doc Brown's time-traveling DeLorean was, the hydrogen it relies on to create electricity can be converted from the biogas created at landfills.
The DeLorean is the most iconic BTTF vehicle, followed closely by the hoverboard, but those two aren't the only prominent vehicles from the trilogy. Marty McFly's 1985 Toyota SR5 Xtra Cab 4x4 truck was another memorable ride. You might recall it from the scene in which Marty first sees it and nearly drools over it while pointing it out to his girlfriend or the one in which he psychs out Needles at the stoplight.
Toyota grabbed that low hanging marketing fruit and craftily tied it into yet another newly launched vehicle: the 2016 Tacoma. Toyota dressed its new pickup up like the movie truck with heritage cues including a custom "TOYOTA" tailgate, vintage headlight and taillight package, a black 1985-truck paint job, "D-4S" fuel injection badging, and 1985-truck "4WD" mud flaps. The truck also has a movie-inspired add-on kit with tubular front and rear bumpers, a custom light bar, KC HiLites LED lighting, off-road suspension, TRD wheels and BFGoodrich tires.
We're guessing both BTTF and truck fans are keeping their fingers crossed for a limited edition release.
After debuting the special edition truck at the Mirai party, Toyota spent Back to the Future day showing the truck in Dallas, LA and New York, where those so inclined got to "check out that 4x4." After the tour, we'd like to think Toyota's crew ended the day at the lake, inside a couple of sleeping bags thrown in the bed.
The five-minute video below is a little drawn out, but it has Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, the BTTF edition Tacoma and 80s music, so it's naturally a fun watch if you're a fan.
Source: Toyota