Toyota Prado pick-up rendered

The bold new 2024 Toyota Prado set tongues wagging when it first broke cover earlier this month, but what if Toyota expanded the all-new large SUV model range beyond the traditional five-door wagon body shape?

We’ve already seen what a born-again short-wheelbase three-door Toyota Prado ‘Shorty’ could look like and now here’s one digital designer’s take on a hypothetical dual-cab 4x4 ute version of the 2024 LandCruiser, as it will be called in the US.

This unofficial creation was put together by KDesign and we think the new Prado’s chunky design, heritage headlights and ‘Sand’ exterior paint colour gels very nicely with the extended wheelbase and dual-cab body style.

All these elements come together neatly and – despite the stretched body that pushes the rear wheel aft, cutting the length of the tub rather than the rear doors – it doesn’t look at all ungainly.

Chuck in the next Prado’s highly capable off-road hardware, including the same TNGA-F ladder frame as the 300 Series, a full-time 4x4 system with low-range ratios and a clever new front sway bar disconnect system, and this pick-up would indeed be a jack of all trades.

If Toyota offered the LC300’s 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6 in the new Prado 250 Series – instead of a carryover 2.8-litre turbo-diesel with mild-hybrid tech but unchanged 150kW/500Nm outputs, it would be irresistible to a wide swathe of buyers.

While there are hints of Jeep Gladiator about the design, the Prado’s bold new front-end design carries over without alteration, as does the window line and tail lights, and obviously there’s a new rear window behind the rear seats.

Dubbed the ‘Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Truck’ by KDesign, it rides on the same mud-terrain tyres shown on North America’s LandCruiser First Edition, gets similar side steps and adds a recovery hook on the rear bumper.

The bad news is that while Toyota appears likely to resurrect the old FJ Cruiser with a short-wheelbase 4x4 – complete with tailgate-mounted spare wheel – based on the new Prado, a ute version of the new 250 Series in unlikely.

That’s because the world’s biggest car-maker already has the HiLux, Australia’s most popular vehicle, in its line-up and it will soon be joined by the full-size Tundra pick-up as well as an all-new battery-electric pick-up that could arrive in Australia as soon as 2024 and, perhaps, an all-new compact dual-cab potentially badged as the Stout.

However, the new-generation Toyota HiLux expected to arrive by 2025 will not only ride on the same TNGA-F ladder frame as the Prado, LandCruiser and Tundra, but is also expected to borrow some design cues from the next Prado, so let’s hope it looks as good as this.

What do you think of the new Prado’s design and should it be applied to a pick-up? Have your say on the carsales Facebook page.