Toyota gets new Tundra just right

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2007 | by James R. Healey

521 BBQ & GRILL, INDIAN LAND, S.C. -- Lunch stop here proved two important things. It is possible to get good barbecue at a building that's not condemned, and Toyota's remake of its Tundra full-size pickup is a perfect fit in the pickup landscape dominated by Detroit models. The locals in the parking lot barely looked up as the new, big Tundra pulled in.

Sitting inside the restaurant and glancing out the window, it was difficult to pick out the Tundra's rump from among the other pickups. Normally, such lack of distinction would be anathema. But this time it could be right. Having failed, more or less, to understand the American pickup ethic in two previous tries, the Japanese auto giant has gone all-out this time. It is pushing the 2007 Tundra as a true truck first, a Toyota...