Jeep-VIASA SV-430 Toledo

It may be hard to believe, but I've been known to partake in indie rock shows, eat unpasteurized blue cheese, know where to find raw denim jeans, and (horror) — unironically commuted on a fixed gear bicycle for more than a year. 

Now, before you're rolling your eyes and reaching for the unsubscribe button, I'm a firm believer that you need entities (people, companies, ideas, etc.) who think that they represent something different from the norm.

Not in a Matt Foley van-down-by-the-river sort of way, but in a, “I'll try that and see what happens” way, like commuting via bicycle. (Highly recommended, by the way.)

Let’s dissect its name. Jeep? Easy. VIASA: Vehículos Industriales y Agrícolas, S.A., hence the ALLCAPS.

SV stands for, apparently, "Spanish Version" (don't tell that to Nissan) and buyers could opt for either a Super Hurricane inline 6-cylinder engine or Perkins 4-cylinder diesel. The underneath parts are all Jeep.

Let me be the first to say: ‘Duplex’ is an inspired name for a double cab utility van-thingy.

I'm sure the SV — I'll get to the Toledo part in a second — wasn't intended to be a fringe vehicle, but Jeep must have known that having a Spanish subsidiary build literal sheds on top of its Forward Control 4x4 chassis wasn't going to set the sales charts on fire…but it does set my heart alight, in a Home Depot shed kinda way.

Four models were available: Campeador pickup, Duplex double-cab pickup, Furgon van, and "Toledo" 9-passenger luxury van.

So here's where this hipster crap comes full circle: Jeep, do yourself a favour and build a few of these for the Easter Jeep Safari, your choice of powertrain, then take it as a camping rig down to all the festivals and conferences…TEDx, SXSW, NXNW, Burning Man, EDC Vegas, the Newport Jazz Festival, whatever.

Mount a simple bicycle to the roof, lend it to some #vanlife influencers, take it up Cadillac Hill, drive up Lion’s Back, get it towed in Toledo, Ohio — sarcastically, it must be so easy to build such a simple 4x4.

Surely, the Jeep of 2024, with all of its design tools and advanced engineering capabilities, could plop a sardine can on top of a regular ol’ Wrangler chassis…

This unassuming, utilitarian Spanish design managed to be built under various names, from 1963 to 1985…all from tooling that had been sent to Spain from Hotchkiss, who had been assembling Jeep models in France (the M206) until the early ’60s.