Toyota 4Runner

The Toyota 4Runner is a mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota and sold throughout the world from 1984 to present. In Japan it was known as the Toyota Hilux Surf (トヨタ ハイラックスサーフ). The original 4Runner was a compact SUV and little more than a Toyota pickup truck with a fiberglass shell over the bed, but the model has since undergone significant independent development into a cross between a compact and a mid-size SUV. All 4Runners have been built at Toyota's Tahara plant at Tahara, Aichi, Japan, or at Hino Motors' Hamura, Japan plant, and in Brazil. Its mid-size crossover SUV counterpart is the Toyota Highlander.

Hilux Surf models in Japan are widely exported as used vehicles to Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.

For Southeast Asia the Hilux Surf was replaced in 2005 by the similar Fortuner, which is based on the Hilux platform.

As of 2014, the Toyota 4Runner is sold in the U.S., Canada, Central America, Bahamas, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

4 Runner

4 Runner was an American country music vocal group founded in 1993 by lead singer Craig Morris, baritone Billy Crittenden, tenor Lee Hilliard, and bass Jim Chapman. Signed to Polydor Records Nashville, the quartet released its self-titled debut album in 1995, It featured four charting singles on Hot Country Songs, the most successful being "Cain's Blood" at No. 26. Billy Simon took Crittenden's place just before a second album for A&M Records, which was not released despite producing a chart single, and the band broke up afterward. Chapman, Hilliard, and Morris reunited with third baritone singer Michael Lusk to release its next album, Getaway Car, on the Fresh label before disbanding a second time.

Biography

4 Runner began in 1993, when lead singer Craig Morris (who had previously worked with Ronnie McDowell and Marie Osmond) met Billy Crittenden in Nashville, Tennessee while both singers were working as songwriters. Later, Jim Chapman (the brother-in-law of contemporary Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman) and Lee Hilliard joined as well, forming the group. The group then toured throughout the 1990s with Kenny Rogers. In 1994, Diamond Rio had a Top 5 country hit with "Love a Little Stronger", which Billy Crittenden co-wrote, while Morris co-wrote "If I Had Only Known", an album cut for Reba McEntire. The group was signed to Polydor Records, and before releasing any material of their own, they sang backing vocals on then-labelmae Amie Comeaux's late-1994 debut album Moving Out.

4 Runner (album)

4 Runner is the debut album of the American country music group 4 Runner, released in 1995 on the Nashville division of Polydor Records. It produced the singles "Cain's Blood", "A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive", "Home Alone", and "Ripples", all of which charted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs charts. Of these four single, "Cain's Blood" was the only one to chart within the Top 40, peaking at #26.

Critical reception

Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time criticized some of the songs on 4 Runner for "cop[ying] the worst pop elements" of The Oak Ridge Boys, but said that the presence of bass singer Jim Chapman gave the material a "fresh sound." His review praised "Cain's Blood" and "A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive" as the strongest tracks.Entertainment Weekly critic Alanna Nash gave the album a B-minus rating. In her review, she said that "they can be as hokey as the Oaks, but unlike the Statlers, they're sentimental without being mawkish."

Track listing