This 1981 Toyota Truck Is Amazingly Clean And A Total Throwback – Want Is Strong!


This 1981 Toyota Truck Is Amazingly Clean And A Total Throwback – Want Is Strong!

There was a theme I picked up on as a kid here in New England. That theme was rapidly disappearing Japanese trucks. I don’t mean like being stolen by aliens, I mean like evaporating from road salt and whatever else was causing the thin gauge Japanese steel to vanish. It could have been sunshine at the rate these trucks rusted. I mention this because when I ran across the ad that is linked below for a literally pristine 1981 Toyota truck it took me right back to the rear seat in my parents AMC Concord.

In my 36 years on this Earth I have not seen an early 1980s Japanese truck in the condition this one is in unless it as driving by a dealership with new ones lined up in the early 1980s. I am not usually a Japanese truck guy but this one is so good and with its chrome roll bar, KC Hi-Lites, bone stock four banger, Marlin Crawler five speed transmission, new tires, and perfect paint.

I face my normal conundrum with this truck. Is it something that you would buy and never mess with to preserve its originality because so few of them exist now or would you upgrade the truck and make it more modern and capable with respect to the driveline?

At the end of the day, a rebuilt of the 22R four banger with a cam, a header, some cylinder work, and a little compression would take the factory 98hp and make it like 120. If the gearing has been upgraded it would be a fun truck to beat around in and even lightly wheel.

I’d still prefer a 1970s Ford but this Toyota is cool for a whole host of different reasons.

CLICK HERE FOR THE AD FEATURING THIS 1981 TOYOTA TRUCK 

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5 thoughts on “This 1981 Toyota Truck Is Amazingly Clean And A Total Throwback – Want Is Strong!

  1. keezling

    Although there is nothing wrong with the truck, it seems to have a stereotypical owner base of perpetually immature men forever stuck in a redneck phase of life with caved fenders plastic bull balls swinging out back and the load of empty cans rolling in the bed. Used as a backup vehicle when their t top Camaro is in the ditch again, or visiting relatives are using it as a guest room…

    1. jerry z

      Close but McFly’s truck was a 1985 model. I owned about 1/2 dozen of these back in the 80’s (all rotted away) and yes this truck is really clean but $16K? Not now or 20 years from now.

  2. 69rrboy

    That bed can’t possibly be made out of metal. My friend had 3 of these in the 80s. All of them were 1-6 years old when he had them and the beds were completely disintegrated on all of them way back then.

    The drivetrains on them were tough little buggers but between the rust issues and the thing constantly wanting to roll over I would never buy one.

  3. Tanglefoot

    These were awsome little trucks in their day , it’s too bad the bodies tended to disintegrate . One of my buddy’s had one , and the box was toast within four years , so he swapped in a fibreglass step side conversion ( they were pretty popular , for good reason ) . He then drove it another six years before the floor and cab mounts rusted away . The drive train was super dependable except for the ever preset exhaust manifold leaks and it still ran like a champ when it was driven to the scrap yard .

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