Rough Start: When There Is An Airborne Toyota In The First Picture, You Know You Are Making The Right Choice!


Rough Start: When There Is An Airborne Toyota In The First Picture, You Know You Are Making The Right Choice!

You’re ballin’ on a budget and you want to pick up a project car. Smart money says to pick up something that only needs minor touches or something easy to build, like a Fox body or a late-model. Nobody in their right minds would look at a 1987 Toyota truck that’s had it’s back end bobbed off, flying off of a jump in the lead photo on it’s Craigslist ad, and think, “Hmm…that looks like it’ll be reliable and simple to deal with!” No…your rational side goes into containment mode, but it forgot something before lockdown commenced: that primal side of your brain, the one that saw the stripes, the wagon spoke wheels and the dirt flying underneath the truck and immediately had a flashback to playing Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road at the arcade as a kid.

Sorry, wallet, but this Toyota is “impulse purchase”, from it’s bobbed back end to it’s skidplate up front. There’s a propane-powered 22R under the hood, so you are playing with alternative fuels. There is an exo-cage around the back of the cab for additional safety. The five-speed manual trans (which replaced an automatic) and 4.10 gears are purely for driving experience, and you will want to do plenty of that. Yes, the Toyota is built up for Tough Truck-style events, but it’s still street legal, still has lights and a functional heater, and character that you wouldn’t see in a cheap beater SN-95, no matter what you tack onto it.

Does it make sense as a daily? Who cares when this classic truck is ready for high-flying hijinks? Take that thousand bucks left over and be sure to look up the number for a good chiropractor.

Craigslist Link: 1987 Toyota regular cab/long bed pickup truck


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