4Runner Stalking, er...um, SPOTTING with Charlie™ (2nd Gen Edition)!

Back in the 80's and early 90's, the A/C was optional in most vehicles.

 

Yeah, I know this, but Nevada; A/C is pretty much obligatory there...

 

The entire truck is completely rust free.
It was purchased in the CA Bay Area and now I’m retired in Nevada.

 

Okay, I can understand the Bay Area; My aunt and uncle have lived in Monterey for over 40 years. My uncle bought a used 1987 Isuzu Trooper in 1989 for $3,500 cash; The Trooper didn't have A/C and while I never drove it, as I was 12 years old the last time I visited them when they still owned it, I am told that it did not have power steering. I found a PDF of a 1987 Trooper brochure online, which states that power steering was standard for that year, so I'm confused. My aunt and uncle bought two new cars during the time they owned the Trooper, a 1994 Dodge Grand Caravan SE and a 1999 Dodge Ram SLT, but they held onto to the trooper until like 2004 or 2005 when the 4WD quit working; It was replaced with a brand new Honda Element in 2004.

 

Not all of NV is hot. We are in N. NV, Carson Valley in the high desert w/elevation almost 5,000ft in the VALLEY. Only 12 miles over the CA border(no state income tax!) and get snow in the winter. It is about 5-7 degrees cooler here in the summer than my old house in the SF East Bay Area. I have seen 50 degree swings in the summer from daytime to night, it can be 75-80 during the day and below/at freezing at night sometimes.
Pic of the Sierras this past winter due west out my back door….Tahoe is in the mountains at low spot in the peaks to the far right, the highest peak to the left is +10,600 ft. The Pinenut Mountains(BLM) would be behind me out the front door to the east which forms the Carson Valley.
BTW, I LOVE it here. ~10% daytime humidity and never in triple temp digits in the summer, usually 80’s and I have seemingly endless wheeling on zillions of acres of BLM to play on. It can get windy….sometimes very windy.

 

How is that 4-banger on acceleration?

 

Monterey is a gorgeous place, we would take the kids and dogs to the beach all the time. I’m just not a coast kinda guy anymore, give me the mountains any day.

 

0-60 is “eventually”, especially after 250k miles. Does not burn any oil at all though and has never had a head off.

 

I was born in California; My dad was in the Navy for 25 years and was stationed at Moffett Field in Mountain View twice. I think California as a whole is beautiful, but would never live there for numerous reasons; Some of those reasons cannot be discussed publicly on this forum, but the biggest reason I would never live in California is because of the draconian laws relating to emissions testing for vehicles. The bureaucrats of the California government are absolute nazis to car enthusiasts. My aunt and uncle still live in Monterey and my uncle has two Volkswagen vans; One of them is a 1971 and exempt from smog testing, but the 1977 Westfalia is not. The Westfalia had its original fuel-injected engine replaced with a carbureted engine from an older bus prior to my uncle buying it; Because of this, the Westfalia will not pass smog. Rather than spend a fortune putting the correct engine in the Westfalia, my uncle registered it at his brother's house in Texas and was able to get antique tags; He has never been pulled over or had any problems with the government for driving a 45-year old VW camper with Texas plates around the Monterey Peninsula. I am in favor of protecting the environment, but I think something almost fifty years old that's only driven a few thousand miles a year should be exempt from emissions testing.

 

Can't be any slower than my uncle's 1971 VW Bus (Read above); My uncle let me drive "Kermit" when we vacationed in Monterey back in 2017 (Yes, I am an autistic millennial who knows how to drive a stick shift), and he had absolutely no problem tackling the hills...

 

I was born in upstate NY(Syracuse) and grew up in the Finger Lakes region. I left in my rusted out $600 LeMans when I got out of college (1975) for the Bay Area, worked/lived/more college for 40 more years. Retired 6yrs ago and moved to NV and breathed a sigh of relief to be out of there away from all the stifling regulations.

Goldie had 116hp new and weighs 3,780 lbs. Most likely around 100hp now and between weighing nearly 2 tons and underwhelming power it would be a close race. Not noticeable in low range, nothing but smiles.
Both my sons got to drive Goldie BEFORE they were teenagers on a friends ranch and took their driver’s license test in it. My wife said she laughed when my son’s friends asked what that funny handle on the door was for(windows).

 

I saw this slammed 1994 at the 20th Annual Grounded 4 Life One Day Slam yesterday; The owner drove all the way from New York, even though the show was almost rained out. The owner bought this truck already completed and knew very little about what it was like prior to the build, including whether or not it was 4WD. I have some 3rd Gen T4R brochures, and at least two of them say that the 2WD V6 was not available with a manual transmission, so if is a factory 5-speed then it was definitely a 4x4 model in a prior life; Yes, this is a stick shift! The back half the of frame is from a Toyota truck, and the frame as a whole has been heavily modified to accommodate the lowered stance. Under the hood is a 4-cylinder engine from a Toyota Altezza (JDM Lexus IS300), mated to the aforementioned 5-speed manual transmission and factory rear differential; The A/C was removed, but the truck does have heat, and everything else works! I had never seen a lowered 4Runner prior to seeing this one!


June 12th, 2022:

Bristol, Pennsylvania

 

The engine is from a Toyota Altezza (JDM Lexus IS300)...

 

1991 Hilux Surf (JDM 4Runner) with super low miles and a porno red interior!

Used TOYOTA HILUX SURF 1991/Jul CFJ7765258 in good condition for sale (carfromjapan.com)

 

Wow..! That Red Interior is a little dazzling..

 

Yes it is. I have seen that in the Pickup of that era but never a 4Runner.

 

I saw this gem parked outside a garage near my house on my way to work; I believe that it is a 1992-1995 since it has a Toyota symbol on the grill instead of block letters (unfortunately, Carfax still won't let me run license plates due to some glitch with the app ). Anyway, not only did it appear to be rust-free, but it's a 5-speed!


January 10th, 2023:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

It has rust on the bumper, but it's definitely one of the cleaner 2nd Gen T4Rs that I've seen!


January 25th, 2023:

Warminster, Pennsylvania