1st time you saw a Toyota and thought...one day

Riding around on my bike at Pismo in 68. My Dad’s Chevy was capable, but I thought the FJ was cooler. I’ve owned over 20 Toyota’s since 91. Do you have a memory of when you first thought, I’ve got to have a Toyota?

 

I already love this thread!

When I was a kid, my Dad drove an '82 (I think) Corolla SR5 hatchback. So many family trips in that car! I wish I had a picture!

I learned to drive in the late 90's in my brother's '87 Corolla FX16 hatchback. It was a 5 speed manual, and decently quick.

These things obviously rubbed off. My first vehicle was a Hyundai Excel, but I followed that with an '85 Celica, '85 Supra, '87 MR2, '94 4runner, late 80's Chevy Nova (Corolla), '91 Tercel, '03 4Runner, '12 TC, '15 Tacoma, and my '19 4Runner.

 

First time was when I was maybe 8 and saw a Toyota Paseo and thought it looked badass

 

My aunt had a Paseo. I think it got like 30 miles to a gallon and all our cars were under 20.

 

My buddy "Tool Shirt Jake" had a Paseo! I thought it was cool! Red hatchback, manual.

 

Something about that green Paseo screamed cool-factor.

 

Guy up the street had an 80’s lifted p/u. Then I saw one for sale and traded my Hurricane for it...

 

Those FJ’s were cool. The guy sitting on his hood was my Dad’s friend Dave and he let me pretend drive his Toyota. I just thought the dash and all the shifters on the floor were too cool. His Toy never broke down and my dad was always working on his Chevy.

 

The truck had a blown head gasket and was beat-up...

 

My sister had a 1992 or 93 turquoise greenish Paseo. It was pretty cool, but i really wanted her to get a Civic. I was lucky enough to get a 1989 Cressida hand me down as my first car my senior year in HS back in 94. it was pretty fast and very smooth.

 

I got my first up close look at an FJ-40 in June 1997. I was shopping for a new-to-me car, a car!, while living just outside of DC. I went to a dealership in Tyson's Corner, and they had a somewhat built and restomod'd 1976 FJ-40 on the lot. Smurf Blue. I was smitten. Not enough to buy it though, so I settled for a Nissan Sentra SE-R. Little did I know that day that I'd be moving to Colorado a few months later. Once in Colorado, I decided I needed some non-work friends, and started shopping for an FJ-40 so I could join a club and go wheeling. I started my search in JAN 1998, and found my 1964 FJ-40 a few months later and have owned it since then. I traced back the manufacture date via the five digit VIN, and it's about three weeks older than me. I've also had a 1972 FJ-40, an '87 FJ-60, a '93 FJZ-80, and a 2010 FJ Cruiser. I owned an '87 Celica for a while, but it lost a battle with a deer. Way back when I lived in NH, my girlfriend had a Paseo. Much more fun than the VW Rabbit I had at the time. Some day I'm going to build an FJ-55 and stuff a Vortec in it.

 

My parents had a Cressida in the late '80's that I really liked. I was only 10ish @ the time. Then in high-school I bought an '87 Supra turbo. It had the usual problems with that era (wiring & head gasket) but after the R&R and a bunch of mods it was phenomenal! I stupidity sold it as I needed a truck & not a summer vehicle for Nebraska.
I love my Ford & Dodge diesels but the 4Runner is a different animal and very pleased we chose to return to.
Long history as well!
Ryan.

 

In 2017 I was looking for a new vehicle to replace my old barely functioning Explorer and saw an '07 FJ Cruiser at the dealership that I absolutely loved after test driving it. Sadly, my wife was really wanting me to buy the Jeep Patriot instead. Guess who won that argument...

I never stopped thinking about the FJ Cruiser or the more easily obtained 4Runner and I knew: One day.

I'm now the proud owner of a 4Runner and still keeping my eye out for an FJ Cruiser.

 

https://www.hhchevy.com/VehicleDetails/used-2010-Toyota-FJ_Cruiser-4WD_4dr_Auto_(Natl)-Omaha-NE/5049040760
Here locally. I cannot believe the price for 80k miles but I am sure you are.
Head on up; get a truck & lunch. I will be there. I don't know if the badges are factory or aftermarket.
Ryan.
P.S. after thinking (long day in the sun) that is low mileage for the year. Maybe a good deal now...

 

The year was 1976. A friend of mine and I were at the local Chevy dealership looking at the cars on the lot.(getting ready to make our first purchases) Drivers licenses were happening soon, then my friend spots this Land Cruiser, and says "Hey let's check out that thing." At the time I thought maybe a early Chevy or Ford pickup, but surely NOT "that thing." As it turned out it was a '75 LC that some guy traded in for a new Chevy pickup, and as I remember they wanted a crazy price for it ($6800)! No way I'm buying "that thing" for that kind of money when I could have a new Chevy.... with air, and creature comforts. Sure wished I would have bought "that thing"! I've had a few Toyotas, and dependable, is the word.

 

My parents had a red 1983 Celica GTS, manual trans. I was 5, and it was the coolest car in the world. I can't recall why they got rid of it in 87. In the early 90s mom got a silver early 80s Celica (not the cool GTR). She had that for a few years, then moved on to something else.

I had a thing for 90s Civic hatchbacks and CRXs when I was a teen, so I didn't pay much attention to Toyotas for a while. Until 1997, when I first really noticed the 3rd Gen 4Runners. I always wanted one, but they always seemed so out of reach, financially. I was a broke E-2 in the Army and in 98 bought a 96 Ranger for $12K, but that 4Runner was always in the back of my mind.

 

50 years of dust on life's rearview mirror, but it was the early 70's and I would liked to have had one, for sure. However that was a time when practicality ruled the day, and the 3 grand price tag(for a toy) would purchase a much more suitable mode of transportation. Practicality payed off, and here we are.

 

I didn't think it. I heard about how reliable Toyotas are, but I never thought about owning one. Then my Jeep turned out to be a dumpster fire, and I didn't want to buy another dumpster fire. And now here I am.

 

I didn't pay much attention to Toyotas until Back to the Future came out....Marty's truck was pretty cool!

Then a year or two later a guy down the street got a new Celica Supra Turbo with 5 speed manual. That thing was scary fast!

 

It was the early 80's and I was maybe 7 and I saw a lifted Toyota Pickup with Big ole tires, and wanted one so bad (this is not mine, but is like the one that blew my mind as a kid).

 

I love the 3rd gen Supra! '87 would have been the first year of the turbo. Awesome cars!

 

1980 a local surfer buddy who had graduated high school a few years earlier than me, and jumped on the housing boom in Florida as a carpenter, made enough money to buy a Red 79' manual trans 4x4 pickup. Back then we had sand dunes and mud all over my county. That thing could go anywhere...and we did. I would always bribe him with a doobie and 2 bucks for gas to go romp around in 4x4. This area was paradise back then.

 

My dad brought home an 82 Celica for my mom (he worked at a Toyota dealership in our cow town) and I fell in love. But really, it was Marty McFly's SR5 Pickup that sealed the deal - still one of the most beautiful trucks of all time.

 

My friend had a Marty McFly SR5. I think that show inspired many in the 80’s

 

Wow, I am really enjoying reading everyone's stories. Well, my first car was a 1988 Toyota Cressida that my parents bought new. When I went off to college, this was the car that they handed off to me. It was white, and fully equipped.... Up to this day, I still have a love for that car. It was just like this:



My grandmother had a 1983, and I was always fascinated as to how quiet it was. It was similar to this one:




The ultimate "I have to have this" came when I was 13 years old, and the Lexus line came out in 1990. I fell in love with the LS400, and, being a 13 year old, was trying to figure out, "well, if i have an after school job, I can eventually save up and buy myself one of these..."



My uncle then bought one, and of course, the first time I rode in it, it made me even more attached. Every year I would order the new brochures, hang pictures up in my room, over my bed. LOL! Yeah, I was a crazy 13 year old.

BUT, now I'm on my 4th 4Runner, and loving it!

Cheers,

Sean

 

Thanks Brownersd. If I knew how to keep this thread on the first page like “what have you done for you 5th gen” I would do it. Great story!

 

I was driving around in a 2010 Ford raptor and saw the first 5th generation of trd pro with the back window down. (2015?)

my mind was blown. Back window, all the way down? Sold.

went to the dealership the next day and traded in the raptor.

been driving a 5th gen ever since and maybe rolled my back window down twice.

2016 super white trd pro
2021 lunar rock trd pro.

 

Lol classic with the back window. I think it’s the coolest thing too and I guarantee I’ll use it as much as the sunroof. Probably twice ever. Not for any other reason other than I’ll forget about it.

 

I never had that moment. Other than riding in my uncle's Corona as a kid I didn't know anything about Toyota back in the seventies. Then I needed a car to run an insurance route and I came across a 74 Corolla with 132K miles on it. Back then with American cars that was a lot of miles. It was on a car lot run by a friend of mine's father. I paid $800 for it and thought if I get 20K out of it I'll have gotten my money's worth. But it just kept going and going. I parked it when it had 313K on it because I just didn't need it and couldn't bear to part with it. It was still running fine. It sat for about 5 years and just went down. I finally got rid of it but I learned what Toyota is all about. Now between my wife and me we have 4 of them in the yard.