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

I use the back window in my 4Runner more than I ever used the sunroofish thing that my Jeep Liberty had. It causes a lot less noise, too!

 

I like riding with the back window down. Just don't do it on dirt or gravel roads. Unless you enjoy cleaning the interior.

 

I test drove a black 1995 4Runner before buying my 1st car, a green 1998 Chevy Monte Carlo in 2001.
Should've bought the 4Runner.

 

That back window is my 120lb dogs favorite thing about the 4runner. Yeah, more than once I have said, why is it so dusty in here. It’s really awful if for some reason the recirc light is on since it draws back there I think.

 

I saw a Magazine ad in Car and Driver for a 1st Gen T4R 30 odd years ago and it was on my mind the the whole time before I bought one last year.

 

Thanks for telling your story everyone. Overlandcharlie I really appreciate you remembering the costs of a 78 FJ40. Great memories!

 

Wow. We all wish we had one of those now!

 

I got my pickup strictly by chance. I had a Chevy Luv, which I very much enjoyed off-roading in the desert around Yuma, and working on, which it needed constant tweaking to keep it running at it's best.
Well, I took the Luv to the certain chain transmission shop (beep-beep, know what I mean?) due to it not staying in 4th on the highway. I was tired of having to hold it in gear. Anyway, they stole my tools behind the seat, and the transmission wouldn't shift into 4th at all. It wouldn't go into 4WD any more, either. For all those improvements, they demanded $1200.00! A couple nights later,while I was STILL steamed, one of the local auto dealers had a "Push, Pull, Tug, or Tow it for a $2000.00 trade in!" deal going on.
I drove the Luv in, and got the 87 pickup for a mere $10,000.00. This was in 88, and it only had 30,000 miles on it. It was a good deal I was informed by the "guys" out at work, who were all professional mechanics.

After I lost my eye by running into a horse on my motorcycle, and what the heck he was doing on my motorcycle I will never know (ba-dump-BUMP!), I collected an injury insurance I had. Let me pay off the pickup, and buy an 87 4Runner in the same color.

By the bye, I never did pay the transmission shop a penny...
Pat☺

 

PhantomTweak, sorry to hear about your misfortune, but thank you for sharing all the Toyota love. Thirty four years owning a 4runner. I wish I had one of with my 16 trail.

 

When I was a kid in the 80's I thought the first gen MR2 was cool, and I liked the Marty McFly style truck. I think I just really liked the graphic packages they used, lol, I used to draw them all the time. Other than that I wasn't excited about Toyota, and never aspired to own one.

It funny though, I realized I've owned most of my automotive TV heroes though.

73 Chevy K10 (my first vehicle, purchased in 1992 at age 14) = Colt Seaver's "Fall Guy" truck. (I geek out over squarebody Chevy's the way people here geek out over 1st gen 4R's)

81 Trans Am with T-Tops and a shaker scoop (a POS bought when I was 17 and never put on the road) = Smokey and the Bandit car

88GTA Trans Am, TPI 350 with a digital dash = Knight Rider. (after that, I had another 2 LS1 Firebirds)

Other than that, I never wanted an ATeam van, (though now it'd be cool to live down by the river in one), and a General Lee was always out of reach.

 

Holy cats!
The Fall Guy! Haven't thought about that show in ages. Especially Heather Locklear. Maximum babeage!

Did your Knight Rider car have the light bar on the front? The one that scans back and forth? I always thought that was a nifty addition.

Have fun, all!
Pat☺

 

I've had several 'wanna have that Toyota' moments. Probably the biggest one was when I was in the dealership for I don't remember what, and chatting with the sales guy we knew. They had a new 1984 maroon/mahogany two-tone Supra in the showroom. In my view, it was the best color combo for that car. At the time I was driving my blue 1982 Corolla liftback that I had bought new, which in itself was a great car. Anyway, the Supra was pretty pricey (maybe $15k or so?), so I soon 'settled' on a 1984 blue Celica GTS notchback ($13k-ish). I originally thought the liftback was cooler since it more resembled the Supra, but the notchback grew on me quickly, and I ordered one. It was a great car. In reality, due to better balance and being a little shorter, the Celica handled a little better than the Supra. It had the 22-R engine, I believe - precursor to the venerable 22R-E.

Fast-forward about a year or so, the Celica had 34k miles on it. I still favored a Supra, and with the occasional friend, would cruise the local Toyota lots looking at the new stuff. Well, a dealership had a used maroon/mahogany 5-speed Supra with 15k miles on it. I worked with the sales guy (back then I bought based on payment amount), and got the Supra for maybe $20 more per month. Both the Supra and the Celica turned out to be great traveling cars. The seats were extremely comfortable over long drives, and I took each of them on a long trip to the Rockies. Eventually, someone pulled out in friont of me on a highway and nearly totaled the Supra. It got fixed and I drove it for a while, but was always leery of the major front end repairs it had endured. So one day, I traded it in on my forst 4Runner, a 1988 deluxe. The only options were a decent cassette radio and A/C. It had roll-down windows, push/pull door locks, and I had to add cruise control for the many long trips it ended up traveling. Quite a big step from the Supra. Drove that thing 305k miles. Been a Toyota-only guy since the '82 Corolla.

Attached is the only photo I can find of that Supra.

 

That’s great Daddykool. I have two Toyota’s now and even though I got offered more than I paid for my 16 (I just bought it in December) I had to turn it down. I have the cargo tray in the back and can’t find a 20-21 with one installed. So, onward.

 

I loved The Fall Guy as a kid! I can't imagine how many squarebodies they destroyed, probably a few every episode. I can't imagine they survived being jumped more than once. And yeah, I realized when I was older what a babe Heather Locklear as, though I was always partial to Daisy Duke, haha.

No, my 88 T/A didn't have the light in front or anything like that, it was just a stock GTA. Gunmetal grey with the gold crosslace wheels and gold emblems. I STILL think those are great looking cars. Having the digital dash and radio controls on the steering wheel was close enough to Knight Rider for me, haha.

 

I forgot about those! I thought those were great looking cars too. I remember when I was in high school in autoshop as a freshman, there was a senior (in 1992, 1993-ish) who had one of those. I thought that wing over the rear window (which is really a sunshade, no?) was really cool, as well as the stock wheels. I remember he did his interior in a god-awful splatter paint theme (that is actually apparently making a comeback - barf!) Today, I think one of those would be an excellent candidate for a LS swap.

 

Early 90’s my cousins “friend” showed up in a late 80’s early 90’s Toyota pickup (possibly Tacoma) with a lift, lights on top (looked identical to the back to the future truck. Straight drive and he let me cruise around in it with him and I was in love. I knew one day I’d get a Toyota truck. The rest is history.

 

My 2nd Landcruiser - I think vintage was '76? It had a 307 Chevy in it but was not super powerful but I suspect better than the OEM 6. I loved that rig but never suspected they would gain such popularity. At the time I worked in a independent garage specializing in Jeeps and other 4wd vehicles. Just looking at the undercarriage of a Jeep compared to that of the Landcruiser would make you chuckle - the Jeeps were so puny built. The only mod I made was putting in power steering - that was a PIA but end results were worth the install aggravation.

 

I just watched this while on vacation. I forgot how awesome that truck looked! I think this may have influenced me a bit. It was originally scripted to be a Supra, I heard somewhere. Can't confirm that, or why it was changed though.

Boo! Blasphemy!

The only acceptable motors for that car are the 5M, 6M, 7M, 1J, or 2J.

Chevy motor in a Supra?? Yuck!

 

I don't know what any of those motors are, I don't speak nerd. (J/K LOL )

IMO, for good, cheap power, you can't beat an LS. I wish I had the coin to have one swapped into my 4R.

 

Yea, the LS is a good power engine, the cost is comparable to a regular small block Chevy, slightly less but, still too close to call.. I say NO to the LS in a Supra or a 4Runner! A travesty! To each his/her own though. Did you look at companies like Trans-Dapt for a swap kit? if someone makes a "clean" swap kit, they do. A LS in a 4runner...hmmm, maybe, but not a Supra!

 

Lol! They're all Toyota I6 engines. 5M was stock for the 2nd gen Supra. 6M was a JDM engine, 7M was 3rd gen Supra, 1J was JDM 3rd gen, and you better know what a 2JZ is!

I totally agree about the LS engines. A few buddies have LS swapped vehicles and they're fantastic. But, it's not really that cheap if you want to do a clean swap. I would budget at least 10K. Sure, you can probably get a stock junkyard LS in and running for under $5K, but who does that?

Besides, a 1J is a great platform, and a proper fit for a Supra. Here's a 1JZ with wiring, manual transmission, ECU for only $3800. This is the route I would go with a 2nd or 3rd gen Supra.

 

I guess I never considered any Toyota a grand prize catch. We have owned 3 Camry, 1 Highlander, 1 Rav4 and 1 4Runner. All great, reliable vehicles, but certainly not a "destination" vehicle.

 

The 4runner is my "destination" vehicle.

I guess it depends on what you consider a "destination" vehicle, though. If you're only fascinated by sports cars, then Toyota hasn't made anything exciting since the 90's, with the possible exception of some Lexus models.

It's funny, though, how many people have American muscle cars as their toy, but buy Toyotas (and Hondas) for reliable daily transportation.

 

"It's funny, though, how many people have American muscle cars as their toy, but buy Toyotas (and Hondas) for reliable daily transportation."

Not funny at all. Ever try to drive an American Muscle car in bad weather? Muscle cars are not good daily drivers. But they are fun weekend vehicles. Don't get me wrong, i love my 4Runner, but it isn't a dream vehicle for me. That being said, our 4Runner will likely be in our garage a long, long time.

 

My buddy's wife drove a Mustang GT, stick, for several years daily. A good set of snow tires and some finesse go a long way.

Another buddy drove a Mustang GT daily for a few years as well. It's not that bad.

 

I drove a 2007 Mustang GT with a stick, daily, for 12 years when the snow wasn't too deep and you could navigate the icy tracks pretty well. I wouldn't try it with a Shelby that has three times the horsepower as the Mustang GT.

 

The Shelby has 1236 horsepower??

 

I was assuming a 2007-2009 Mustang GT. They came with 305 HP. The newer Mustang GT has, what? 400+ horsepower? Plus independent rear end. Our GT500 has 662 HP, which is twice the horsepower, not three times. Sorry. Still, 662 HP wouldn't be good in the snow. That is what the 4Runner is for.

 

Sure, it wouldn't. But, why not another Ford for a daily? That's what I was mostly getting at.

And, I was referring to a newer GT, rated at 412 HP.

Like I said, if muscle cars are the only thing that interests you, Toyota hasn't made anything exciting in a long time. But, everyone has different dreams. That's what keeps things interesting.

 

"Sure, it wouldn't. But, why not another Ford for a daily? That's what I was mostly getting at."

2 things: The 4Runner is a proven, reliable performer. Plus, the off-road style Bronco hasn't reached the public's hands yet. Even if it was plentiful commodity, I never buy a "first-year" vehicle of any sort. Gotta let the bugs get worked out before purchasing a Bronco. We bought the 4Runner outright, so we don't owe a cent, and it has been great.