Much like My Fair Lady's professor Henry Higgins turned a Cockney flower girl into a right proper lady, so has the seller of today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Toyota turbo truck turned it into a show piece. Will you however, find its price equally transformative?
In case you are not familiar, the musical My Fair Lady is based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion which is about a professor - Higgins - who takes a bet that he can slick up a Cockney girl simply by teaching her proper elocution. Since its 1956 debut, it's been called by some, the perfect musical.
The builder of today's rare 1986 Toyota 4x4 has undertaken a similar feat, updating this 22R-TE-powered N40 to pristine condition. But is it a perfect truck, Guv'na?
If you will recall, Toyota introduced the turbo four in their mini-pickup back in '85 as answer to the V6s offered by the Ford Ranger and Chevy S10, then the Toyota's domestic competition.
Adding a turbo to the 2,366-cc 22R meant a modest boost in power - from 105 to 135-bhp - along with some neat if subtle badging on the truck's B-pillar. It also meant lower compression pistons in the SOHC engine, and oil-cooling for the turbo's center bearing. That requires proper cool-down procedures to prevent coking and premature turbo death.
This truck likely has a long way to go before anything like that happens to it if it continues to receive the sort of love and attention that seems to have gone into its build. Everything everywhere on this beast looks to have been renewed. As indicated in the naked engine and frame pics, its mechanicals have been blinged out beyond belief and some parts are are shiny enough for you to check for spinach in your teeth in the reflection.
In addition to all the highly polished parts, everything else looks to have received a fresh coat of whatever color paint the builder seemed to think it deserved. This being an '86 it also has torsion bar independent front suspension, which is a plus if you like to travel on-road as much as off.
If that's the case, you'll also like the pristine split-bench interior and the component stereo system therein. The tranny is a five speed stick and both its shifter and the transfer case lever get a billet knob that I'm sure will be a joy to use come summer.
On the outside, the red paint is obviously new, and the truck comes with both frame bars and fender flares for that muy macho look. Also, do you want big tires? Because, buying this truck is how you get big tires. Those shout Tonka Toy, but a lot of people really like that. Mileage? Who cares, the damn thing seems to have been gone-over down to the last nut and bolt so it's really not about what it once was or how worn out it got before its transformation, it's about the here and now.
Here's the kicker about this truck however, the seller is asking $55,000 for it. Yes, that's right, fifty-five large. Even he thinks that might be seen as a typo and notes in the ad that, no, it's not fifty-five hundred, it's fifty-five thousand. He even uses all caps to emphasis the point.
This is your chance to tell the seller whether his efforts at making this truck presentable in high society are worth that sort of cash. What's your take on this restored Turbo Truck for $55,000? Do you think you could grow accustomed to her price? Or, do you think that makes this Toyota one un-fair lady?
You decide!
Windy City Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to no-Kinja Mike for the hookup!
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