We found ourselves in Chemult, OR. on Thursday morning (more on that later), and outside our little lodge sat this venerable Toyota 4×4 pickup sporting a rather unusual cap of sorts. Closer inspection showed it to be a homemade fiberglass double cab. Now on this side, there’s an outline or cutline of a rear door, but no obvious way to access it. The other side shows how it’s done:
There it is, a Kwikset fake brass door knob. When I first glanced at this picture, I didn’t see any hinges, and began to wonder if the knob was a fake. But with a little cropping, the details became quite visible.
Yes, there it is, a section of Stanley continuous piano hinge. Nice remodeling job! Closer inspection of the other side shows it too has the hinge, but no knob. A work in progress; I can relate to that.
Now this is not your typical mamby-pamby double-cab pickup that mommy uses to haul the brood to school in. A quick glance in the shortened bed confirms that: this guy has stones.
That’s impressive in a “there I fixed it” sort of way. I like the retro touch of the oval rear window and the way the overall silhouette looks like the top on T-Bucket.
Personally, if I had a hankering for a 4 seat Hi-Lux I would have tracked down one of the period conversions with the extended chassis and the fiberglass pod.
I’m thinking it would be easier to get in and out of that new back seat area by having a front seat that folded forward than to squeeze through that high narrow new door. Of course if you are putting a kid in a car seat and you have to pick them up and put them in there yourself those new doors could be useful.
When the apocalypse hits, I want the owner and/or designer on my side.
S(he) is probably an expert on zomby extermination.
If I had the cojones this is what I should do. Nobody important to me would proobably be seen in it so what’s the point.
I like the idea but am not very impressed with the execution.
Nothing a quick Krylon paint job wouldn’t fix.
Yeah, Chemult, that’s where you jog north to La Pine to pick up Hwy 31 to Lakeview (and Reno) if you’ve come over Willamette Pass. The kind of a place where a rig like this really isn’t too out-of-place.
LOVE. 10 times cooler than a Sport Trac. The doorknob is brilliant (figuratively speaking).
Happily they sold a double cab Hilux over here… On the other hand I have seen similar door conversions done to the Landcruiser 75 series Troop Carriers (larger door though)