Having accepted a job as a Rural Mail Carrier, I was in search of a cheap vehicle that could deliver the mail. I didn’t have to look very far as a lonely Toyota that was neatly tucked away in a carport along my drive to work, sprouted a for sale sign one day. I had always been curious about these little trucks, and although it had the usual massive amount of rust, it was priced very reasonably at $500. I bought it and proceeded to beat it until it met its demise a mere six months later, a new record for me.
This truck had been sitting in the carport for over a year and belonged to a guy a little older than me who lived in the basement suite. It was a family hand-me-down that had served him in a pinch until he bought a nicer vehicle. As once again no pics of the actual truck survive, think of it as an amalgam of the pics of the blue truck from Tom Klockau’s CC on the Toyota Pickup and David Saunders’ COAL on the same truck. While mine was the same colour blue as the CC truck, its initial condition was somewhere in between the blue truck and David’s yellow truck.
It was a base model shortbox and also had one of the ugliest canopies I’ve ever seen. This unfortunately was a necessity as it allowed a (semi) covered cargo area in which to haul the mail. The only problem was that the single walled box had rusted through at the wheel wells, but I stuffed some rags in the gaps to protect the mail from road filth.
All the truck needed was a new battery. In fact, I don’t think I even did my customary full tune-up, but I must have at least changed the oil. I lived in a small apartment with three other dudes and the manager was generally not too enamoured with us, and my ugly beaters certainly didn’t help. I feared that working on derelicts in the parking lot might put her over the edge. Also, I had recently had some medical issues that had rendered me unemployed, so once I was well again, I resolved to bust ass and dig myself out of the hole I was in. This meant working two jobs full-time, both of which relied on this poor truck that I had no time to work on. I also still had last week’s COAL as a plan B in case the truck broke down. That’s my excuse for beating this poor thing.
The truck was reliable, if not pretty. The only work that had to be done during my ownership was a starter solenoid and a flat tire repair. The fact that it only had 180 000 km worked in its favour, but there’s no stopping the rust on an old Toyota. The tailgate handle was always very finicky and took quite a few pulls to get it open until I discovered that I could stick a finger through a rust hole and apply pressure to the rod that opened the latch. Opened every time with the rust hole trick; rustiness has its advantages.
Image via sr5.com
To anyone who thinks automakers should go back to building compact trucks that are truly compact in size, I’d like to invite you to spend some time in the interior pictured above. Mine was identical minus the console and stereo, and it was a punishing place to be. I didn’t mind the uncomfortable seats and the general lack of space, but the heat was inadequate as was the lack of tunes. It had just enough heat to defrost the windows but no more, which was a problem as I got out of the truck constantly on my mail route. Since I couldn’t handle letters with anything more than thin gloves my hands were constantly cold, so I sat on one hand to warm it up while shifting and steering with the other. Good times. Both the truck and I were suffering temporary pain for long term gain, at least that’s what I told myself.
While the truck was uncomfortable, it was certainly fun to drive, especially on twisty, snowy mountain roads with its well worn tires. My night job was as a bartender up at the local ski resort and I used to delight in subjecting co-workers to free rides up the mountain to work in my little sports truck. After the first couple of corners I could always tell by their reactions whether they were a thrill seeker or not. While many of the Aussies I worked with had never seen snow prior to that season, many loved my rally car-inspired driving. Don’t get the idea I was some maniac scaring the hell out of all my passengers; if they starting gripping the handlebars real tight I would slow down and drive nicely. Everyone needs to get along with their co-workers.
As you may have guessed, the truck met its demise on that same twisty mountain road. I smashed her up good, but it wasn’t really my fault. I had gotten off work after midnight and was giving a drunk friend a ride home. Coming around a tight corner, I noticed a vehicle pulled off to the side of the road near the creek. I thought to myself that that was a terrible place to pull over and let off the gas to slow down. Suddenly my dim headlights illuminated a downed power pole blocking the road in front of me. I stomped on the brakes but it was too late, I hit the pole dead on.
My drunk friend opened the door to have a look but I grabbed him before he exited as the severity of the situation dawned on me. The other vehicle was 100 feet in front of me and had hit a power pole knocking it over. The force of that pole falling over, pulled the one I hit to the ground and to top it off I was parked on the power lines. This became evident as I tried to reverse the truck off of the power lines. They weren’t arcing or sparking which leads me to believe they weren’t live but I was determined to get off the power lines. I floored it and cranked the wheel but the truck just ended up “climbing” the power lines until the rear suspension was relieved of its weight and the tires spun. I shut off the truck and waited for the fire department to come and tell us it was safe to exit the truck.
image via yotatech.com
The truck was a write-off but it wasn’t dead yet. Aside from a smashed grille, headlight bumper and fender, it still ran fine and you could even still open the hood. Through a quirk in the insurance system, my company refused to cover me but the insurance of the other guy who hit the power pole covered me and cut me a cheque for $1000. I doubled my money and they let me keep the truck, with the catch being that I couldn’t renew the insurance when it expired. So I sledge hammered the metal where the headlight mounted straight, replaced the headlight and kept driving it. I even took it on the 16 hour marathon drive home to Winnipeg for a visit and to collect some of my junk my parents were (rightfully) threatening to throw out. That would be one of the last times I spent in that torture chamber though, I was ready to move on to something more comfortable.
Image via cardomain.com
As summer arrived I was back riding my motorcycle as the insurance expired on the truck. Then an opportunity to own a car that had been on my wish list for a long time presented itself and it was time to dispose of the Pickup. The new car would need an out-of-province inspection, and one of the local mechanics happened to be very fond of old Toyotas and was in need of a 22R engine. So, I traded him the truck for the cost of the inspection and we were both happy. It’s funny that this was my first experience with a Japanese vehicle, but it must have made an impression on me, as I now have three different Toyotas in my driveway.
always liked the 1979-83 Toyota pickup’s, I thought the squared headlights looked much better on these truck’s than the rounded headlights, I still see a lot of the 4WD version’s of these trucks but don’t see too many of the 2WD version’s.
Those Toyota utes are good tough units, most Toyotas are good cars Ive owned several and havent had a really bad one yet and a couple of them were at deaths door when I took possession but with a few parts and some tinkering I got a good run out of em.
I’d really like to find a 1982-83 SR5 4WD that’s still in good shape. I currently have a 1993 SR5 that still in decent shape but I’d like to have one that’s 10 years older!
As a former owner of a “small truck”, there are good and bad examples of small trucks. Don’t write-off a whole class of vehicles due to 1 person’s bad experiences.
I had a 94 Ranger, admittedly a bit bigger than this Toyota, but the small cab made heating and cooling the passenger space easy. Though I should mention I had the factory window tint darkened to cope with the Tennessee summers.
Probably the biggest drawback to a small truck is the feeling the steering wheel is in your chest and/or the feeling you are wearing the truck like a big metal backpack.
I always thought the Toyota truck of the early 70s was kind of ugly, but these were pretty decent looking. From the late 70s to the mid 80s, Toyota had a terrific looking range of vehicles…..engine-wise? Well, they were bullet-proof.
I miss the old school Toyota pickup truck. My dad had one when I was a boy. It was a 1977 Toyota pickup truck. It had a 20R 2.2 litre 4 cyl. engine. It had a 5 spd. manual shifting transmission. It had AM/FM radio. While the seats themselves weren’t very comfortable, I found the cab to provide enough room to be functional and comfortable.
That was the right truck at the right time for you. A friend of mine in Germany had the same approach to personal transportation: motorcycles first, old beater cars for the winter. It is liberating not having to worry about a few scratches etc. And an accident of someone else’s fault with an old beater can be a financial shot in the arm.
The bad heater may have been a case of a clogged heater core or open thermostat.
Well said, that truck really was the right truck at the right time for me, despite it’s shortcomings.
The heater issues seemed to be a combination of a weak fan, rotted foam weatherstripping between the heater ducts and a clogged heater core or thermostat. All easy to fix, and I had planned on it but I never found the time before it met its end. I have noticed though that generally Toyotas (especially older ones) seem to have weaker heating systems but that might just be bad luck.
Was my first new vehicle, and I drove it for 13 years (287,434 miles). Sold it when I moved abroad, to a Scoutmaster who needed something to haul camping equipment. It’s entirely possible that it’s still alive at some scout camp, because it was still in fantastic shape…no rust, well maintained, and with a copy of “How to Keep Your Toyota Pickup Alive” under the seat.
Still miss it.
My father had an 80 Datsun pickup. His had the King Cab with the two little jumpseats in back, which made all the difference in cab room. I could see where a standard cab would be pretty tight.
I used to fight the heat thing the year I was delivering pizzas out of my 71 Scamp. My slant six was a cold-blooded thing, and even with a 195 degree thermostat in it, I used to have to keep the radiator 3/4 covered with cardboard to get the thing to make the kind of heat a guy needed on a cold night of constantly getting in and out of the car.
Its only weak spot was the heater. I remember it took *forever* for the heater to warm up. I always had to wear a ski parka in the fall and winter months when I went to start the truck. Once it did warm up, the cab was comfortable, and I could take the coat off.
My Dad had a “King Cab” ~’90 Mazda pickup when I was a kid. I say King Cab as every truck that had an extended cab was a King Cab to him. Those jump seats were basically just 3″ of cushion of the floor, so my 2 brothers and I were constantly fighting over who got the front seat. The MPV he eventually bought as a replacement was a huge improvement.
It seemed like half the cars back in Winnipeg had the cardboard on the radiator trick when I was younger. Those who cared about their cars would have the black vinyl bra over the grille and those who really didn’t car about their cars had cardboard on the rad and the grille. Strange that I don’t ever remember doing that on one of my cars.
Those were tough old trucks for sure. From your previous articles as well as the photo of the road it looks like you worked at Panorama, and your truck came to grief on Toby Creek Road. You’re far from alone on that one! A very unforgiving road.
I had to laugh about the Aussies, here in the BC Rockies you hear a lot of down under accents during ski season. They all tell me there’s lot’s of Canucks down there during their season as well. Enjoyed the article.
You got it, I’m in Invermere and have been up and down Toby Creek Rd thousands of times. I always got my tow strap with me, I’ve pulled many vehicles out the ditch, and been pulled out myself twice. Every time I get my motorbike going in the spring my first ride is up and down that road, I never get tired of it. Cheers, mate!
I spent a lot of time in cabins like that. Normally they were Ford (courier) or Nissan-Datsun. Guess being short (albeit fat) has it’s advantages. I still think it’s the way to go but don’t see many today. Still quite a few from the nineties as there isn’t much rust in this area.
You really want a torture chamber, try one of those with the naturally aspirated diesel. Absolute toilet of a vehicle especially with that stupid fresh air vent that could not be closed.
My grandfather had an 81 diesel long box sr-5 in red. He bought it cheap and in need of a body job and a box. He found a box with solid inner walls and floors and fixed the outside panels. He made panels for the lower doors and lower fenders and welded them all in and shot a new coat of the factory red paint. My brothers and I rode everywhere in the back of that old thing. Five years later he had to replace the doors and fenders along with cab corners and rockers and a few patches on the outside of the box. He shot on another coat of red paint and sold the thing for $1500, it had more than 400k km on it. A carpenter friend of our family bought it and drove it until the doors fell off the thing in five more years and 300k km. He sold it to a guy who wanted the still running like a top diesel engine for use in a generator.
You are right about those mini trucks truly being mini. I lusted after the cool looking black Toyota 4×4 truck in Back To The Future and years later got to sit in one as i was looking to buy. At 6ft 1in tall, the truck was so uncomfortable that I passed.
I had a regular cab 2010 Ranger for a few months back in 2013 until Carmax let it fall off a lift and it got destroyed(though they did offer me $16000 for the truck and I had paid $13000 for it 3 months previously so I got profit) was a nice truck but a bit to cramped. I did not experience the steering wheel in the chest like Mr Kerr in his Ranger but I did fee like I was wearing it as in order to drive it I needed the seat all the way back and it always made me claustrophobic as when I turned to my right my face was up against the back window.
I got a 2011 regular cab Chevy Colorado back in 2014 as my Home Depot, moving around stuff vehicle and though the specs say the reg cab Ranger has more room in the cab then the Colorado, I swear the Colorado is more roomy. If I put the seat back I cannot reach the pedals well.
I’ve driven two Toyota Pickup trucks. Neither of them had comfortable seats, but I had plenty of head room and plenty of leg room. 🙂
I’ve driven all of the 1990s Japanese pickups, but not earlier ones like this. The Toyota I drove was a 2.0L 5sp dual cab, and it was pretty slow. It had also been run mostly on LPG for 70,000 miles so was just shy of needing the valve seats replaced, or potentially the entire cylinder head. I remember thinking the 2.6L Mitsubishi I had in my car would have been a better engine for it, it had a lot more torque.
Good trucks indeed ! .
My Stepmother bought a long bed SR5 in…?1977? and kept it until her untimely death a couple years ago , it started in California and moved to Washington State (Whidby Island IIRC) where she had it re painted once and a few brake jobs and so on .
-Nate
Had one of the ones from the early ’90s, a hand-me down from an older sister. It replaced my old Citroen AX and was almost the complete opposite.
Hard riding, marginal handling, wipers and washers that actually cleaned the screen, brakes that actually didn’t try to kill you, AND reliable starting.
It became like a good old dog – even if it was rough around the edges, it was still honest and true to itself.
I felt like I was betraying it when I sold it on, and my then BF said a Shinto prayer to send it on its way.
Ah, one of the trucks that used to be everywhere, and probably still would be except for that little rust issue. Nonetheless there were several, and another few of the previous generation, in my old neighborhood in Richmond. The ones that don’t contract terminal metal cancer will run pretty much forever thanks to that bulletproof 22R. A friend’s father had one in chocolate brown, which must have been one of the most popular colors at the time. Seems like the majority were either brown, white, yellow, or blue. And most seemed to have the tape stripes as well. Almost a ubiquitous addition to the stylish late 70’s early 80’s compact truck…