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

I would certainly buy a few new vehicles in their first year if I was looking for a new vehicle. But none of them would be domestic. Case in point: back when Nissan's reliability was comparable to Toyota and Honda's, the 1989 Maxima, in it's first year after a redesign, was proclaimed as the most reliable car sold in America. I worked as a Nissan tech at that time and I can vouch for them as well.

 

Agreed! On that note, if I was in a position to buy another new vehicle right now, I'd strongly consider the new Z they're about to release.

 

A coworker in late 80's had a 1989 pickup similar to this. Went with my uncle to a Toyota dealer in Orange CA. and man they looked good. Being a teenager still, there was no way I could afford one, but that was my "one day" I will moment ! Also remember those early celica's ..beauty and sporty.

 

I thought I’d post on here for my Dad and my Dad’s friend Dave who’s FJ is in the picture above. His Toyota was green. I now have a green ORP and those days as a kid gave me the love of 4 wheel driving. It came in handy in Afghanistan when the power steering and brakes were going out of our hummer and I still drove that sucker over a 10,000 foot switch back pass in the mountains. My dad passed two weeks ago today and everything about working and tinkering around on these Toys reminds me of him. He would have like my new 4Runner and asked me first thing if I had replaced the stock tires.

 

Gotta say, this is what got me excited for toyota pick up trucks. 4runner is close enough.

When I was a kid Datsun ruled the day in terms of cool cars I saw my uncles driving, especially the 510

Toyotas were still considered the car to have, but the square corolla 1.8L just could hold a candle to the square 510s in my eye.

 

Sorry for your loss!

 

So sorry for your loss! Also, that's a wild story about the Hummvee, glad you made it!

 

Sorry for your loss. The circle of life always wins in the end...

I don't know how I missed these posts last year. It has been great reading.

My Toyota story begins with seeing a 1977 or 78 Toyota Celica hatchback on a used car lot in 1980. I was a young airman in the USAF that just arrived at my first (and only) permanent station. How I wanted that car. I would go to the dealer's lot and just sit in it and dream. They ran me out of there because they knew I could not afford it as an E-1. Fast forward a bit to 1983 when I bought a 1979 HiLux SR-5 2WD 5 speed. I loved that truck and drove it all over the Sierra Nevadas with a dirt bike in the back. I know every entrance to Yosemite National Park, both legal and not so much. I put so many miles on that truck (20R engine) and never had anything but brakes and tires. I kept that truck until 1989 and was forced to sell it because of my situation at the time.

Then, in 1985, a coworker in the military bought a 4Runner. I wanted one of those. But it would have to wait. Like others, I lusted after the truck in Back to the Future, and was jealous of Marty McFly and his truck. Our local dealer had a black 4WD HiLux all decked out with the roll bar just like the movie. It was 1986 and my second child was on the way, and there was no way that was happening. I was the lone wage earner, and not much wage at that in the USAF stationed in California. I always had my eye on Toyota trucks. When Toyota firs came out with the 3.0 in the truck, I went right down and drove one. The smile on my face was ear to ear, and I am positive the salesman was drooling over a sure sale at his advantage. Boy, was he pissed at me. I told him it was a nice truck, about time for the V-6, and walked right off the lot. It was still not to be. Yet. A long yet.

A lot of water under the bridge, and an ex-wife under the bridge, (LOL) and fast forward to 2012. After rebuilding my life, and having a dream car (for me) which was a 2005 Infiniti G-35-6 MT, I was ready to shitcan the 2010 Nissan Sentra I had bought under duress for a daily driver. What a mistake that car was. I was thinking the moment that I bought it that I should have bought a Tacoma. I had been out for dinner right next to a Toyota dealer and saw my next truck, a 2019 Tacoma Sport Access Cab. I bought that truck the next day, and got rid of the Sentra at the same time.

A couple of years later, after having the scare of my life in a panic stop on a California freeway - (the truck absolutely would not stop), I traded the 2012 for a 2015 Sport Access Cab with brake boost. I still have that truck to this day, about 104k miles later.

The Infiniti had been wearing on me - it was fun, but buying tires every 20K miles at about $1600 for a set, plus a manual transmission in Bay Area traffic just didn't do it for me anymore. That thing had so much power, the aero package kept it stuck to the road, cornered like a race car, and the highest I ever had it was 150 mph, but I had to get pretty far away to have fun with it.

Then, I was perusing Toyota's website one weekend in September of 2018... I was playing around with building a 4 Runner... And I decided to go and look for myself because I am a touchy feely kind of person. The internet is okay, but... And my build was a truck already at the local dealer. 12 hours later, my dream truck was in my driveway, and my Infiniti with worn out tires was someone else's problem.

It took me a lot of years to realize my truck dream, but I am keeping my 4 Runner.

 

When I saw all my favorite SUVS getting smooshed into cross overs (blazer, explorer, grand Cherokee, etc) and that the only box looking reliable vehicle that was still simple was a 4 runner, is when I knew I wanted a 4 runner.

 

@2Toys yours is a great read. I lost a new 91 Toyota 4x4 pickup to my first wife in 92 (WW1). My next Toy was a 99 Periwinkle 4Runner SR5 and that is when the Toyota fever got me. Here are my other two now.

 

1960-ish Dad bought a Toyota import. It was not fast, but seemed able to climb phone poles. First 4WD I ever drove. One of the learning to drive memory. I looked for an FJ for years but didn't connect the 3 requirements. now i am an apprentice 4Runner trainee, and getting to know a descendant of Dad's ride.

 

The first time I got excited about Toyota was when my dad bought a new 1985 Supra. To me, the exterior styling had all the allure of a Porsche -- especially in that red! -- while inside I felt like I was piloting some kind of luxury jet fighter. Rowing through the 5-spd, I thought I was ready to challenge Mario Andretti. Loved that it was tail happy. Amazing to think how slow it was by today's standards. Back then it was the fastest thing I'd ever driven. To this day it's one of the handful of cars I miss most. It and our MGB hooked me on traditional sports cars -- light weight, front engine, rear drive, manual trans. This isn't the actual car, but it looked exactly like this. Sweet.

@Thatbassguy , I saw your post about also having an 85 Supra as well as an 87 MR2. Nice! My dad and I test drove an MR2 around that time and he ended up going more practical with a Maxima. But that MR2 was a hoot! Would love to have a minty one now!

 

I'm a younger guy so I never got to see the cool 80s-90s Toyota's just the boring beige ones so they were never that interesting to me. However I absolutely fell in love one day when I was going for a drive down our main strip and I was being must've been a 15 or 16 white TRD Pro and I saw that rear window roll down. Then once I got my job selling them 4 years ago now, i was really really impressed with the lineup they were offering. I've looked a lot more into the brand now and it's history and I gotta say they're my favorite out there. I'm really looking for something fun and would love an old 2WD Toyota Pickup for a v8 swap or 3rd gen Supra.

 

I had a thing for bad boys and Toyota trucks back in the 90s. Went to high school with a girl who drove her mom's 4runner. I thought the 4runner was the coolest vehicle on earth, and envied her.

Without realizing it, my first car was a 1985 Chevy Nova which I believe was based off the Corolla...?

 

I still miss mine, and kick myself for selling it occasionally. They held their own back then, though they couldn't quite keep up with the V8's. They made up for it in the corners.

With IRS, limited slip, and 4 wheel disc, they were pretty decked out for the time!

My ex drove an '80's Nova for a bit. Yes, it was a Corolla, just like the Geo Prism. That was probably one of the last carbureted motors Toyota produced. It was a good little car.

 

Great stories. My first Toyota love was in ‘72. My mom worked at a Monsanto plant and dad worked at an Amoco plant outside Alvin, Texas. My mom had a late 60s boat Pontiac Bonneville. It was metal flake gold with metal flake gold vinyl seats. lol Dad had a Chevy half ton pickup. One day dad traded the Bonneville in on a brand new reddish orange 72 Toyota Corolla (Corona?). My mom loved that Bonneville, HATED the Toyota. She was furious so dad bought a new Hilux the same color. BUT he kept the Chevy for pulling his boat, kept the boat, dirt bikes, Harleys... Mom said peace the fuggout and took off to San Diego & traded the Toyota for a 73 Formula Firebird and I stayed with dad. In the summer of 79 I got a job driving a tractor discing soybean and rice fields for $25 a day sunup to sundown. I was 13 with no license, but it was all back country roads, so I learned to drive that truck to get to work (dad taught & approved) and fell in love with it. I learned to double clutch to get a smoother shift into 2nd hehe. In July 79 Alvin, Texas had the world record 43 inches of rain in 24 hours and the beautiful red Hilux with the turn signals on the front fenders drowned in a horrible way. I had a few various clunkers in high school, then the first new vehicle I bought was a 1986 Toyota pickup. I have strayed a few times, but won’t ever again! Toyotas forever.
I have owned:86 pickup, 90 Tacoma, 07 4Runner, 10 Tacoma, 11 Tacoma, 2x 12 Tacomas, 04 Sequoia, 12 Rav4, 12 Tundra, 12 Lexus CT200H, 99 Tacoma, 12 4Runner (current) and I am trying to work a deal on a 06 Highlander Hybrid right now. I have the Toyota bug BAAAAAD! If you busted my head open with a stick, Toyotas would fall out. Edit: and I LOVE all of your trucks too. ALL of them.

 

Wow! My son owned that exact same Cressida, down to the white color. He loved that car. It had the straight six engine, and was a tank!

He actually replaced the straight six engine in a co-worker's Cressida, so he knew it inside and out. Thanks for the photos.

 

No worries mate... Yes, it was an AMAZING vehicle. I still miss it up to this day!

Cheers,

Sean

 

First time I thought about getting a Toyota?

August 1984...I was buying my 2nd car, a 1980 Datsun 200SX for $4500

I had worked for months as a busboy, dishwasher, prep cook...
picking up all the extra shifts I could get...since I was making $3.95 and hour then, the $$$ really added up quickly

I really like the 1982 Toyota Celica's, but at the time those were way out of my price range

in 1984, I paid $4500 for my 1980 Datsun 200SX, the 1982 Celicas were ~$6500 at the time

I got my first Toyota, my first Supra, in 1993...a 1988 White one for $8800
wrecked that one, and bought a 1987 Turbo Supra for $8700

 

1983, 85, 86 Toyota pickups before I finally got my 90 4R.

 

My first experience with Toyota was a teen in the mid-70s, when my family got a 5-speed manual Corolla hatchback, the first new car we ever had and the first that wasn't always on the verge of falling apart.

I drove numerous rental Toyotas over my long career and mentally noted the ones I liked, especially the 4R. When it was time to pick a retirement vehicle, off-road capability with on-road performance and comfort were my main desires, and reliability was a major factor. I compared a lot of vehicles, but mainly Bronco and Wrangler. If they were still being made, I would have considered FJ Cruiser and Nissan XTerra. I've driven a lot of Wranglers and never much liked them for highway driving, and for me the 4R outdid the Bronco on price and reliability.

 

1989 for their trucks. I wanted a 1st gen 4runner so bad. My friend wanted a pick-up. I had multiple pictures on my wall of the 4runner. I loved that the top was removable. Never did get one, but it's all good.

I don't really think I ever dreamed about their cars. I have a lot of experience with 70s and 80s Toyota cars but wasn't lusting after one in the day. I wouldn't mind an older Celica/Supra or early 90s MR2 for nostalgia's sake.