This 1990 Toyota Hilux SR5 4×4 diesel crew cab is one rugged beast. The seller says that they imported it from Australia and it’s titled in Decatur, Georgia where they have it listed here on eBay. The current bid price is $9,300 and there’s only a day left to get your bids in.
Our own Adam Clarke lives off the tip of Australia which seems just a little cooler and more exotic than living in Minnesota is. No wonder he’s always late to all-staff meetings at One Barn Finds Tower! As an Australian vehicle, this is right-hand-drive which most folks say doesn’t take much time to get used to at all. I don’t currently own a vehicle with right-hand-drive but there are a few on the master wish list. Not the least of which would be a 4×4 diesel 5-speed pickup or van.
This truck is set up for some major off-road duty. With that diesel engine and crew cab, the next owner can probably get to where the trails are with a few friends pretty economically and then once they’re there, have the power to get the job done. This truck is set up with the famous snorkel for high-water duty. I could have used that in the ’97 Grand Forks flood.
They say that the original owner was from Western Australia and they used it in the outback for extended camping trips. Being 29 years old hasn’t appeared to be much cause for concern as far as rust goes, but they mention taking care of a couple of spots on the cab. They provide underside photos and it looks great with just some surface rust. The interior looks equally nice and with a 5-speed manual it would be an interesting drive for the first few times for us left-hand-drive folks. The back seat is nice to have for sure and it’s now out of place to see a pickup without one, even a Toyota.
This engine is Toyota’s 3L 2.8L inline-four diesel with around 90 hp and 140 ft-lb of torque. With three or four passengers and gear and the 4×4 working, it seems like a little more power would be nice to have but I’m sure that it has the stuff to make for a fun on and off-road experience. The seller says that they consistently get 25 mpg in mixed driving, nice. Have any of you imported a vehicle from another country? If so, did it have the steering wheel on the other side than what you were used to?
Wow is that awesome. I know of them, but never seen one in Minnesota.
This is the kind of awesome truck that we, in the land of the free (or massively discounted ;^), were/are not allowed to own! I do have an ’82 2WD with a 3L (sourced from Australia) swapped in. In my lightweight little bugger the motor’s a lot of fun! Torquey, willing to rev, and gives close to 30mpg on a regular basis. I actually get parts from Back 40 Imports right there in Montana.
PDXBryan, I don’t understand why you’re not allowed to own a truck like this, can you fill us in? I’m in Australia and we can own and drive anything as long as it’s roadworthy. I’ve got 2 left hand drive US vehicles and they’re perfectly legal and registered, the only criteria is they must be over 30 years old, (something about protecting our now non existent auto manufacturing industry) ????
I had one of these that I purchased from a plumber, it had a hard life with him towing anything and everything around, it was also fully over loaded in the back all its life. I got it just over 400k on it, i moved states and sold it at 475K on the clock and that was 5 years ago, its still going to this day on a farm with a water tank on the back of it. You just cant kill these things!
I have two Ford diesel trucks both are 7.3 liter and I love them!! My 99 F-350 is my daily and I bought the truck new!! It’s got 300,000+ miles on it!! A boss plow since it was new!! PDXBrian I agree with you 100% it’s not the land of the free when your not allowed to buy a vehicle like this!!! It’s a economically a great automobile!! It gets great fuel mileage and since the new diesels have come out where you have to add blue def to burn the carbon the fuel mileage has significantly decreased!!! I understand saving the planet but if we have to use twice as much fuel to do so it doesn’t seem right!!!
Well in my experience right hand driver is actually far easier.
You have way better left hand, left foot coordination if you drive a manual.
And you have your right hand free to wave at others or point your pistol.
Besides, as we shake hands with our right hand…. Again it is free do do so.
Just my thoughts and observations!
I lived in Australia for a couple years. I remember the first time driving on the other side of the road was nerve-racking. It went against everything I knew. I got used to it after a while but occasionally lapsed into my old ways. One time I was driving in the left lane down a two lane road and needed to turn around. I turned left into a driveway, reversed out and merrily turned back into the right lane. Everything seemed fine til I saw a car heading straight for me. That was pretty exciting.
I didn’t have a ute but I had a sweet Toyota Corolla 4×4 wagon. Good times.
Perfect rig, i wish we could have the subaru diesel here, or can we get The vw Aaz in a 4wd?
Turbo kits are readily available for these engines that will increase torque and h.p. by 30% and also increase fuel mileage be 10% with no impact on engine longevity. Not cheap but considering one of these can cover several hundred thousand miles it’s likely worth the investment.
Auction update: this one sold at $13,100!