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Double Vision: 1981 Toyota Pickup(s)!

Look away!  Shield your eyes!  To a Toyota Pickup enthusiast, this is pure sacrilege!  The value of old Toyota trucks like this (these?) 1981 Pickup(s) is currently at an all-time high and continues to climb.  So why would anyone take two Toyota Pickups in acceptable condition, mash them up, and offer them for sale for less than the price of one truck of the same vintage?  Who knows?  But we’re getting close to Halloween so I suppose it’s the perfect time to try to sell this Frankenstein creation.  Available for sale on Craigslist, this former Florida “parade truck” is offered at $3,500.  It’s located not too far from Buffalo in West Seneca, New York.

After taking a few pulls from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, I was finally able to examine the pictures in the CL ad and I noticed there are steering wheels in both cabs!  After a few more swigs of Pepto and closer inspection, it appears the above photo shows the “rear” of the truck(s) or, if you prefer, the direction the truck is facing when it moves in reverse.  Did you notice the exhaust pipe poking out from under the tube step in the second photo (below the door with the price tag in the window), indicating the “rear” portion of the truck?  What oddities do you see as a result of this custom build?

The R family of 4-cylinder Toyota engines produced during the 1980s, such as the venerable 2.2-liter 20R or the 2.4-liter 22R, have achieved mythical status due to their durability and longevity.  It’s the primary reason these trucks command such good money nowadays and the reason so many of them are still around.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case here.  Rather, the original motors from these two Pickups were replaced with a small block V8 that’s been paired to an automatic transmission.  No photos are provided of the motor and the seller provides nothing further in regard to the truck’s mechanical condition.  Neither is there an indication of mileage on the motor or truck bodies.

You would think the seller would want to show-off the interior of this unusual creation, but that’s not the case.  Instead, this is the only inside photo provided in the ad and it fails to give an overall sense of the layout of the interior.  As a Toyota Pickup purist, I know how I feel about this hodgepodge (I just took another swig of Pepto).  Yes, even the V8 swap makes me cringe! But that’s simply because having owned a couple of 1980s Toyota Pickups myself, I can attest to the amazing reliability of the R engine.  But what do you think of this oddball?  Would you drive it or take a torch to it?

Comments

  1. Avatar photo Chasman358

    ?

    Like 4
  2. Avatar photo Chasman358

    :-/

    Like 4
  3. Avatar photo Mike

    :0

    Like 3
  4. Avatar photo Rex Kahrs Member

    Interestingly, this pickup truck is exactly as useful as most of the pickup trucks people drive around these days. So the choices are drive it or torch it? Hmmmm….

    Like 12
  5. Avatar photo classic Steel

    WT Frank ?

    Bored ? Nothing to do?

    Bad drug experience on opi’s????

    In the future volunteer at a soup 🍜 kitchen or adopt a highway to pickupo rubbage.. 🤔😉😏

    Du bist nur ein geistiger Sohn….

    Like 4
  6. Avatar photo sir mike

    Well that is just stupid….

    Like 4
  7. Avatar photo TimM

    why???????

    Like 3
  8. Avatar photo Theodoric of York

    Actually, I love it!

    Like 3
    • Avatar photo Riccardo Scavo

      Theodoric of York,
      I humbly submit that only those with Marty Feldman Squint would love this hunchback of Toyota, now that Notre Dame has been burnt down.
      These trucks were given an accolade by our esteemed Jeramy Clarkson on Top Gear to the envy of all other brands and only a fool an ignoramus would destroy that. Looks ugly inside out, sorry mate

      Like 0
      • Avatar photo Theodoric of York

        Riccardo,

        To each his own. If I had the money to throw away, I’d probably buy it. But I don’t. So I won’t.

        But I still love it!

        Like 0
  9. Avatar photo KevinLee

    Oh, just buy it, drive it around and give someone a good laugh. I think children would think this is cool.

    Like 5
  10. Avatar photo Ian C

    Looks familiar…

    I noticed front diffs on both ends. And given 2 steering wheels, I would think it is 4 wheel steer.

    Also, the Marty Feldman frog ROCKS!

    Like 2
  11. Avatar photo CanuckCarGuy

    Hard to tell in the photos, but are the cabs joined as one passenger compartment, or do they retain the rear cab walls? Presumably the rear windows remain intact, given the cab angles.

    Like 2
  12. Avatar photo ace10

    Burn it with fire!

    Like 3
  13. Avatar photo LARRY

    Narcotics..alcohol and too much time on whoever’s hands…pepto ain’t doing it brother!!

    Like 3
  14. Avatar photo Car Nut Tacoma

    Sacrilegious would be putting it mildly.

    Like 2
  15. Avatar photo 433jeff

    I love it! Except for the 2 registrations

    Like 5
  16. Avatar photo Barry Traylor

    yuck!

    Like 1
  17. Avatar photo FordGuy1972 Member

    This is so stupid it’s painful.

    Like 2
  18. Avatar photo PairsNPaint

    Pushme pullyou……..

    Like 1
  19. Avatar photo rod444

    Perfect for driving the parking patrol nuts in those places that post “Do NOT back into parking stalls”

    Like 2
  20. Avatar photo JoeNYWF64

    Wonder if you would get a ticket where a sign says “no headon parking”.
    I wonder why TODAY’S driver’s ed cars dont have dual steering wheels, like they did in the old days? I guess too expensive- maybe illegal to move the passenger air bag out of the dash to the 2nd steering wheel?
    Not sure if the instructor has his or her own PEDALS tho.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar photo Mark

    In the snow belt, these notoriously rotted their frames right at the back of the cab. The owner probably had two trucks, and tried to salvage something when the beds parted company with the rest of the truck (s).

    Like 2
  22. Avatar photo Djjerme

    Bwawawawawahahahaha..

    (Breath)

    Hahahahahaha!!

    The used car dealer $3500 stickers complete the look.

    I love the lunacy of this.

    Like 2
  23. Avatar photo canadainmarkseh

    Might be fun to put a dummy in the back cab with it’s hands over its eyes. On the highway it would really freak people out. Ok Ok that might not be a good idea. I say trade it for a yellow dog and then shot the dog. This goes to show you that there is no cure for stupid.

    Like 1
    • Avatar photo Rex Kahrs Member

      Two friends of mine picked up an old Econoline van and trailered it, facing backward, from Colorado to Ohio. Somewhere on I-70 they stopped at an adult store and bought a blow-up doll, which they placed behind the wheel of the old van. The van was bright yellow and I think the doll’s hair was too. Classic.

      Like 1

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