This brown (Copper is the official color name) box-checker is a 1978 Toyota SR5 Long Bed with a 5-speed manual and topper, or canopy, as they call it. The seller says it has “no rust,” the two best words in all of autodom. It’s posted here on craigslist in the Lakewood, Washington area, and they’re asking $10,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
Now that’s a long bed! Did I mention this truck has cold air-conditioning? No? This truck has cold air-conditioning! The only thing I could think of to add to the wish list would be if it had a diesel engine. Sadly, that wasn’t available until the next-gen trucks in 1979 and only on the long bed models, as seen here. The third-generation Hilux (known as just a regular ol’ Pickup) was made from 1972 until the late summer of 1978.
I usually fail to mention the rear bumper being “missing,” and it usually gets called out by a reader as to why that is. I mean, why there’s no rear bumper, not why I fail to mention the missing rear bumper. These trucks were imported to Long Beach, California, and beginning in 1971, final assembly was completed there to avoid a 25% tariff referred to as a chicken tax.
The chicken tax has been bandied about here on Barn Finds many times over the years, and a simplified version is that it was a 25% tax imposed by LBJ (President Johnson) on some European and other imports in the early 1960s, in response to tariffs they imposed on U.S. chicken being imported there. Japanese manufacturers were affected, and they found that if they exported cab and chassis trucks to the U.S. and had pickup beds installed here, they would only pay a 4% tax.
Back to this great-looking truck. You can see what is said to be the only split on the driver’s seat, and the passenger seat looks perfect. The vinyl looks a bit loosey-goosey, but they say it’s original, as is most of the exterior paint. It’s hard to see in the photo above, but this truck has a five-speed manual transmission. You can see it better here, plus the air-conditioning system, which would have also been installed after this truck arrived in the U.S. without a bed. The SR5 was a higher-level trim package.
I can’t get over how nice this truck looks inside and out for being almost five decades old. The engine is Toyota’s 20R, a 2.2-liter SOHC inline-four with 95 horsepower and 120 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the five-speed manual sending power to the rear wheels, the seller says it runs and drives like new, and the AC works as it should. These things aren’t $2,500 trucks anymore, despite what most of us remember them being. Any thoughts on this Toyota SR5 pickup?
You forgot to mention that there’s no rear bumper – (just kidding).
It does have the optional panel covering the inside of the tailgate.I
added that to mine,covering the concave surface.
As I’ve mentioned before,I bought a new ’77 SR5 Longbed in
September of ’77 & proceeded to put about 6500 miles on it in the
first two weeks I owned it.First I went to Montana,then to Grand Junction,Colorado when I help a co-worker by hauling his stuff back
there.
On the way back,I stayed in Reno,& noticed a “clunk” whenever
I stopped.While at a car wash,I put my hand on the bed,& was shocked
when it moved.I took it to the dealer who informed me that there were
only three bolts holding the bed onto the frame.They tried to charge me
for that.When I told the lady at the counter that I thought that was covered
under warranty,she told me that she thought it was a demonstrator,as it
had so many miles on it already.I wasn’t charged for that.
About 25 years later,I found an identical SR5 Longbed in central
Washington,& ended up buying it.Imagine my surprise when I compared
the paper work & noticed that they were 1 serial number off from each
other!The first one was bought new in Medford,Oregon,& the second one
was from Grants Pass,Oregon.I’m sure they were on the same transporter.
Thar she be, mates, the truck that singlehandedly took down our treasured F150s,,,no, no, not another anti-this post, there was a clear reason people wanted this, it was just a better truck. oOoOO, that didn’t sit well, caught US truck makers with the pants down. Try as they might with Ranger/S10, we never regained that position.Today, these trucks are still the #1 seller, and most buyers got their 1st truck right here. I’ll dismiss the authors request for a diesel as being temporarily insane, the 20R will go down in history with all those other great motors. None better. These were so popular, even with the ones gone that were rusted, I bet there’s still a lot of these in garages, finally being discovered. Like trying to find a rust free Jeep up north, doesn’t exist. It’s an incredible find. Pretty clear, whoever had this refused to let it go until the bitter end.
Like the design of the front of this Toyota although my favotite japanese brand is Nissan.
And definitively I also would prefer the diesel engine.
Had and have several Pathfinders and Hardbodys and always went for the diesel ones. These engines are bullet proof and the sound just fits the purpose of these rigs.
I guess unfortunately you could’nt get the diesel ones in the US.
Datsun beds rusted even faster than these, at a time when just about everything rusted fast.
The SR5 package was top of the line and included the 5th gear and those bucket seats along with the decal stripes and full wheel covers this truck sports. Still spartan even by contemporary class standards, you could get cloth bucket seats on a Chevy Luv or Ford Courier, alloy wheels on the latter (and, I think, the Mazda badged version), and the Datsun as a King Cab.
I always wondered why the pre ’79 SR5’s never
came with a tach?
Good question. I would’ve wanted mine with a Turbo Diesel engine. Everything else is perfect.
Lovely looking truck. My late stepfather had a 1978 Toyota SR5 Pickup. His was orange with an orange interior. It had a 20R 4 cyl. engine and a 5spd manual gearbox. My stepfather drove it from 1979 until about 2000. I drove it for a few more years before selling it. It was an awesome truck. I’d buy another Toyota truck.
The bed is incredibly clean. My ’81 diesel was rusty in all of the seems in 1985 (Ohio) and I’d still have it if not for rust. The price is a few Ks too high to ship to Ohio.
This is nicer than my stepfather’s truck. This is either an original survivor or has been restored.
I had a ’78 Toyota pickup as a work truck. It was a tin can. I HATED it!
I personally don’t think it’s worth $10,500 and I would get rid of that canopy overall a nice little truck
I’d remove the canopy, install a bed liner, and then reinstall the canopy.
You install a bed liner when you go to sell a pickup,to
cover up all of the scratches.Those liners can cause a lot
of scratches,but makes it easier to clean the bed area.
I had a thick rubber bed mat in my first Dakota,& it was
one of the best things for a pickup,along with an adjustable
bar to keep your load in place.
I bought an ’86 Toyota 4×4 pickup new, and I had to have a rear bumper installed because it didn’t have one when it was on the lot.
I remember back when these were new most dealers offered a heavy duty commercial-style black-painted steel rear bumper as an option. Nearly all had the dealer name etched into them across one or both sides of the ball mount left open in the center of the bumper. My first truck was a 1984 Mazda B2000 and it had one with “DON DARR PONTIAC MAZDA” emblazoned across the passenger’s side.
Listing update: the seller took down the listing. Did one of you buy this truck?