One of the more exciting aspects of my 1981 Toyota HiAce project is the prospect of outfitting the rear cargo area as a camper van. I can’t explain the attraction of sleeping in your car, but this rare 1982 Toyota Trekker by Winnebago is an excellent candidate for a DIY camper conversion. With roughly 1,500 made, this is a rare find – and it’s listed here on craigslist for $6K or best offer. Be sure to go here if the ad disappears.
The seller doesn’t spend much time showing you the ins and outs of the Trekker, but does share photos of it doing its best to go anywhere the owner wants it to go. Toyota enlisted Winnebago to basically build what it envisioned the 4Runner becoming, complete with collapsible jump seats in the rear bed and a fixed roof with functional rear window (but no tailgate). They were painted three colors, and white was not offered – so this is likely a repaint.
Only about 1,500 Trekkers were made, utilizing a short-box Toyota truck chassis and shipped directly to Winnebago for conversion. What’s most impressive is how little Toyota deviated from the design when it introduced the 4Runner, with the exception of introducing the trick removable roof on the Toyota-built example. The seller notes that this example does have rust issues and at least 340,000 miles on the clock – shocking, but not surprising, either.
The cockpit is supposedly trashed, but no interior photos are included. Even if it needs complete restoration, it’s a very spartan cabin with a basic bucket seats in vinyl or cloth, carpets (likely in tan) and a standard-issue Toyota dash ($10 says it’s cracked). The seller is moving and needs to pass the Trekker on to someone else, and has already lowered his price from $6K to $4K. Get some pictures to size up the rust issues and make a judgement call from there.
If you read to the end it looks like he is down to $4000 on the price. Good looking rig!
Typical CL seller. Lots of talk about the Winnebago conversion but only posts one worthless close-up of only part of it. There’s mention that there are more pictures to come – “Once it stops raining and I get some time I’ll get some better pics”. Hey buddy, your ad has been up for 19 days. Still raining down there?
I hear you Mike, I have called and or emailed 7 craigslist ads looking for a cheap work car and only one has replied and no I’m sure they were not sold already because most ads were only up for a day or less.
Nice post! I think the seller lives in my area of N. Portland. Hope he got it sold.
I’ve owned one of these since for almost 30 years, mine is red and not for sale. the seller’s ad regarding the description is definitive…its a great vehicle, great to drive. By comparison, I bought a new 1984 4Runner, the first year of the factory offering and what a dog! It was heavy and overwhelmed the 4cyl engine.
Maybe you could share some pics of be details that make this more special than just a pickup since the seller isn’t?!?!
Jimmy I have this problem all the time with CL listings. I have a feeling what happens a lot of time is that the CL emails end up in their spam mail.
my only Q is how’s the fiberglass/metal interface due after a few decades? Water intrusion? Easy fix?
The ’81 – 2 is only “40” model (or toy jeep) to have 6 cyl. Wonder what this 1 has…