Hey That's Not A Land Cruiser?

I know this is cheating a little, but I wanted to give a little credit to the trucks that started me on my obsession for the FJ40.

Back when I was just starting college my father came home from work and told me about a pick-up type truck for sale at a local car lot. I wasn't looking for a new vehicle at the time, the Ford Tempo that I was driving was just fine for what I needed it for. I indulged him and we went over to look at it. Immediately I knew what it was that i was looking at. It was a 1986 Toyota 4Runner. Years earlier (1984) I had gotten a 4X4 magazine that had an article talking about the all new 4Runner. I remembered reading the article and thinking that it was such a cool vehicle. In fact I still have that old dog eared coverless magazine. in my collection.

Anyway, we took the truck out for a test drive and I fell in love with it. I was a little nervous about the 120,000 miles that it had on the odometer but the price was right. We ended up buying the truck and I cleaned out my tempo and sold it the next day. I was now a proud Toyota owner. The first thing I did was put in a monster sound system and tinted the windows. I really enjoyed the truck.

I ended up driving that truck the rest of my way through college. I finally sold it 7 years later. I had run the odometer up to 229K and it still ran like a champ. The body had started to give way to the Wisconsin winters. I now kind of regret selling it. I still think I see it around every once in a while.

Next 4Runner - 1994