2 Owner Hi-Lux Pickup Truck SR5 4x4 5 Speed Cold AC RUST FREE AZ Rock Crawler

Price: - Item location: Tucson, Arizona, United States
Description:

1980 Toyota Hilux Short Bed Straight Axle 20R Classic

RULES OF THE ROAD:This November will mark my 17th year selling on eBay. By and large eBay members are outstanding responsible people. But for some reason the longing for beautiful classic vehicles, especially trucks like this, brings impulsivos with no self control out of the woodwork. They appear not to understand or appreciate all the months of time, money and energy it costs to prepare a vintage truck for an auction like this so they start mindlessly clicking and thereby wreak havoc on a complete stranger's life without the ability to actually honor the terms they've initiated. If that kind of behavior reminds you of yourself then please feel free to read the description and study the pictures to your heart's content but for the love of common decency please do not click anything other than the ASK QUESTION tab unless you have the means to pay per the terms below.
THE HILUX:Super clean rare rust free classic 1980 Toyota Hilux 4x4 regular cab pickup truck runs & drives as good as it looks with only 154,000 miles from a 2nd owner in Tucson, AZ where it's so dry that vehicles don't rust.HISTORY:This amazing truck was born in 1980 in a factory in Hamura, Japan. Itwas the 2nd year that Toyota offered a live front straight axle mini truck in North America. It has lived its whole life in Tucson, Arizona where the US Air Force mothballs all their retired air craft because there's such a lack of humidity that nothing rusts. Like those old planes this truck has absolutely no rust and has never been wrecked. The original owner bought it in Tucson back in 1980 from the Precision Toyota dealership and sold it in 1985 to the 2nd owner who drove it sparingly on his ranch ever since.
MECHANICALS:This truck features an excellent running 20R (2.2L SOHC) original engine,power disc front brakes, factory air conditioning, manualsteering, and was born with a 4 speed manual transmission but was recently upgraded to a 5 speed manual transmission with new clutch from an identical 1983 model. Brand new 31x10.5x15 BFG KO2 All Terrain radial tires mounted on black steel 15x8 wheels. Yes you can still see the white stickers on the tread in some pictures. This truck'sbeen professionally gone through stem to stern. Anything mechanical that needed attention got it.
New (used) L52 5 Speed manual transmission.
New clutch disc, pressure plate, pilot bearing and throw out bearing.
Newly machined flywheel.New rear main crank seal.New gear oil in all 4 cases.New valve cover gasket.New distributor cap & rotor.
New plug wires.
New Denso spark plugs.
New fuel pump.
New fuel filter.
New 10w40 motor oil & filter.
New brake adjustment.New wiper blades.New battery.
4 New 31x10.5x15 BFG Tires mounted and balanced on 15x8 black steel rims.
Comes with receipts documenting most everything which is still under warranty.
20R (2.2L) 4 CylinderThis legendarily reliable numbers matching 20R runs like an industrial sewing machine.Starts every time with a click of key. No smoke, no knocks, no leaks, no issues. Excellent oil pressure. Runs cool, even on 112 degree Tucson summer days with AC blowing cold. Everything under the hood is stock. The exhaust has not been modified in any way. The 20R is equipped with a double row timing chain and metal timing chain guides so they don't wear out. It's widely known in Toyota circles that the 20R cylinder heads have much bigger valves than the later 22R engines and therefore produce significantly more air flow. Since an internal combustion engine is essentially an air pump, the 20R head is more efficient than the 22R head and therefore superior, ultimately able to produce more horsepower. Engine builders have long admired howthese 20R blocks are famous for being hardened with more nickle content than old American muscle cars, plus these carbureted 20R engines, having no computer, are particularly desirable for Preppers worldwide because they are immune to the electro magnetic pulses of nuclear war. There's a grizzled old man who runs around Tucson with a 1980 Hilux truck virtually identical to this with 650,000 miles. Similar examples with over 500,000 miles are common when you search the net.
5 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION & GEAR DRIVEN TRANSFER CASE:L52 Transmission shifts tight and smooth.2 speed top shift gear driven transfer case (one of the strongest humans have ever invented) operates smooth as designed.Factory Aisin manual lockout hubs engage like new. This is a Toyota after all. Their 4x4 reliability is legendary.
4x4 STRAIGHT AXLE SUSPENSION, WHEELS & TIRES:Stock suspension with newer shocks. Brand new 31 x 10.5 x 15 BFG KO2 All Terrain Terrain Radials with 100% tread mounted on 15 x 8 black steel rims. The stickers still haven't worn off the rubber. The older spare tire which holds air hangs in its factory location under the bed.
DIFFERENTIALS:Both 8 inch factory differentials are stock with 4.10 gears, open carriers and no leaks. These 8 inch differentials are exceptionally strong. They routinely hold up to V8 power when owners complete bigger engine swaps. These Toyotas are one of the only 4x4's ever made with interchangeable front and rear differentials. It was a design copied from the Dodge 4x4 trucks of WWII which allowed soldiers with broken rear ends to swap them around in the field.
INTERIOR:The interior is clean and mostly original. Original bench seat has been reupholstered.The AC blows cold and has been converted to modern 134A freon. The heat blows hot. Everything on the SR5 gauge cluster works except tachometer because the needle is broken. These gauge clusters are still reasonably priced on eBay so that can be easily fixed.The original bottle jack and tools in the factory green canvas pouch are still stowed behind the driver's seat. The original owner's manual pictured is stored in the glove box.The radio deck and speakers have been upgraded to a modern version with MP3 capability. The speakers you can see in the shot behind the seat showing the jack. The factory door card interior panels were replaced with aluminum diamond plate inserts that were nicely done.The factory vinyl floor is in tact but has some normal wear holes hidden by new thick rubber floor mats. A dash carpet has been added as the original vinyl dash disintegrated from the Tucson sun. The plastic steering column bezel is cracked on the left driver's side and some chunks of the plastic have broken away but still holds its shape. You can find replacements on eBay.
FRAME & BODY:
This truck has absolutely no rust, zero, none, and has never been wrecked or even wheeled off road in any significant way. It has the 6 foot short bed that is not all beat up like most this age. Truck was re-painted at some point recently and looks really nice with close to matching original color and black spray on bedliner. The sheet metal is nice and straight for a 37 year old 4x4 but there are a couple very minor ripples on the roof plus a blemish where the driver's front fender meets the door as well as a typical ding on the lower corner of the bed on the driver's side near the rear bumper shown in pictures. The small red left rear marker reflector is missing from the bed side but replacements are cheap on eBay.
INSURANCE:This truck is eligible for historic plates in any State. That also mean it's eligible for Collector Car insurance from outfits like Grundy Worldwide or Haggerty which only costs $12 per month for a $10,000 full coverage policy. That's right, a full coverage policy is only $12 per month and emissions are forever waived. I repeat. Collector Car Insurance means no more emissions and a cheap monthly nut on full coverage insurance.
OH WHAT A FEELING:
There's several reasons that these Toyota trucks are so legendary worldwide. It's no accident that no matter what part of the world you look at whenever you see news footage of a guerrilla fighter soldier with an AK47 in the back of a pickup it's always a Toyota. That's because Toyota truck reliability is 2nd to none. It's what soldiers count on. That's why Toyota is the only import vehicle ever allowed to compete in NASCAR racing.
Unlike American vehicles of this era, every Toyota Hilux came with a fully boxed steel frame. Not only is the frame boxed, meaning super strong, but also every nut, bolt and fastener is fine machine threaded. That's how a 37 year old truck like this can have zero rattles. Virtually every American vehicle has coarse threads throughout and a C-channel frame with only the engine and transmissions having fine machine threads so except for some exceptional rare American vehicles, like Early Ford Broncos and some Jeeps with fully boxed frames, nobody in the USA constructed 4x4's with as much engineering integrity as the Japanese.
I wouldn't hesitate to jump in this truck and drive it coast to coast feeling confident it wouldn't need anything but gasoline.
PAPERWORK:
Clean and clear notarized Arizona title is ready to go. Title is still in a quaint 1985 envelope from the State of Arizona that was mailed to the 2nd owner. Original owner's manuals with receipts (pictured) are stored neatly in 37 year old plastic dealer pouch from Precision Toyota in Tucson.
INVESTMENT:These Toyota Hilux, especially the 79-85 straight axle trucks, only go up in value even while you drive them, providing one of the best investments in the automotive world today. Fact is there will never be another made like them. They are 1 off legends and are getting exceptionally hard to find in this condition. If not now then soon it will be a bargain at twice the price. So for example there's only been 2 of these 1st generation Hilux 4x4's sold on eBay in the last 90 days. Both were 1982 models. (Note that this 1st generation pickup body style was made 79-83). One had 189k miles from CA and sold for $11,100. The other from FLA had about 155k miles and sold for $10,500. Neither had new 31 inch BFG KO's on 15 x 8 black rims. Neither sellers had more than 400 feedbacks. Both trucks appeared rust free but were from states with large ocean coasts so there's salt in the air. This truck is therefore a bargain for this asking price and won't last long. The time to buy a classic rust free Toyota is when you see it. Snooze and lose.
CONTACT:Email through eBay or Call 52O-Nine 77-O112 for any questions prior to clicking which is highly encouraged.
FEEDBACK:If you have ZERO feedback and are serious about this truck then before doing anything please be sure to call the number above so we can establish that you're not a squirrel.It won't take more than a couple minutes so just do it. Unfortunately this is required due to the reputation of eBay rookies for being non-paying bidders.
For those new to eBay and nervous about buying a vehicle over the internet just remember that, as mentioned at the outset, I've been selling classic early Broncos and antique Toyotas and vintage parts on eBay for 17 years. Some 15 years ago I happened to sell a truck to an eBay seller who runs a large scale pawn shop in Philadelphia with over 100,000 feedbacks and he taught me this eBay rule of thumb. Every positive feedback is worth about a dollar of trust. That means if you're buying something for $500 then ideally the seller will have at least 500 positive feedbacks. This is just an ideal rule of thumb mind you. It's not etched in stone. So if there's somebody's selling a $10,000 vehicle with only 32 positive feedbacks I'd be leery. Doesn't mean it's not legit, it's just that there's not much track record. By contrast if a seller's asking $9k for a vehicle and has more than 12k positive feedbacks like myself, well then you can rest easier for you can ask yourself why would they risk throwing away their decades old hard earned feedback reputation for only $9k? The answer is they wouldn't.
IMPORTANT AUCTION TERMS. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.Note that per eBay "Terms of Service" (TOS) that you agreed to when registering "your winning bid constitutes a legally binding contract for sale" so please don't start clicking if you're not completely serious and committed to buy, meaning, be sure you have wife's permission and funds in position to honor terms below. Please make sure the phone number and address you have registered with eBay is current and if you're planning to use PayPal for the deposit that you have liquid funds ready to go that are not in the form of an E-Check which takes 4 days to clear, in other words, be a responsible bidder whose got their act together and doesn't have a bunch of amateur excuses after the fact.
Inspection prior to bidding is always welcome.
A non-refundable deposit of $1000 either viaonline PayPal payment orcard over phone through Square is due within 24 hours of auction close. I'm willing to eat the $29 PayPal or Square fees for that.
Full balance of Payment is due within 72 hours of auction close by either direct bank to bank wire transfer, or you can overnight envelope a Cashiers Check, or pay cash in person, or pay with PayPal online or a card over the phone so long as buyer is willing to pay the transaction fees which is about 2.75% over and above the sale price.
All shipping arrangements and fees are the responsibility of the buyer. Figure shipping any vehicle East of the Mississippi is about a grand. West is less. We will store the truck free for 21 days after sale. There is a $15 per day storage fee thereafter.