Toyota Pickup 4x4
Preparing for Adventure
"Dora the Explorer"
Meet "Nessie" - you've heard about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster but have never seen it, so here it is, the automotive version, the extremely rare 1985 Toyota Pickup Long Bed 4x4. This truck is the last of the solid front axle 4x4s and first year of the overdrive A340F automatic transmission bolted behind the fuel injected (EFI) 22RE 4 cyl engine. Back then, only 10% of Toyota pickups sold in the US had automatics. So even though this AW tranny became the Jap eqivalent of the US made C4 or TH350, also found in Jeep Cherokees (Grand or otherwise) and other American marques, because it was the first year, certain parts are really hard to find. Keep that in mind if you find a 1985 Toyota pickup with 4X4 automatic you want to buy.
The bulletproof 2.4 liter 4 cyinder motor puts out a little over a 100 HP in stock tune and about 133lbs/feet torque. Easily modified, this can be a go anywhere vehicle and currently has a camper shell and soon will get Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 tires (or KO2s...) for serious off highway adventure and future boondocking.
To be totally self contained and off-grid, we'll just need solar panels, satellite dish and water source.
Like the Loch Ness Monster, you've heard of it but never seen it - hence the name "Nessie".
But latley, "Dora" seems to slide off the tongue, and this Toyota pickup 4X4 really is an explorer! Or, more accurately called my BOV (Bug Out Vehicle).
About Nick Sharpe
Hot rodder by birth, mechanic by trade, artist by accident, 21st century web geek with the Google mojo and a bluesman in the post war tradition
This website is the cosmic convergence of my experience and expertise, born out of my involvement with the Von Dutch clothing brand at the beginning of the 21st century, but dating back to when I was a wee lad and car nut (who just happened to play guitar...)
I was seriously going to be an auto mechanic for a living, but somehow wound up working 5 and 6 nights a week with a rock and roll band, playing the Fender Jazz bass. It was really steady work for years, and I was thinking, wow, I could make some real money to build out my cars, just like Jeff Beck. Alas, that didn't happen, but these cars, and others, left behind good memories of me and my friends hangin' out, racing and the occasional hot date in my cool car.