One late night of surfing the web revealed an Arizona 1982 Toyota 4×4 shortbox for sale on craigslist. This turned out to be an extremely rare find as the truck had just 27,545 original miles. I might be suspicious of such a claim, but the story checked out and the pedals show minimal wear. The truck was a tan deluxe model with basically no features other than an aftermarket air conditioner. In fact, it never had a radio; one of those rare models that just had the block off plate with Toyota visible on the dash. No power steering, no tilt, the basic 4speed trans, and vinyl everywhere on the inside. Outside was a basic tan paint with no extras; although it was revealed that the truck had been repainted some time ago. Basic stamped steel wheels with no hubcaps. Bone stock and bare to the bone it was in great shape for 27+ years old with no visible rust.
This was a must have and I started to think about how to get it back to Michigan. Getting from Detroit to Phoenix was easy with airfare as low as $155. The issue was that the truck was about 3 hours east of the airport and as hard as I tried there was no way to get there; either by plane or on the ground. So I had to let this one go. It’s hard to negotiate a deal when 10 other guys are there with cash in hand.
I’m not exactly sure what I would have done with it anyway. This isn’t something to drive around town. It would have been a nice addition to a Toyota museum somewhere. So although I am bummed, there are more opportunities out there. This is just one to talk about- the one that got away.