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This is the story of my 1980 Toyota monster show truck. I wish I had posted this late last year when it started but I will cover everything from start to finish.
It all started when I went to the 1996 Super Chevy Show in Ennis, Texas. I went with my parents to see the drag race and car show but mostly to reference corvettes for a restoration we were doing on a 69 427 corvette. The car corral was mostly all Chevy's from the beginning up to 1996. I remember walking up to the truck and thinking how amazing it was. A giant monster truck with a big V8 engine and chrome everywhere was the coolest thing I had ever seen. It was literally the real version of my favorite rc car and looked like most of my toy cars I had when I was little. One of the first things that came to my mind when I saw it was, what is this Toyota doing at a Chevy show? My Dad explained to me how it had a Chevy engine swapped and it all made sense. I of course had to have a picture taken with it. The picture was kept in our car album for years and was the only one in it that was not a Corvette or Camaro. It was also the only picture I had of me standing in front of a Toyota Pickup or show truck. Over the years I would go into the garage and pull the book out to reminisce on the good old days with Dad. As years went by the truck started to gain more importance to me. About 10 years ago I started to get curious about where the truck may have been or what it looked like in present days time. Off and on I would look for it on the internet but could never find anything. 8 Years ago I started a Toyota shop called "The 4Runner House" specializing in parts and repair for 4Runner and pickup's. Within a few years the importance of this monster truck became so great to me I started to look for it all the time. I had nothing to go off of besides a picture and that it had an 82-83 front end. It was my personal Holy Grail of Toyotas and nearly all cars in general. I remember searching every key word possible to try an find even a picture of the truck. I had only ever seen one picture of the truck so wanted to see just any other picture I could find. I eventually gave up figuring it had been parted out or turned into a mud truck.
Then one night last November I was doing my normal car search on craigslist just before bed. I was on the verge of passing out when I came across an ad for a 1980 Toyota Pickup. I clicked on the ad and saw what appeared to be a pretty crazy show truck but at first didn't think about the monster. I started looking it over seeing all the extensive work done to the truck then it clicked. I immediately wondered if it could actually be THE truck. I thought for sure it had to be a different truck and there was just no way after all the years I had finally found it. I texted my Dad at midnight asked him to send the picture of the monster truck. As soon as I saw the picture it was very clear. The search was over, I had found the truck from that day. I was just glad to finally get to see different pictures of the truck. I couldn't believe that not only I found new pics but it also happened to be for sale. It had been online for about 2 months so at the same I had a worry that it may have been sold already. There was no way I was going to sleep unless I found out if it was still for sale. As much as I didn't want to bother the owner at 12:23AM I just had to text and ask if it was still for sale. I didnt get a reply until I sent another text in the morning. I told him "I have been looking for this truck for 20 years". He responded with "I've had it for 20 years". It was a crazy feeling thinking about all years I had been obsessed with this truck and I finally found it. Even more than that I knew right away I would be making the ultimate dream come true and actually own the truck.
Sadly tho the truck was torn apart 17 years ago and many parts were sold off of it. The bumpers, wheels, tires, tunnel ram, carbs, scoop and too much more were long gone. It was going to be updated years ago but never got finished. Many parts needed re chromed or painted, the whole wire harness needed replaced and the entire interior was removed.
So after seeing the truck a few times I decided that it was well worth getting myself into a project even this major. I was completely loaded up with Toyota's and had no where to store it but knew this was probably the most important car purchase I could ever make. I gave him a deposit so it wouldn't go anywhere and loaded up the 5th gen with bits and pieces. It took a couple trips but I had plenty of parts to start working on until I sold a couple of the pickups
That is great that you found it. With it stripped down from its former glory days, it is almost un-recognizable. Great find and will be looking forward to its build.
That's pure 80's awesomeness right there.
As a child of the era, (and trying to re-live it with my own project) I'll be anxiously following your build.
I was hoping to be able to wash off all the parts I brought home but there was just too much build up. I used 3m rubbing compound on most everything and it worked great. This grill looked awful when I started
That's pure 80's awesomeness right there.
As a child of the era, (and trying to re-live it with my own project) I'll be anxiously following your build.
i will be putting the truck back the exact same way it looked with absolutely no visible modern updates. Gonna look just like the good old days of 80's monster trucks
Man, these photos bring back memories of the custom car shows that would come to Providence or Hartford when I was a kid. I remember what it's like to be awestruck by some of the custom cars and even had posters of them on my bedroom walls. That truck would have blown my mind at 12 years old!
So in mid January after selling 2 of my xtra cabs on a Friday I was ready to buy the truck. The owner brought it over a few days later and I got right to work on it. I couldn't believe it was sitting in my driveway and that it really was mine.
Those photos remind me of the indoor "World of Wheels" shows they used to do in the winter around here. That's where the serious customs used to come out.
Ive got a handful of indoor show and magazine shots from this trucks glory days. It used to do a lot of them like ISCA, Texas heatwave, mini truckin, Oakland roadshow etc. I had no idea this truck had a past in shows. Only thing I ever knew of it was what I had from my picture.
09-29-2017, 06:55 PM
