Pre-Runner: 1981 Toyota Trekker
Never heard of a Toyota Trekker? You’re not alone. These are rare birds indeed. A partnership between Toyota and Winnebago to create a small SUV for the North American market created these. Basically, Toyota shipped over Hilux pickups with no bed to Winnebago where they built fiberglass tub, bed sides, canopy and hatch. This is, more or less, the predecesor to the venerable 4Runner.
This example is for sale in St. George, Utah and appears to be pretty straight. The seller claims that the fiberglass is in great shape, it has a working rear hatch and the back seat is there (though we don’t know what condition). The pictures show that there seems to be no rust on the front end and the interior looks decent for the age. The downsides being a bad motor, missing rear 3rd member and driveline and no title, although the VIN has been run, and its not stolen.
Having been based on the Hilux, it would be pretty simple to swap a later 22RE motor into it and the missing 3rd member is begging to be replaced with a Toyota selectable E-Locker 3rd out of a Tacoma or 4Runner. This would make a unique vehicle for light off-road/overland use and you’d certainly get a lot of questions about what it is. For $1200, its a steal too!
Find it in the Classifieds section over at Rocky Mountain Extreme.
