5-Speed Survivor: 1993 Toyota Pickup
Are there any really basic, small pickups anymore? Maybe in other countries, but I mean ones that would be street-legal in the U.S. without having to be 25 years old? That rule doesn’t matter here as this 1993 Toyota Pickup is 31 years old and it’s posted here on craigslist in the Glendale, California area. The seller is asking $10,900, here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for the tip!
What a great-looking truck and about as basic as it got in this era. My brother had a new 1984 Ford Ranger pickup that almost seemed like the engine would have been optional, that thing was a base, base, base model. This Toyota Pickup is about the same, although it’s over a decade newer so maybe it had better features just because it’s newer. For the “It didn’t cost that much new!!” folks, I believe the seller’s asking price is indeed more than this one would have cost new in 1993. Then again, nobody’s selling Hemi Cudas for their original price today.
My brother’s truck had a rear bumper, so maybe it wasn’t as basic as this Toyota is? There are a few dings and scratches on this truck but overall, I think it looks great for being so “old” – or, relatively old. A lot of us have vehicles much older than this and some are in nicer condition. Toyota made the fifth-generation Hilux, which they called the “Toyota Pickup” for North America, from 1988 through 1997. I believe this is a standard bed rather than a long bed, and it has a nice bedliner.
There isn’t a direct photo showing the dash from the driver’s seat, so I made this composite and enlarged it a bit. It’s hard to tell the condition from any detailed photos, but it sure looks nice inside. The seat looks great, and the seller says it was covered for years. The headliner is said to be perfect and the door panels look good in the photos, as does the small storage area behind the seat. There is no mention of rust but they say there are a few scratches and some normal fading due to the age, and I’m assuming having lived in southern California for decades.
The engine is Toyota’s 22R, a 2.4-liter SOHC inline-four with 109 horsepower and 138 lb-ft of torque when new. It sends power through a five-speed manual transmission to the rear wheels. I love my basic 1980 Dodge (Mitsubishi) D-50 Sport pickup, but I really wish it had power steering. I believe it was optional on this truck, too, and I don’t see it here, do you? Does anyone miss the days when you could get a basic, small pickup?
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Comments
Scotty, I couldn’t agree more with you. A regular cab 4 cyl stick shift 2 wd short bed would be absolutely perfect for me. Id buy one in a heart beat. This is really clean, the silver painted wheels Im wondering if they did that mounted on the truck, just looks that way to me, but thats a very very minor nitpick that I could easily live with. This is just very well preserved, and hope it stays that way.
Good eye on the rims, Driveinstile! I didn’t zoom in on them until you mentioned that. They say that they’re the original factory rims, but they sure look like they were painted, hubs and all, as they were on the current rubber.
I was just thinking how sad it is. There was a time that you saw a large number of trucks like this. From Nissan (Datsun) Toyota, Mitsubishi ( I really wanted a Mitsubishi) Isuzu and Mazda, and GM and Ford got in on the act too. And now you just dont see simple inexpensive trucks like this any more. Its sad.
What only adds to that sadness is that we are trying to cut down on emissions and fuel usage, yet every year the pickup trucks grow larger and larger. The midsized ones today are larger than a full size Ford or Chevy in the 70s.
I think its near criminal. I got priced out of the truck market. If I could buy one it wouldn’t fit in my garage nor the driveway without widening it.
The bed liner looks brand new. If you are going to buy this truck it might be a good idea to look under the bedliner. With the small bumps and nicks I’ll bet you the bed is scratched up also.
Hey, hey, it’s “Little Red”, only blue. One of the few Asian vehicles, I had, from my ex-BIL, who bought it new in ’87. It had 230K when I got it, and a 4 speed, that sorely needed a 5, he paid $7416 for a no option truck. When I say no option, not Monte Carlo no option, NO options! I don’t think it had a passenger sun visor. Rust was pretty serious by then, and I junked it and I drove it into the junkyard. It convinced me Asian engineering was clearly superior. You never would have gotten 200K out of a S-10 2.8. This truck, in 5 years increased to just under $10gs, $9723, but options like extra cab and 4×4 sent it well over $12, about the same as a Ford Ranger but Ranger still outsold them 2 to 1, but not for long. I may be partial, but these should have stayed just like this. In an ironic twist, while our “cars” mimicked the Asians, it was the Asians that eventually copied our full size pickups with the utmost success, I might add.
Now, about those pesky rusted Toyota pickup frames of which there was HUGE recall, still ongoing, I think. That, my friends, to me, is unacceptable.
If you consider coming in consistently 4th and 5th in sales the utmost in success? Yes, the Asians did quite well in copying our full size pickups.
I REALLY miss when you could get small useful trucks instead of these ridiculous things made to compensate for insecure guys’ shortcomings. This truck is in beautiful shape. Sure wish they still made them like this.
I miss tbe day when people didnt say things like “I wont consider a truck without apple car play”. “How big is the sat/nav screen?” “Why hasnt my Colorado automatically done the new download yet? Im not able to find the new roasterie that just opened in my area yet!” I miss shifting. I miss being able to lean over the bed of my truck and reach my trimmer without a snag pole. And u resent that Ford TWICE teased us with a Ford Ranger replacement(the 82-2012 size) and twice came out with a new “Ranger” that missed the mark COMPLETELY. I miss normally aspirated engines and bench seats too! 14 and 15″ steel wheels. Useful tiedown points. Sigh. GET OFFA MY LAWN!
I will add that people like to argue that manufacturers are only giving customers what customers want. I say bullsh*t. Manufacturers just know theres more money in 4 doors with nearly useless beds, loaded with features many of us dont want or need. So they give us those and say here are your options. People buy what they have to and manufacturers get what they want. And people who wanted a truck like THIS featured truck end up buying UP to a $44K F150 base model, 72 month payments and a $3000 extended warranty to cover the extra long loan period
I’m kind of surprised that one of the smaller manufacturers hasn’t taken advantage of a market for these small trucks. Then again, most the small companies have been driven from the US market.
If they were giving us what everyone wants we could still by these , car companies are just trying to make a killing on every sale , had a 92 just like this, one of the best vehicles I’ve ever had, gonna try to get this one , wheels were the same , bullet proof motor too
Toyota does have a$10k truck. It just not available here in the U.S. due to all the safety standards required by law.
I just bought a 1993 Ranger extend cab. 4.0 V6 with 5 spd. Crank windows, manual locks, and a cassette player. My kids are still sitting around it scratching their heads.
we got 1/2 doz on the site. One is coming back to action w/a turbo, the ol shop truck w/a new frame from carolina. We have a 2.7 in the strip car (’80 starlette hatch) heads, cams, blocks litter the shop (most machined’ ready to go) and acreage. Nothing for sale (we dont want the boss to cry).
Any one wanna SunRadier class C motorhome in A#1 condition? Put the aol behind my ‘name’.
Excellent buying opportunity.
I love those trucks, although I’m not in the market. It’s “big” brother popped up in my neighborhood – a 2000 Tacoma, “delivered” right to my vicinity. I had just lost my modern Tundra in a head-on collision far from home…and realized that now’s the wrong time to be RVing. With my needs reappraised, the Gen1 Tacoma (also a stripper and standard-cab) was nearly perfect.
The price was the same…$10k. But, in fairness, I got eight extra wheels and snow tires, with it.
I like these better – closer to the original concept, purer. But it’s older, and also a tighter fit for an American male. Nonetheless, if I hadn’t bought, eight months ago, I’d be on this.
Old Toyota prices are consistently high. For good reasons.
The great thing about these trucks is they were reliable and cheap. I owned a 1999 model similar to this. Because they were reliable and cheap, you didn’t mind putting up with their shortcomings (not a ton of power, not a lot of room, etc.). Now that it’s used and $11k it’s not as attractive to me, personally. If these were on the market new today, they’d have to be pretty cheap for most people to buy them. I’d say around $20k new? I’d love to have the modern version with a V6 and a crew cab. Oh yeah, they still make those, but they’re $40k plus, unfortunately.
They could easily make these and sell them for around $20k today. Even with the added safety features required, they’d be simpler than a Nissan Versa.
Rust killed a lot of them. But anyone who had one of these trucks when they were readily available probably remembers them fondly. I know I do. So much to like compared to the “small” trucks today that we have to choose from. Useful beds that you could actually haul stuff with and even reach what was inside. Better fuel economy. Easy to park. Now you are going to have to settle for a four door with a joke five foot bed that is practically useless IMO. If I need to replace my 1999 Dodge Club Cab I will be seriously considering something like this.
Love these little pick ups from the 80s and 90s. So glad I kept my 97 standard cab Hardbody, thought about selling it many times, but thankfully I never did. Now that little truck gets more attention than my Corvette. It’s rust free and in fantastic shape, has over 250k miles on it and has never left the city it was bought in. Wondering what it would get these days ?
I own a 2004 Tacoma Crew Cab with a 2.7l 4cyl with OD. 300,000 miles, and it runs beautifully. Paint looks suprisingly great despite it never being garage kept. 👍
The closest thing we have to this today is the Ford Maverick, but it’s not nearly as rugged or capable as this little gem.
I’ve been looking at “small” trucks for my son. I’m leaning towards a Nissan Frontier. Crew cab, 2wd, V6, $34k out the door. The Maverick is a few thousand cheaper, but has turbo’s, body on frame, and looks fugly in comparison to the Nissan, IMO.
“Nissan Frontier. Crew cab, 2wd, V6” John, you just described my truck. Except, I bought mine new in ’02. Still runs fine, original drivetrain, doesn’t use oil. Original AC blows cold, never repaired.
This one’s a keeper. Just sayin.
I believe some states mandated rear bumpers, my beloved F150 was as bare as it came in 86, only options were the highest GVWR package, which included a transmission and P/S cooler. Like others here I’ve been priced out of trucks after my 2001 Ranger returned to the earth.
Listing update: this one is gone, did one of you grab it?