HomePick of the DayPick of the Day: First-year Toyota 4Runner from original owner

Pick of the Day: First-year Toyota 4Runner from original owner

Early Japanese SUV has rear seat and soft top

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Toyota’s 4Runner is a mid-size sport utility vehicle that has come to combine passenger comfort and room with cargo-carrying capability and a go-anywhere powertrain. But back when the 4Runner was introduced to the US marketplace, it was basically a Toyota pickup truck with a removable shell above its bed.

One of those early 4Runners, a 1985 model, is Pick of the Day. This 1985 Toyota 4Runner is located in Seal Beach, California, and is being sold by its original owner, who is moving to South Carolina, according to the advertisement for the vehicle on ClassicCars.com.

The seller reports the vehicle is rust free throughout and still wears its original Creme paint, though it has new clutch, brakes, windshield, carpeting and brown-leather front seats. There’s also a rear seat in the front section of the pickup bed. 

In addition to the SofTopper, there’s a rollover bar across the top of the bed.

The Pick is a 4×4 that “runs great, has not been off-road” but has been garaged and is owned by a non-smoker.

“Factory air blows cold,” the seller reports, and the truck comes with its original key and owner’s manual.

In 1985, 4Runners could be equipped with either carbureted 2.4-liter inline 4-cylinder engines rated at 100 horsepower or a fuel-injected version good for 116 horsepower. This one, injected, is linked to a manual transmission. The odometer shows 115,100 miles.

The 4Runner was preceded in 1981 by the Toyota Trekker, which had a modified bed section with folding rear seat, roof and rear hatch, conversions done by Winnebago. 

Toyota’s new 1983 Hilux pickup provided the basis for the original 1984 4Runner, which came with a removable fiberglass shell above the bed and its second-row seat. 

4Runners would get permanent, full-steel body shells in 1989.

The Pick of the Day is being offered for $19,700. To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

10 COMMENTS

  1. Steve Just try and find one in good condition for cheep. Not going to happen. ( Not collectible) Where you been ??? There are huge JDM shows all over. Look I get it, some people only like american cars, but please do a little research be for you talk.

  2. I had a 1983 Toyota 4Runner. It was still in the conversion stage. It had the rare center console, with the altimeter, etc. I can’t find one. I Google the forerunner and the trailblazer comes up. My only negative on the vehicle was the power and the standard shocks that Toyota was using at the time. It was a fun ride. Anybody has a picture please post. I paid $13k out the door with my ’79 BMW 2 door trade in, which back then was $8300.

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