Junkyard Find: 1987 Toyota Conversion Van
The last time we saw a Toyota Master Ace Junkyard Find was when I discovered this super-elaborate ’85 Space Van art car in Northrn California last year. I’ve always admired these mid-engined machines, with their unkillable pushrod fours and goofy Mars Base looks. Here’s one I spotted in a Denver wrecking yard a couple weeks back.
This is the first Toyota Master Ace I’ve seen with the full conversion-van treatment. With rear-wheel drive and the engine under the front seats, space is a bit limited in these things. Still, it was probably fairly nice back when it was new.
Just 132,619 miles on the clock. Just getting broken in!
When 24 Hours of LeMons legend Speedycop decided to turn a Cessna 310 into a road-race car, he used a Toyota Van chassis as the basis of the project. Short wheelbase, mid-engined, and reliable.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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I managed a business that had one of these for deliveries. It was a kick to drive, reasonably quick when unloaded, and the turning radius was ridiculously tiny. Ours had a 3-speed slushbox with overdrive, and we burned through a couple trannies. It was strange to drive with no hood in front of you, like being in the front of a rollercoaster. Hate to think what would happen in a head-on.
I will always call these a Space Cruiser, even though they weren't labeled as such here. I know other people who do as well.