Junkyard Find: 1985 Toyota 4Runner Gran Ville

by Murilee Martin

June 7th, 2012 1:06 AM

junkyard find 1985 toyota 4runner gran ville

While 1980s Toyota Land Cruisers show up in self-service wrecking yards every once in a while, you’re more likely to find a Studebaker Avanti than a Toyota 4Runner in such a yard. In fact, in all my years of visiting high-turnover, uniform-priced self-service yards, I can’t recall ever having seen a 4Runner. Well, there’s a first for everything!

The first-generation 4Runner was built on the Mujahideen Grade™ Hilux platform, and both the pickup and the SUV version have held their value better than just about anything from the 1980s. This particular example appears to be a crypto-RV-conversion done in that trailer-building superpower: Elkhart, Indiana.

Perhaps the horror of this 70s-style brown-and-white paint job pushed the truck’s value down to where even 4Runner worshipers didn’t want it.

If you’re fighting the Rooskies in Afghanistan, circa 1986, the 22R-EC is an excellent engine choice.

The interior is pure van-conversion velour, right down to the 4″ thick puffy sun visors.

Somebody has already grabbed the axles and the dash assembly, but this truck still has some useful pieces left.

#1980s #1985 #1985Toyota4Runner #4Runner #Denver #DownOnTheJunkyard #FourWheelDrive #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #Toyota #Truck #ToyotaHilux #Toyota4Runner

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2 of 30 comments

Safe as milk on Jun 08, 2012

why oh why don't they make two door 4runners anymore?

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Detroit-X on Jun 09, 2012

My first vehicle I ever seen rolled over on a dry road was a 4Runner.

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Recent Comments

Arthur Dailey I grew up in an era when a teenager could work pumping gas or bussing tables and be able to purchase a vehicle for a couple of thousand dollars and drive it with 'uninsured' status.If a parent advised on the purchase of the vehicle, they would most often point us to a large, stripped/base version, domestic sedan with the smallest possible engine.These cars generally had terrible driving dynamics and little to no safety features, but were easy to work, had large bench seats/interiors and not enough power to get out of their own way.
MaintenanceCosts I'll guess: 3rd owner, never did even basic maintenance, major component failed, car got towed from the apartment complex parking lot, no one bought it at auction because the repair bill exceeded the value.The chrome pillar appliques support this hypothesis.
MaintenanceCosts I'm generally in the "I want them to have all the new safety stuff" camp, but new cars are both too fast and too isolating these days. They mask speed enough that a new driver can get way in over his head without really realizing he's even going that fast. This is especially a concern with my youngest, who wants to do everything he does faster. (He has zero fear tearing down hills at 25 mph on his little 20" wheel bike.) I'm hoping for something that is slow and communicates speed well, although I'm not quite sure there is any such thing in today's market.
KOKing I test-drove a used Equus Ultimate (the one with all the back seat doodads) that was a trade-in at a Ford dealer, and although it was VERY nice to be in as a Lexus LS with Ultra Luxury, it was supposedly in a minor fender-bender that probably wasn't repaired correctly (like a pinched bus cable or something?), and random features didn't work at all.I think this car suffered the same problem in the US that the VW Phaeton did, and probably would've done better if it was badged a Genesis from the get-go.
Analoggrotto Tesla owners are still smarter than anyone else, regardless.