Auction to Watch: Toyota Pickup With Just 21K
A 1990s Toyota Pickup was designed to be a good hauler and solid daily. Where are the cream puffs coming from?
As an unrepentant automotive window shopper, I’m obviously a fan of the big auction sites. The photography is great, the descriptions are comprehensive, and most of the time, the folks commenting are knowledgeable. Maybe one day, the stars will align, and I will actually buy a car I’ve fallen in love with online. That said, when I see vehicles like the 21,000-mile 1991 Toyota Pickup I recently stumbled across on Bring a Trailer, I almost never get the answer I want most.
Namely, how the hell does this happen? I was in high school when these were on dealer lots, and while they were regarded as good trucks for doing truck things and solid transportation overall, nobody in my crowd thought of them as anything more than that. Sure, the Toyota Pickup owners I knew took care of them, but they also drove them as they were intended to be driven. They took them up trails and put stuff in the bed, and — because it was the 1990s — even smoked in them. That was normal.
This example is about as unmolested as anything of the era can get. The engine bay looks clean enough to eat out of, and even the original factory AM/FM radio is intact. Given how many aftermarket stereo shops peppered the landscape during the first Bush administration, that’s just remarkable. And while it reportedly spent much its life in Pennsylvania — where they salt the roads as heavily as they do their famous soft pretzels — the undercarriage of this machine exhibits no evidence of the tin worm.
As I write this, there are five days left on the auction, and the bidding has pushed the price to $18,000. It’s certain to climb from there, but I’m curious as to just how high this will go. In particular, I’m curious to see if it manages to fetch more than $26,500, which is the MSRP of a 2022 Tacoma. So what do you think? Hit me up and let me know. Also, if you have a story about a cream puff truck like this, and know the backstory on how it stayed so pristine, please hit me up. I’d love to do a post about squeaky-clean survivors like this!
Photos: Bring a Trailer