There was a post sometime back on dirt bag cars for a skier, or something to that effect. Ah yes…I remember, it was a top ten list from my esteemed, well read colleague, Jack Louis Cote. Now, not to take away from his post, but listing a pre-outback Subaru as a prereq to be a dirtbag skier is completely off the mark. They were pieces of junk. The rest of the list was fairly off too, but let’s not get distracted.
So what is the ultimate dirtbag skier vehicle? What does every local dirtbag aspire to have when they arrive in a ski town (trust fund babies not included)?
They aspire to have a Toyota Tacoma. And not a new, super nice Tundra or Tacoma, but something from out of the history books. A pick-up (as it was known before 1992) or Tacoma (dirbag years run up to, but don’t include 2002) or even an old, imported diesel Hilux is the ultimate ski town vehicle.
How many have you had? For myself, I’ve run around in an ’84, an ‘87, an ’88, a ’92 and a ’98. The first two were four bangers and the last two were sixes, and the 87 was a diesel Hilux. I loved and named them all. And as far as I know, they are all still on the road.
So what is it about the Toyota Tacoma that keeps us so interested? Why do we love them so much? Aside from the fact that they don’t guzzle fuel, the older ones predominantly came in a manual tranny, they can fit a sled nicely in the back, they have enough room for all your shit, they have a shorter wheel base and are awesome off-road, you can sleep in the back, chicks dig them, they’re super easy to modify and relatively cheap and easy to fix….aside from all those things, what makes them really desirable is first:
THEY NEVER QUIT. They last forever. My ’88 4 banger I had, I sold it with 437,000km on it and the guy who bought has it well into the 600 thousand range. Doesn’t matter if the suspension’s screwed, the exhaust is fucked or the electrical is done, the engines never stop.
And the second reason? They look sick! So for all you Toyota Truck owners out there, here are some photos to drool over. And when you get the chance to buy a Toyota, please do so. Stay away from North American junk (Jeeps are for douchefags) and forget driving a Subaru. The old ones blew their head gaskets at 100 thousand clicks and when that happens you may as well strike a match and throw it in the tank. Ford’s are garbage and Dodge trucks are for dudes with little dicks. So do yourself a favour:
Get a Toyota Truck.
