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We Adopted A Terrible Toyota Truck To See How Reliable They Really Are

Andrew P Collins
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Andrew P Collins

We Adopted A Terrible Toyota Truck To See How Reliable They Really Are1

This is no diamond-in-the-rough. It’s not an “oldie but goodie” like Bowman’s well-storied Ram. This ravaged third-gen 4Runner a mean-muggin’ non-fucking-giving beater, and now we have the arduous task of taking care of it. Or, you know, destroying it.

Last night this lifted, bent, ratty Toyota 4Runner appeared at my doorstep like an abandoned baby in a basket. It smells faintly of Mexican food and everything aft of the front seats seem to have been converted to a sleeping/storage area.

At least somebody did put the wheel back where it’s meant to go, here’s the 4Runner as it sits at Truck Yeah HQ right now:

We Adopted A Terrible Toyota Truck To See How Reliable They Really Are234

The whole thing is this cool militaryish green/grey with a Rhinoliner’d hood (why?). The front grille is definitely not straight and neither is the (aftermarket?) trailer-hitch rig. But really, all it needs is a light bar and maybe some funky Plasti-Dip on those wheels. Next stop Wal-Mart, baby.

Okay the real story is the owner (a former colleague) lit off to San Francisco and didn’t feel like paying for parking, I think, so he bequeathed it to Truck Yeah!/Jalopnik for an undefined period of time “as long as we promised to document its destruction.”

I dunno, the whole arrangement’s pretty vague but I’m basically running a rusty orphanage up here and I just couldn’t turn those sweet three-spoke wheels away.

After a brief assessment and lap around the driveway, I’ve concluded it may be too nice to simply suicide… sounds okay, tires are great, and the 3″(?) lift looks professionally executed.

We Adopted A Terrible Toyota Truck To See How Reliable They Really Are

So what are we going to do with this hog? Chase polar bears up Canada way? Mud racin’? Make it my new guest bedroom? Should be a good rig to teach my fellow NY-based bloggers how to off-road this summer… at the very least.

Your turn: Ideas. Go.

Andrew P. Collins is Jalopnik’s off-road and adventure guy. Shoot him an email atandrew@jalopnik.com or hit him up on Twitter @andr3wcollins to talk trucks.

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Travis Okulski’s Discussions
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You should come to Rovers on the Rocks this year, or Muddy Chef challenge up at Lime Rock if you want something more local to you.

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Hemmings Motor News covers The Muddy Chef Challenge!

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Get Your Vintage Mud On!

at 8:00 am   |   3 comments

Muddy Chef Challenge

Photo courtesy The Muddy Chef Challenge.

Owners of classic cars have more vintage race, rally and touring events to choose from than ever before these days. But what about owners of old-school, 4 x 4 off-road machines?

Fortunately, the crowd that loves to get dirty now has some options of their own.

The Muddy Chef Challenge, first contested at Vermont’s Mount Stowe in 2008, returns to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut for the second year in a row and its fourth iteration overall from July 30 through August 2.

The organizers of the Copperstate 1000 vintage rally—now in its 25th year—have added an off-road event, the Copperstate Overland, with its inaugural running happening from October 18-21 in Arizona.

The Muddy Chef Challenge, which is open exclusively to Land Rover owners, combines camping, off-road challenges and a cooking challenge along with sporting clays target shooting and even a chance to get dolled up for a white linen cocktail party. The cost of registration is $75, plus $25 per night to camp at Lime Rock. But participants need to bring their own food, cigars and whatever other party supplies they might need for three days of hanging out with like-minded Land Rover enthusiasts.

The Muddy Chef Challenge seems not to take itself too seriously. Making friends, sharing food and playing around getting Land Rovers muddy—the way they should be—seem to be the goals of the organizers and participants alike.

The Copperstate Overland is open to more than just Land Rover owners (though we suspect that plenty of Rover owners will be involved), but anyone wishing to enter will need an off-road vehicle from the 1979 model year or older. At $6,850, the cost of the Copperstate Overland is quite a bit steeper than the Muddy Chef Challenge, but that price includes all meals and double-occupancy lodging for the driver and co-driver/navigator, including a final night’s stay after the rally and awards dinner the final night.  A portion of every entry fee goes to benefit the Men’s Art Council of the Phoenix Art Museum.

In addition to not staying in tents for that significant entry fee, the Copperstate Overland will feature a mix of off-road and on-road rallying amid some very beautiful Arizona countryside that is a contrast to the potentially very muddy Lime Rock experience.

Different events for different tastes—and budgets, but both guaranteed to get your car dirty.