Photo: BaT User: Ephraimj
High resale values and Toyota Tacoma trucks go together like peanut butter and jelly. It's like the virtues of an honest, reliable light pickup truck that doesn't break down every five minutes have even more value in 2023 than when these older model-year Tacomas were fresh off the factory lines. Even the most bare-basic older Tacomas can fetch big money in good shape, but do you want to know a great way to add even more value? Add a turbo 2JZ engine out of an old Supra and let the internet run wild over it.
That's what one Bring a Trailer user out of North Creek, Utah, three hours south of Salt Lake City, has in store for us today. In its day, the first generation Toyota Tacoma left the factory sporting one of two different straight-four engines ranging from 2.4 to 2.7 liters or the larger 3.4-liter Toyota VZ-series V6 paired with either a four-speed automatic gearbox or a five-speed stick shift. Well, the three-liter 2JZ straight-six sitting under the hood of this custom job might be just a little bit smaller than a VZ V6. But hey, Toyota's never really been in the "no replacement for displacement" camp, have they?
With added goodies like a Garrett GT3582 turbocharger, a lightweight, balanced camshaft, reinforced head studs from ARP, and chunky 1050 cc fuel injectors, a fair amount of tender, loving care went into the engine that sits underneath this Tacoma's hood. It all makes for a motor that jets 458 hp and 407 lb-ft (551.8 N.m) of torque, according to the literature on the official Bring a Trailer listing. The truck even comes with a laptop pre-loaded with engine tuning software if you're so inclined to try and squeeze a few extra horses out of this motor. Considering 2Js can tolerate more power than most V8s out there, we're sure there's some magic to be made on that side of things.
Power is fed to a Toyota R150F five-speed manual gearbox with an aftermarket ACT unit. The same you'll find in a Land Cruiser II, the Japan-exclusive Land Cruiser Prado, and the Hilux Surf pickup truck. It feeds to a stock Toyota dual-range transfer case that's as robust of a system as you're going to find on a truck of this vintage. Add on beefy Bilstein shocks on equally chunky 32-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires with black 15-inch alloy wheels, and you have a truck that ticks all the boxes for truck enthusiasts. Oh, and we haven't even mentioned the color-coordinated leather seats that match the orange-on-black exterior colors.
With a no-reserve auction price, whoever takes home this one-of-a-kind Tacoma might just make the heist of the century. That's despite the broken speedometer gauge and a few leaks here and there. Awe well, can't have it all these days.
With added goodies like a Garrett GT3582 turbocharger, a lightweight, balanced camshaft, reinforced head studs from ARP, and chunky 1050 cc fuel injectors, a fair amount of tender, loving care went into the engine that sits underneath this Tacoma's hood. It all makes for a motor that jets 458 hp and 407 lb-ft (551.8 N.m) of torque, according to the literature on the official Bring a Trailer listing. The truck even comes with a laptop pre-loaded with engine tuning software if you're so inclined to try and squeeze a few extra horses out of this motor. Considering 2Js can tolerate more power than most V8s out there, we're sure there's some magic to be made on that side of things.
Power is fed to a Toyota R150F five-speed manual gearbox with an aftermarket ACT unit. The same you'll find in a Land Cruiser II, the Japan-exclusive Land Cruiser Prado, and the Hilux Surf pickup truck. It feeds to a stock Toyota dual-range transfer case that's as robust of a system as you're going to find on a truck of this vintage. Add on beefy Bilstein shocks on equally chunky 32-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires with black 15-inch alloy wheels, and you have a truck that ticks all the boxes for truck enthusiasts. Oh, and we haven't even mentioned the color-coordinated leather seats that match the orange-on-black exterior colors.
With a no-reserve auction price, whoever takes home this one-of-a-kind Tacoma might just make the heist of the century. That's despite the broken speedometer gauge and a few leaks here and there. Awe well, can't have it all these days.
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