Yeah i feel you on the buckets, ive been looking for a good set for like the last year and a decent tailgate is a HARD part to come by especially one touch. Good luck on the search!
Yeah its hard to tell from the pictures if the bench is original or not, but toyota did make a 4X2 bench seat and a 4X4 bench seat so you could have requested a sr5 with a bench back then. Just not super common.
Definitely a cool find right there, i love these trucks!