My New 1999 Venezuelan 80

[MJADDICTION]

You know we hate you over here, y'all get the best trucks. That thing is nice. I wish they still made the 80 series.

 

[80jay]

yeah they come flareless..

 

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

Damn cool. That Warn 10000 is a good one to have with an 80. Also love the lights, and the manual 4WD selection. Cool stuff!

Dave

 

[redstang410]

Yeah they sell them flareless.
I'm not too sure about build quality between Jap and Venezuelan versions. I'm sure the Jap built ones have more stringent Quality control. But this one doesn't seem too bad at all.

Here are the pics I promised.

You can tell in the following pics that this truck was dunked by the conditions of the door panels, then again it doesn't surprise me as i've seen video of what they do in the FUNRACE rally that they run down there.

 

[Grench]

Left hand drive stick shift 80 series less than 10 years old. *drool*

We need someone in Venezuela to sell us parts we can't buy from the dealers here.

Heck, I'd even like a set of the Autana decals to put on my truck just to screw with people. What does 'Autana' translate to anyway?

 

[elmariachi]

Left hand drive stick shift 80 series less than 10 years old. *drool*?

x2.

Heck, I'd even like a set of the Autana decals to put on my truck just to screw with people. What does 'Autana' translate to anyway?

Its Venezuelan for "Husker Poser."

Boomer Sooner.

 

[JAC83]

Left hand drive stick shift 80 series less than 10 years old. *drool*

We need someone in Venezuela to sell us parts we can't buy from the dealers here.

Heck, I'd even like a set of the Autana decals to put on my truck just to screw with people. What does 'Autana' translate to anyway?

It's named after a mountain from Venezuela: Cerro Autana, don't know what you call this type of mountain in english, it's flat on top, in spanish it's called a "tepui".

Some pics:

For those of you that don't know, production of the 80 series ceased here in venezuela earlier this year, it will be replaced by the 200 series.

 

[Grench]

Very cool mountain. Looks like a very technical climb.

That looks like a volcanic core... Much like our Devil's Tower. I'd call it a mesa, but that's actually a Castillian / Spanish term right?

Are 80s still on dealer lots as new? If I had the money I'd buy a new one, stick it in a shipping container and store it at the port for the next 25 years so I can import it and drive it when I retire. Can't do it of course, but it is a nice dream.

US vehicle import time restriction laws are so lame.

 

[JAC83]

Very cool mountain. Looks like a very technical climb.

That looks like a volcanic core... Much like our Devil's Tower. I'd call it a mesa, but that's actually a Castillian / Spanish term right?

Are 80s still on dealer lots as new? If I had the money I'd buy a new one, stick it in a shipping container and store it at the port for the next 25 years so I can import it and drive it when I retire. Can't do it of course, but it is a nice dream.

US vehicle import time restriction laws are so lame.

Sadly, no, you can't just walk into a dealership and buy an 80 (or any other Toyota for that matter), there are no new 80s left, but you can't just buy any other Toyota vehicle either because the supply can't meet the demand, it has been like that for over a year now.

I've been waiting for over 5 months for a new FZJ71 and still nothing , I know of people that have been waiting for over a year, my uncle has been waiting for 14 months for a 4Runner . The situation is very complicated to explain, it has to do with politics, foreign monetary exchange controls and so on, in a nutshell, it all has to do with the communist bastard that we have for president.

 

[elmariachi]

I am jealous. Everything about that truck is cool, most especialy the fact that its a '99. I noticed that only within the last couple of months has Toyota Venezuela taken the 80 Series webpage down.

Here is some ancient history on importing them, including the DOT/NHTSA ruling on the non-USA 80 Series https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=28409&highlight=import

 

[Brian894X4]

No more 80 series production in Venezuela. That's really sad. Looks like the Toyota 80 series has died a 2nd and now a 3rd and final death, with the ending of production of the Venezuelan version and now the death of the 105, I'd say it's officially over.

I can't find it mentioned on the Venezuela toyota website anymore, but I did save this picture from the website back in 2005. Looks like they sold two versions. Yours and an upscale version that we in the states are more familiar with, including flares, alloy wheels, integrated headlights and even sliding rear windows.

One thing I'm curious about is whether the body was made down there or if its made by ARACO in Japan like all the other Land Cruisers and maybe shipped to Venezuela. Does yours have any ARACO stickers on it like ours do?

The reason I ask is that I thought I read something about ARACO having one of the largest stamping machines, which they use to stamp out Land Cruiser sides or something and I wasn't sure how Venezuela would do this.

thanks for sharing all these pictures! Very interesting.

 

[elmariachi]

I just checked my link again for kicks and its back up: http://www.toyota.com.ve/showroom/vx_autana/index.html

Its no longer on the menu of available vehicles of course.

When you think about how much money Toyota saved not having to ship boatloads of Cruisers over, setting up Toyota Venezuela with the tools to stamp body panels was a good investment. My guess is the frames, body panels etc were all manufactured in VZ. Everything else was likely shipped over for final assembly.

 

[alia176]

tell me more about the part time Tcase - is it the same as the ones in a 62 or more advanced in some ways? I assume they're plug and play with the US 80 series? Driveshaft lengths are different I presume.

 

[jlg32281]

if you go down to venezuela and buy a truck, it's much easier to get it into the states if you drive it in. It's a good trip too. the only hitch is that you have to take a ferry from columbia to panama. the rest is highway. and the us border is much easier to get through than a port, much less restrictions. my friend just got back on a dirt bike he bought in venezuela (honda xr 250) and rode it up. www.tucarro.com has plenty of newer fj80's that are used but still a lot newer than anything we can get. i plan on heading down there as soon as i get the money.

 

[Brian894X4]

tell me more about the part time Tcase - is it the same as the ones in a 62 or more advanced in some ways? I assume they're plug and play with the US 80 series? Driveshaft lengths are different I presume.

My understanding is that the part time T-case is called the HF1A. As opposed to the HF2A and HF2AV that were used in the 80 series that we got in the states. Couldn't tell ya anything else about it.

 

[elmariachi]

if you go down to venezuela and buy a truck, it's much easier to get it into the states if you drive it in.

Just to clarify, getting it up here is just the beginning. You still have to find a registered importer to certify it and help you get a VIN. I would expect certifying an 80 (in light of the NHTSA's 1997 ruling that its substantially the same) would include adding whatever DOT lighting would be needed (like those rear side markers) and I am sure whole host of other little items. Is Venezuelan glass DOT compliant? Headlights? Are they built with US smog equipment?

 

[GZERO]

Left hand drive stick shift 80 series less than 10 years old. *drool*

We need someone in Venezuela to sell us parts we can't buy from the dealers here.

Heck, I'd even like a set of the Autana decals to put on my truck just to screw with people. What does 'Autana' translate to anyway?

I can help with this if anyone needs something from down here, i've worked in toyotas especially the 80, 71, 70, 62, 60 and the obvios 40. I'm a mechanic so i could give advice and stuff. Just pm me.

Gus

 

[wakesetter]

OK...so what are you "americans" doing in Venezuela? I am tired of living in CA even though I have a good job and and live by the beach on the central coast. thought about Hawaii, but its overplayed. how is life in South America and why are you there?

 

[GZERO]

OK...so what are you "americans" doing in Venezuela? I am tired of living in CA even though I have a good job and and live by the beach on the central coast. thought about Hawaii, but its overplayed. how is life in South America and why are you there?

Well, first americans is anyone from america! lol, anyway, i'm venezuelan, but i lived 2 years in high school in SC. Anyway, living here is very stressfull for anyone because of all the politican problems etc... maybe if you live on the outsides of the big cities and on the cool places like "La Gran Sabana" (which is awesome) or "Los Roques" (which will probably be one of the most beautifull island you'll ever see) you won't feel the problems at all. Altough i catch your drift, maybe something more like jamaica or any island in the caribean is more worth it, i dunno!

 

[wakesetter]

screw Jamaica...poverty central from what I have heard. What do you do for a living there? Not trying to hijack your thread. Just curious.