The FJ40 that time forgot.....

[c2dfj45]

1. I remember when new car contracts were that short and sweet.
2. When I was at Downey Toyota (where Downey Off Road Mfg. started) Nick Pastor Toyota was our closest competing dealership, we use to dealer trade with them for cars and parts as needed.

Never knew Downey was a dealership. Always thought they were just the off-road guys.

Speaking of Downey.....one of 2 these stickers on this old girl.

 

[firemanj92]

Check out the rear plate frame. Lol. I seem to remember a lot of stuff like this on plate frames as a kid growing up in CA. I think people had a much better sense of humor back then

I also remember blue plates. My parent's cars had them. I remember CA black plates being a big deal with my dad when he would take me along when he'd look at old cars for sale. Just seeing the blue plates on this truck brings me right back to being a kid in 80s Southern California. With my skateboard. And some OP shorts

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I agree, about the sense of humor!!!
I got 6 digit blue & yellow plates assigned to my rig through DMV's YOM program. Blue and Yellow 6 digits were from 1970 thru the early 80's which later became 7 digits. (Black & Yellow was 1960-1969 which represented the vehicle was sold and remained in CA).
I was more of a BMXer and still have my 2 Haro's from 87' and 2-87' BMX scooters! It's always fun when the kids ride them and people try to buy them off of them.

 

[c2dfj45]

I agree, about the sense of humor!!!
I got 6 digit blue & yellow plates assigned to my rig through DMV's YOM program. Blue and Yellow 6 digits were from 1970 thru the early 80's which later became 7 digits. (Black & Yellow was 1960-1969 which represented the vehicle was sold and remained in CA).
I was more of a BMXer and still have my 2 Haro's from 87' and 2-87' BMX scooters! It's always fun when the kids ride them and people try to buy them off of them.

That's cool they re-issue plates in CA. We have the same thing in FL.....I'll probably put a 74 plate on this truck. I scored this cool 59 tag for a FJ25 I bought.

I was big into the BMX life back then. Lol. I remember our across the street neighbor giving us a bike... get this...it was a Dan Gurney Eagle. It was insanely heavy. Lol. I always questioned if it was legit........had 'Dan Gurney Eagle' hand painted on the lower. No idea where it went. Since that bike was a pig, I was determined to get a new one. I had an after school job delivering newspapers, "The Desert Sun" as I recall as probably a 8 or 9 year old. Saved up $300 and bought my dream bike at the time....this would have been 81 or 82.....a Torker. So cool. I'll have to look for an old pic of that bike.

Great memories.

 

[1911]

Interest rates were high back then!!! But borrowing amount was low.

I think they went higher too, right? I was a kid playing in the dirt and beating up my little brother in the 70s......interest rates were not on my radar

Yes they did; the result of Nixon taking the dollar off of the gold standard in 1969. My first house mortgage in 1981 was 18% interest, pretty much right at the peak.

 

[-MaTTi-]

It's a Forest Green 1974

Do you mean Rustic Green?

 

[-MaTTi-]

They were probably 30x 11.50 or something(kind of measuring around 29" now). Marked as 11-15LT. Never quite understood those old school numbers....I'm guessing 11 x 15?

10-15LT is very much the same than 31x10.50-15, so these are more like 32x11.50-15.

 

[c2dfj45]

Do you mean Rustic Green?

Yes....Rustic. Let me go change that

 

[c2dfj45]

10-15LT is very much the same than 31x10.50-15, so these are more like 32x11.50-15.

I guess I could see that. Sitting with weight on them and who knows how much wear, they're like 29"-ish.

32x11.50 will put me in some bias Super Swampers....probably which way I will go.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I hope that other other than updated, less dangerous tires you plan to leave this one as is.

 

[c2dfj45]

I hope that other other than updated, less dangerous tires you plan to leave this one as is.

Wheels and tires for sure....keeping the tires mounted on the wheels for the next caretaker to have whenever that may be.

I'm going to go thru the hydraulics....brake hoses, wheel cylinders, master. Clutch system too.

We will most likely pull the trans, reseal it and do a rear main seal on the motor. Far too many leaks on this one....I'm sure all the seals are dried out.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

How cool is that!

 

[NYIronPig]

what did you pay for this beauty?

 

[h82crash]

Those wheels were on EVERYTHING back in the 70s. They may not be what blows your dress up, but they sure fit the nostalgia of 70s off-road. I love all kinds of cars, but purists and Concours de Elegance folks crack me up.

 

[c2dfj45]

Those wheels were on EVERYTHING back in the 70s. They may not be what blows your dress up, but they sure fit the nostalgia of 70s off-road. I love all kinds of cars, but purists and Concourse de Elegance folks crack me up.

I don't mind the wheels at all....certainly correct for the 70s. My first 40 had them...only wheels I could find in the little town I lived in for a Toyota...and I'm pretty sure they were for a Chevy Going to take some measurements today and order a new set I think.

what did you pay for this beauty?

I paid WAY too much.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Freddy purchased the truck from Elmore Motors on 4/27/1974.......how do we know this? Because we have the purchase order

For sure this increased my want for this truck.......total nerd when it comes to paperwork on cars and trucks I buy. The hook had been set pretty hard by now. Ha.

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Love original paperwork. Used to collect Chevrolet project cars before I got into cruisers. Still have a 79 4-speed z28 I bought from my friend who’s the original owner. When he was 16 he and his dad went down to Tom Benson Chevrolet here in San Antonio and did a hand written order form. Was surprised when he gave me a folder with that and all the paperwork from his 30 years of ownership. Also heard all the stories about racing TA’s etc in high school. Sold all the other Chevy projects except that one and a 81 33k mile 4-speed Corvette my step dad owned for years.

 

[c2dfj45]

Part of the reason this was an easy buy for me(technically they're all easy buys... ) was that my shipping guy lives about 20 minutes away from where the truck was. I knew that would make things easy if I had someone to go pick it up for me and get it loaded up on a transporter headed eastbound. As soon as payment was made, I had my buddy Ray slide on over to the seller's house to pick it up.

Ray has arranged transport for 100% of our fancy cars at least 75% of the Cruisers that I have bought over the years......even the really complicated non-running, non-steering, non-anything located in remote high desert places good guy and I highly recommend. Log In or Sign Up to View - https://www.facebook.com/FarrisandSonsTransport/

Payment was made Monday AM.....Ray was there in the afternoon to snatch it up.

All of its life in Southern California.....headed to its new home in FL. Sorry to do this to you green truck

 

[wngrog]

Super pimp. A+

 

[c2dfj45]

Love original paperwork. Used to collect Chevrolet project cars before I got into cruisers. Still have a 79 4-speed z28 I bought from my friend who’s the original owner. When he was 16 he and his dad went down to Tom Benson Chevrolet here in San Antonio and did a hand written order form. Was surprised when he gave me a folder with that and all the paperwork from his 30 years of ownership. Also heard all the stories about racing TA’s etc in high school. Sold all the other Chevy projects except that one and a 81 33k mile 4-speed Corvette my step dad owned for years.

That's pretty cool. 30 years is a long time to keep paperwork. I still have all the paperwork and receipts from when I bought my first 40 in 1992.....still have the truck too

I've seen some pretty impressive paperwork with cars over the years. I bought a 348 Ferrari a while back that had maybe the most complete set of records I have ever seen.....almost every piece of paperwork pertaining to this car was filed in 2 huge binders....one for ownership history, one for maintenance. The ownership one starts with the window sticker Hard to believe someone would keep all the records for a lowly 348 Ferrari even harder to believe that this thing passed thru 6 owners before it got to me and all the paperwork was there....and added to by the various owners. There are transporter damage inspection sheets, notes owners made when inquiring about the car from the Car Trader ads it was in. Insanely detailed service invoices(car has 68k miles on it....that's a big number for a Ferrari). Old K40 radar brochures/instruction manuals. Everything. You can trace out this car's entire history from the paperwork. First owner had the best time I think....15k miles in about a year bombing up and down the west coast....AZ to Canada multiple times.

Pressure is on for me to make sure I'm not the guy to drop the ball. Kind of weird invoicing myself for service work.

 

[c2dfj45]

Ray found an Eastbound truck after about a week and the green 40 was tucked away in an enclosed trailer for it's cross country journey.

 

[c2dfj45]

The flipper was a great seller. Maybe one of the best I've ever dealt with. Quick to respond, agreeable to my requests....I felt really comfortable with him. I was worried about the purchase order, books/manuals, paperwork going with the truck and getting lost or stolen.......I typically always have that stuff overnighted to me once money has been received for the vehicle.....along with the signed title/bill of sale. He promptly overnighted me the title, bill of sale and a few books/manuals he had found when he went to get the truck. A couple of them are really cool. Being overnighted, this stuff got to me well before the truck did.

There was this emissions certification.

Also in the box were the original owner's manual and a couple cool Toyota booklets.

Some hand written notes with the Downey Toyota number.....must have been the dealer?