The other night I was examining the fabric of my life and found that, while it seemed on the surface I was spread thin, there was actually an area that could be worked to give a little more bandwidth if you will. This examination followed closely on the realizations that I needed to not be dicing with modern traffic daily in my Sprint, that hauling greasy Alfa and Glas lumps around in the back of my wife’s 6 month old Jetta was almost as dicey as a panic stop behind a new German car with ABS while in the Sprint, especially should some gear oil find it’s way into the carcinogenic ‘new car smell’ emitting carpets, and, most subtle of all, there was this old itch that could use a little scratching- you see, back when I was doing 20 unit semesters of engineering course work there was this particularly weird/cool white Toyota pick-up I used to spot on my route to school.
I bought a 1966 Toyota Stout! It’s cousin Norm’s fault. (Australian readers are nodding knowingly -these are tough neat trucks).
The good: it’s got a rebuilt engine with very close to zero miles that runs good; there is not much rust -just the similar-to-an-Alfa rust that happens when dirt is trapped behind the front wheels; the interior is pretty good; to Stout owners chagrin the world over -a perfect windshield (there was one offered on eBay recently for $2000!!!!!!). The bad: the horrible 80’s wheels, the rattle can primer coating, the seat covering, the dark tinted windows and the impossibly funky carb throttle linkages.
You get a new Toy and the pecking order of little projects is all out of whack with what really needs doing for your needs to be met. For example, it was running on two cylinders when it showed up, but the first thing I did was install the headlight surrounds (that remind me a lot of Lancia Flavia units), the grill and “Toyota” badge. ALL the little captive nuts that the trim screws go into had broken off bits of fastener in them, requiring drilling out and retapping. Two hours I will never get back. We suffer for fashion.
What lies beneath that rattle can primer? Nice original blue/green paint. Perfect to get matched. These never came with a rear bumper, but I think I will find something suitable. In case you are wondering, the metal on these trucks is THICK, like 60’s American truck thick. 
See those dents in the tail gate? I’m painting right over them thank you very much. That hook seen here would easily support the weight of mid-size sedan dangling over the edge of a cliff. It was probably bent pulling a giant Sequoia root ball out of the ground. Stout indeed.
The dash. Horn ring could be Italian. “W P L” are buttons that engage the wipers and lights. The wiper motor sounds like my cat when there’s a raccoon in my back yard. Speedometer is ribbon style ala Volvo of the period. Column shift 4 speed is fun. Turn signal stalk is cast aluminum. That rusty looking color on the floor is aging spray adhesive. Note the lack of cracks in the wheel.
Remember those little creatures from the 80’s? Dash is all painted metal. How nice. It was important for the passenger to know they were in a Stout.
Seller sent me this explaining the carb was off due to some running issues. It took me about 20 seconds to realize it had two swapped plug leads. Runs good now. Not an impressively detailed engine rebuild, but for less than $3000, I’m happy with gray paint. Even the sketchy looking generator works.
The seat covers that were in this truck were among the worst I’d ever seen. A bad 80’s couch had to die to cover the seats! And underneath was a little glimpse of 60’s Japanese interior heaven. I requested the seats be covered such that the bit seen as blue here will be light gray and the rest will be dark gray.
Anyone out there have Stout parts? Odd as it sounds they are harder to find than 750 Veloce bits, but thankfully not as expensive when they turn up.
My commute is about 4 miles each way and I think this will be perfect. I have a 9am appointment to register it.