The Reality of Owning A Vintage Truck

About This Video

Van Neistat spends 11 minutes and 44 seconds treating the desire to own a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser with the moral seriousness most people reserve for confession. The 1987 diesel is the family car in Topanga Canyon. This is the reality underneath the romance: what it costs, what it takes, and why he can't let the dream go.

The deal was simple. She buys the truck, he pays the maintenance. Three years and one bug-ridden electrical system later they are nearly even, because he has put into the truck about what she spent buying it. Bernie, an eccentric genius, found the thing had been built as a 24-volt system and incorrectly rewired to 12 volts, which broke the high beams. Five weeks of work, 5,600 dollars. The transmission rebuild was its own line item. KH is virtually the only vintage Land Cruiser shop in Southern California, booked a month out, always. Van's aside doubles as career advice: if you don't know what to do with your life, become an old car mechanic.

The object of the desire is a TLC 4x4 stage 3 restoration, what the company calls a sleeper. It looks like a 1980s SUV with new paint and tires and hides a 420-horsepower Corvette LS3, locking diffs, a full-float rear axle, soundproofing, heated seats, a 42-gallon tank, and secret compartments. Mr. Ward, the vanguard of the shop, needs nearly 15 minutes just to list what his team rebuilt by hand. Van's verdict is unsentimental and absolute: built with an artist mindset, museum quality, superior to a new Ferrari or Bentley or Rolls-Royce. Buy one and it is the last car you ever buy. Your unborn grandchildren drive it.

The reason the video lands is that Van refuses to pretend the want is clean. He runs the math against himself. After 17 pages of Google he could not find a real price for an FJ140, only a range somewhere between the salary of the president and the salary of a Senate leader. He asked strangers to fund his channel, so is it moral for that man to spend a fortune on a fifteen-thousand-dollar truck? He doesn't have the money and says so. He won't give up the dream anyway. The fantasy even has a destination: an overland trip to Panama for his son's fifth birthday. The heart wants what the heart wants.

What Van Uses: A 1987 diesel Toyota Land Cruiser running on biodiesel for roughly double the mileage of a stock gas engine, serviced by independent specialists like Bernie and the KH shop, with the dream build coming from TLC 4x4 (stage 3 restoration, 420-horsepower Corvette LS3 swap). It edges out even his F-350 Power Stroke.

Related: The Dream of Owning a Vintage Truck, The Romance of Owning a Vintage Truck, Love Letter to My Toyota Land Cruiser, All of the Gear in my '87 Land Cruiser, and the analog living thread on why a machine with tons of glass and no computer stuff beats anything new.

FAQ

How much does a TLC 4x4 vintage Land Cruiser cost?
Van couldn't pin an exact figure even after 17 pages of Google. He places a fully restored FJ140/142 somewhere between the annual salary of the US president and that of a Senate leader, the kind of money that turns a fifteen-thousand-dollar truck into a hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars object. The point of the video is that the price is almost beside the point.

Is a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser expensive to maintain?
Parts and service are relatively cheap. Time is the cost. Finding parts worldwide, finding mechanics, and waiting on a shop booked a month out is the real tax. Van's electrical repair alone ran five weeks and 5,600 dollars to undo a botched 24-volt-to-12-volt rewire, plus a separate transmission rebuild.

Why does Van love the 1987 diesel Land Cruiser more than his other cars?
It edges out even his F-350 Power Stroke. He frames it as a car and just a car: no computer stuff, tons of glass to see out of, room under the seats, and a canyon full of owners who wave when they pass. It runs on biodiesel at roughly double the mileage of a stock gas engine.

Transcript

this spirited man watched a youtube video that unleashed in him an irrational foolish and embarrassing desire possibly an immoral one an all-encompassing desire akin to the lust for sex or brownie sundays a bloodlust like ahab and the whale [Music] this 1987 diesel toyota land cruiser is this spirited man's family car his main squeeze baby mama domestic partner common law wife saw a similar land cruiser on the show narcos and said let's get one of those before the baby's born then she went out and got it [Music] the deal was she buys the truck he pays for the maintenance

[Music] and now after about three years of fixing this or that old thing they're nearly even he's put into the truck about the same amount of money she spent buying it and yet of all the cars he's ever owned this one is his favorite hands down edges out the f-350 power stroke even there's no rational way to explain his love for this 34 year old truck the heart wants what the heart wants maybe it's the feeling he gets when he sits in the cockpit or wipes it down with a diaper yes yes now this is a car and just a car no computer stuff tons of glass to look out of

plenty of room room under the seats even then there's the camaraderie among the folks in the canyon who own these things folks like buck here who shipped his 75 to texas to rebuild the fuel injectors also diesel bucks there's the white one at the general store the dark gray one up on skyline phoenix's brown one not sure where she is today they all wave to each other when they pass like motorcyclists when you meet folks who've sold theirs they all say the same thing wish i'd have kept it but at times owning one of these things can be a

romantic fool's errand [Music] it's not so much the money parts and service are relatively cheap it's the time searching all over the world for parts finding mechanics what happened to all the mechanics if you don't know what to do with your life please become an old car mechanic k h is virtually the only vintage landcruiser service shop in jesus in all of southern california it seems and they're booked up at least a month out always an eccentric genius named bernie did the electrical work truck was manufactured as a 24 volt system then incorrectly rewired into a 12-volt system

which created a bug in the headlight high beams and on and on bernie's work took five weeks 5600 bucks in a couple of weeks maybe three to rebuild the transmission the diesel engine runs on biodiesel too gets twice the mileage as a stock gas engine but has barely enough horsepower to make it up the mountain road to his home [Music] but there's a team down in that valley who builds these land cruisers to perfection builds what they call a stage 3 restoration to the very rarely achieved standard of excellence [Music] the company is called tlc

4x4 tlc god damn right [Music] few things are still built to perfection built to last and the singular object of this spirited man's desire is one of these tlc land cruisers one that looks like his but built to complete perfection what they call a sleeper [Music] soundproofing rust proofing full float rear axle locking diffs big corvette engine corvette engine 420 horsepower ls3 anyway big anti-lock brakes secret compartments

heated seats powder coated stainless custom-made center console my god it takes mr ward here the vanguard of restoration excellence best in the world it takes him nearly 15 minutes just to rattle off the details his team painstakingly respected in hand building this truck engineered their own wiring looms 42 gallon tank and yet on the outside just looks like a 1980s suv with new paint and tires the care the precision the work the research the experience the headaches the pain the blood the ingenuity the failures the artistry these machines are built with an artist mindset excellence plain and simple artist spec museum quality these trucks are superior to new ferraris or bentleys or rolls-royces

thanks to spirited man these trucks will last 100 years he thinks buy one of these and it's the last car he'll ever buy his unborn grandchildren will drive it one day god willing this spirited man struggles with the desire it feels almost greedy almost like greed these trucks are so expensive that after 17 pages of google searching he was unable to get an actual price for an fj140 or 142 could only find ballpark ranges somewhere between the entire annual salary of the president of the united states and the annual salary of the senate majority or minority leader how much money would he have to have to justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a fifteen thousand dollar truck

but that's it though all he wants is just this one thing he don't need no new boots or clothes or a watch or a new motorcycle maybe a bigger house as his family grows sure but not that big of a house is it moral for this man a man who asked strangers to contribute money so he could launch his youtube channel is it okay for him to buy god willing such an incredibly expensive truck how's that supposed to make everybody feel [Music] would it make him just another rich guy so and so [Music] well doesn't matter because he doesn't got that kind of scratch to begin with doesn't got that kind of class not even remotely close even if he had lived under a bridge and saved every penny he's made over the last six or seven years he still wouldn't have it and yet he won't give up on this foolish stupid

greedy dream [Music] he's up to his old tricks again up to his black magic tricks let's call it blue magic so here he goes again just like with garrett's oscar some sympathetic magic what scheme what fortune will bring this truck into his grasp is this the sort of desire that begets the greedy bad guy is this his confession his indulgence his intentions are pure he thinks he will use this tlc truck on an adventure of the sort for which these trucks are purpose built an overland family trip down to panama for his son's fifth birthday

a little over two years hence [Music] hmm may this shrine deliver unto him the object of his desire we'll settle for a used one if need be you

Products & Tools Mentioned

• 1987 Toyota Land Cruiser (diesel) essential — main subject - vintage truck ownership reality
• TLC 4x4 recommends — restoration company, stage 3 restoration
• Corvette LS3 engine (420hp) mentions — potential engine swap option discussed
• Biodiesel mentions — fuel option discussed for diesel Land Cruiser

People Referenced

Buck, Mr. Ward (TLC 4x4), Bernie