Is this a terrible idea? FJ60 and Mr2 Spyder content...

First off I am not sure if I want to do this at all and I will probably kick myself later but here is what I have been debating.

I have a beautiful 1981 Toyota FJ60 Landcruiser. It is in great shape, has low miles (147k), and drives well. I always wanted an old FJ and I found this one to replace my Early Bronco that no longer worked for my growing family. Many of you have seen the truck at the last two challenges.

It has an old man emu spring over lift, ARB air lockers, 35 Inch tires, 4.88 Gears, an ARB bumper and a Warn 9000i winch. I will be installing, a TBI fuel injection kit with a set of headers in the near future.

The Pros for the truck are that its badass, it gets attention everywhere I take it, it is rust free, has lots of room, Cold A/C, and is reliable.

The cons are a 55 mph top speed which makes it useless on the highway, it is not really able to tow my race car, my wife is scared to drive it / can barely get into it, and it gets terrible gas mileage. On top of that after spending several thousand dollars painting it it is to nice to wheel in.

I also recently purchased a 2002 MR2 Spyder for my wife. It has 56K miles, new RE11a's and is an autocrossing beast. Unfortunately it only has two seats, which means that my two children are not able to ride, which limits my wife's ability to enjoy it.

Now that you have the back story here is what I am thinking. Sell the land cruiser which should bring 12k to 15k dollars and sell the MR2 which should bring 6K to 7K. Take the money, figure roughly 20k, and buy a 3k 4runner or Suburban and a 1960's convertible like a temptest, Lemans, firebird etc.

I have wanted another classic muscle car since I sold the my Dart last year. I figure a convertible will kill two birds with one stone because my kids can ride and I will have something to cruise in when its nice out / take to shows.

A Suburban or 4runner could pull my race car, tote the kids, handle runs to home depot etc. With the current cars if I want to do a track day, tow to the challenge etc, I need to borrow my wifes 2007 Yukon Denali, which leaves her having to exchange the MR2 for my mother in law's X5 to haul the kids in.

Track car...

The million dollar question is am I an idiot? Will I regret selling my FJ? Or go for it, a convertible tempest is sweet / your kids will love cruising in it...

What would GRM do?

On a side note, I have a work provided car that I can drive everyday as long as I don't leave the county.

Yes, you will regret selling the FJ:-( I know I miss mine! If you are wanting to tow a racecar you will be sadly disappointed with a 4Runner. I had a 2000 with the 3.4 and towed a small trailer (maybe 1500lbs) full of my hunting stuff and the gas mileage stunk and it strained it (constantly downshifting). The FJ (1983) actually towed the trialer better but really needed a 5th gear when you where on the highway.

The suburban or a Sequoia would be better options if you are going to tow anything any distance. Might even consider a double cab pick up for versitlity.

my $.02 Jeremy

Sell the FJ: it's a great off-road truck and was built to be unstoppable. It needs to go because it's abilities are getting wasted.

Buy a 2003-4 Yukon/Tahoe the classic 'vert!

ebonyandivory wrote: Sell the FJ: it's a great off-road truck and was built to be unstoppable. It needs to go because it's abilities are getting wasted. Buy a 2003-4 Yukon/Tahoe the classic 'vert!

Good point, I have a ratty samurai for wheeling in.

I was thinking 2000 to 2006 suburban for a tow vehicle, I would rather have the extra space and they tend to be cheaper then a comparable tahoe.

So...how will your wife feel about driving the 'Vert Barge? If the answer is "better than than the FJ" then you can probably make it work. If she's still going to swap out the barge for the X5 then you have more homework to do.

Yeah, you'll probably regret selling the FJ. But that's just what happens when you have a good vehicle. Sadly, sometimes a really good vehicle just isn't a really good vehicle for you anymore. Sell it and move on.

If you like the Lumberwagon, get rid of the gears, lift and tires and make it driveable for the wife. Otherwise, let her select something that works for her, and you can berkeley with junk all you want.

Are you not familiar with Peter Egans "One good car" theory?

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you like the Lumberwagon, get rid of the gears, lift and tires and make it driveable for the wife. Otherwise, let her select something that works for her, and you can berkeley with junk all you want. Are you not familiar with Peter Egans "One good car" theory?

he should be able to dump the 4.88's for 4.10's or 4.56's and get some of the highway speed and gas mileage back.

In reply to MrChaos:

Swapping gears even with axles with a drop-out third member ain't cheap or easy.

That FJ is right up my alley (or it was a few years ago but my family life and situation ie: zero places to four -wheel) but as cool and retro and solid-axled as it is, it seems like it's outgrown it's usefulness and has become a (rather expensive) toy.

ultraclyde wrote: So...how will your wife feel about driving the 'Vert Barge? If the answer is "better than than the FJ" then you can probably make it work. If she's still going to swap out the barge for the X5 then you have more homework to do. Yeah, you'll probably regret selling the FJ. But that's just what happens when you have a good vehicle. Sadly, sometimes a really good vehicle just isn't a really good vehicle for you anymore. Sell it and move on.

She already has a Yukon as her everyday car. The MR2 is an extra car. She likes driving it and actually had a red one before we got married but she doesn't like that it only has two seats. She is on board for a classic convertible but she has never driven one so I can't comment on how she will like driving it.

Now that the race car is running again I can autocross it instead of the MR2.

If I have a more towing friendly vehicle I won't need her Yukon and she will not need to worry about borrowing her mom's X5.

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you like the Lumberwagon, get rid of the gears, lift and tires and make it driveable for the wife. Otherwise, let her select something that works for her, and you can berkeley with junk all you want.

That would be prohibitively expensive, and the truck still wouldn't tow all that great.

Are you not familiar with Peter Egans "One good car" theory?

I am more of a "several mediocre cars" kind of guy...

As someone who has both a spyder and an fj40 I think you are crazy for considering parting with either, never mind both.

This would do nicely and has been for sale for awhile.... I am sure if I rolled up with 19K or so he would consider it.

1969 Firebird Convertible 4-Speed

I am high bidder on this 2005 Suburban 4x4 on Copart. If I keep the FJ I will sell the Burban...

Keep FJ as a classic.
Sell Spyder since unused.
Tow with existing Denali.
Buy Mini Cooper convertible or VW Beetle convertible as wife's backup DD which can seat whole family for top-down ice cream runs.
Find another bargain classic like Dart.

KSScotton wrote: Yes, you will regret selling the FJ:-( I know I miss mine! If you are wanting to tow a racecar you will be sadly disappointed with a 4Runner. I had a 2000 with the 3.4 and towed a small trailer (maybe 1500lbs) full of my hunting stuff and the gas mileage stunk and it strained it (constantly downshifting). The FJ (1983) actually towed the trialer better but really needed a 5th gear when you where on the highway. The suburban or a Sequoia would be better options if you are going to tow anything any distance. Might even consider a double cab pick up for versitlity. my $.02 Jeremy

I have a sequoia with the 4.7 and had a 4Runner with the 4.0. They actually tow more or less the same. The extra grunt from the V8 is nixed by the 1000lbs of extra weight. The SportEdition 4Runner actually had better brakes too.

I'd have no problem towing anywhere with a 4.7 4Runner SE. That said, I have a 1500-lb trailer and a ~2500lbs car+race gear so it's not exactly a heavy load.

4Runner SE is far more fun to drive than the Sequoia though, towing or not.

Btw, why does your FJ only go 55mph?

4.88 Gears and a 4 speed. 55 mph in 4th gear is 3100 Rpm. I suppose it could go a little faster if I pushed it but it only redlines at 4000 RPMs and I really don't want to push it harder then that.

Id sell it the FJ personally.

That suburban should serve you well. I've towed quite a bit with a beat to hell 2000 silverado with roughly 300,000 (dash last lit up with 275,000) miles have had no issues.

Now you just need to find me a slightly wrecked 5.3 or 6.0 truck so I can put my 54 Ford cab on it and use that as my tow vehicle.

In the end, I love FJ60s, but sounds like it's time to let it go if you're not going to be doing trail-running or off-road adventure trips like the thing is made for. I had the same situation with my '90 XJ 2-door (5MT, lifted, on 32s with OME). I never went wheeling and once we got our 4Runner it became kind of a pointless vehicle to own since it couldn't tow well, sucked on the highway, wife wouldn't drive it, and the 4Runner could go anyplace it could anyhow, but in more comfort and reliability. So I sold it and bought an old bmw to take its place as my "weekend project." I loved that XJ at the time, but I don't miss it at all now.

I had a 1994 XJ awhile back, and I feel your pain about not having anywhere to use its unique abilities.

After I painted the FJ it became too nice to take off road, but.... I picked this up earlier this year, and it is definitely not "too nice" to wheel in...

It's funny, or ironic or whatever.

That FJ is as capable a trail vehicle/rock crawler of that size you'll ever see in the rocks the way you set it up.

But as you've said, and I agree, it's now too nice to take on any or the trails it could handle.

So it's become a very cool ice-cream/car show vehicle that will certainly attract attention.

It seems like it's too awesome for its own good!

I'll throw a curveball out here. How about a Saab 9-3 Convertible like this:?

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/4754529544.html

That is very cool, but not what I am looking for.