Dare to Find a Cleaner '90s Toyota Pickup Than This

A time capsule so seemingly clean, you can probably eat off of it.

As legendary as ’80s and ’90s Toyota trucks and pickups are, they aren’t without their Achilles heels. Which is why today’s find is absolutely beyond remarkable.

Originally for sale was this incredibly clean, 33,000-mile, all-original 1995 Toyota Pickup Xtracab DX V6, complete with a five-speed manual. As expected, it commanded a high price, with the auction gavel slamming down and closing the top bid at just over $30,000.

And yes. If you had to ask, that’s more than what it sold for brand new, which was around $22,550.

America’s last true Hilux import

Today, Toyota sells two pickup trucks, the Tacoma and the Tundra. Both are successors to the original “Pickup” seen here in the auction.

And both are related, but not direct imports of the Toyota Hilux globally sold today. That’s because when Toyota introduced the Tacoma in 1995 and the Tundra in 1999, they did so to more closely align with American tastes and demands.

But interestingly, while both can draw lineage to the original Hilux, this ’95 Pickup is actually the last Hilux Toyota imported and directly sold on North American shores.

So, while some may lust for the global Hilux on our shores, it previously wasn’t forbidden fruit. We actually did get the Hilux up until the first Tacoma and Tundra.

This ’95 Pickup on the auction was the last of the Hilux breed to be sold on North American shores. Toyota simply marketed it as the Pickup.

As clean as old Toyota Pickups get

While Toyota’s Pickups were widely popular in the ’80s and ’90s. many met their demise from years of rigorous use and rust. They didn’t develop their reputation for reliability, ruggedness and durability from being garage queens.

Owners typically used and abused Pickups, as utilitarian vehicles should be. Which is why this pristine example is really something to admire.

One of the biggest Achilles Heels to these old Pickups is rust. So much, that despite their reputation for being tough, they’re also known to be really susceptible to the elements, ironically.

And that makes this example even more miraculous. Because there isn’t even a single spec of visible rust, even after this Pickup supposedly lived most of its life in the Pacific Northwest, where they do use road salt in the winter.

But also, it is a little unsurprising, given its relatively low mileage compared to other well-used examples.

The icing on the cake: this was pretty much the most loaded Pickup one could spec from the factory, aside from the manual transmission and the steel wheels, versus the upgradable alloys.

Still, we can’t help but love how minty fresh this Pickup is. We can only hope its new owner will preserve its condition as an artifact of a bygone era.