I left Key West sooner than I wanted to get back to Boca Raton one day before a scheduled showing of the Toyota Chinook. FLTLNDR™ needed to look as good as possible to sell herself, but after the detailing & accessorizing I had done the rig was looking fine and I was confident a prospective buyer would be rolling away with her after a little bum-sniffing.I had a firm offer for $6850 - a price many said I'd never get, but FLTLNDR™ is perhaps the finest surviving 1977 Toyota Chinook on the market today, of that I am very confident. Nonetheless, I had a compression test done that yielded some disappointing results. During the 5000 miles of actual driving I had put on the 22R engine it had never betrayed any sign of weakness, yet there was no arguing with the test numbers. From MN to VT to FL, FLTLNDR™ had performed exceptionally, and would likely continue to do so, but with what I knew about the engine I had to pull the vehicle off the market and re-calibrate my thinking.
I pondered driving the vehicle until the engine failed, and then mounting the cabin on a newer 4x4, a Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma will fit perfectly. Instead, I contacted the prospective buyer and dropped the price to $5000 to provide a $1850 budget for possible future engine repair/replacement. The sun was shining, I wore my silkiest tongue, and we went for a test-drive. Sold.
PRICE: USD$5000
ODOMETER (MILES): 36576 (or 136576).
© FLTLNDR™
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