Naming Lorraine after a Back to the Future character just seemed to make sense. Not only does she bear a resemblance to Marty's dream truck, an 85' Toyota Pickup SR5, but when we were driving to buy her in Wisconsin, a DeLorean bulleted by us on the highway. That was more than enough to convince us.
How did we end up with Lorraine? After a few months of research and thinking about the kind of trip we wanted to have, we ended up deciding we wanted a 1st Gen, 22re, 5spd 4runner. Here's why:
- There are several folks out there that have done far more hardcore trips in this truck and they've done great a job documenting their journey's. For example here's a great write up about this truck by Ruined Adventures. Also check out Home on the Highway.
- Toyota made a lot of these. It's built on the same platform as most 80's Toyota trucks; there are a lot of parts and a lot of people who know how to work on them.
- I wanted to learn how to work on a car. When I was in high school my dad made me take apart a lawnmower engine. I was supposed to learn how an engine worked before I could get my permit. I remembered it just long enough to get behind the wheel with a legal guardian, and immediately forgot it all. Exercising these mechanical demons was something I wanted to be a part of our journey.
- They are great and simple little trucks.
Here's an ad from 1984. If the description of the 7-way adjustable sport seat doesn't convince you, nothing will.
If you want to see some of the specific things we've done to Lorraine, you can follow our build thread here on Expedition Portal.