Recently I was out for a walk with my toddler on the trail at the back of our property. We have a lot of space here and tend to help out family/friends with parking or storage in the barn etc. My brother has his old Toyota parked out back while he has been moving around.
Now I’ve been past this truck dozens of times. It’s covered in grime, cobwebs and leaves – and I didn’t even know if it runs.
On this particular day while out on the trail, I glanced over and looked at it just as I had many times before, although for some reason it looked different. Maybe with fall here and the recent rain, it was just so much dirtier and more gross than before.
Even being under all the leaves and sludge, I realized…. THIS THING IS AWESOME! It’s just so rad. 1985 styling, 37” mud terrains, turbo diesel, right hand drive! Why must it just sit here?
So I called up my brother to propose keeping this thing, called a Blizzard, alive!
Out came the jumper cables, extension cord, hoses and pressure washer. After a 30 min battery charge, the 2.4L (“2L” motor) roared to life and idled happily. The slight exhaust burble of a 4cylinder diesel didn’t exactly instil thoughts of big power, but it was a steady, comfortable and quietly confident sound that was somehow reassuring. It was almost as if the Blizzard had a soul and was just overjoyed with the recent attention.
Unfortunately, neither my brother or I have the time or space to keep this and see it to it’s greatest potential. It deserves the glory of cruising the rough back roads and rocky trails of the West Coast.
Therefore, sadly it is up for sale. It runs and drives, but will need some work to be a comfortable daily, or reliable back country bush pig. Either way, it’s been neat rescuing it from the forest and spending some time getting to know its intracacies.
See the Expedition BC facebook page, or Vancouver Craigslist for details. We’ll finish off this memory with some photos we’ll hang onto for years to come.
