1996 Toyota Tacoma Article at Automotive.com

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Custom 1996 Toyota Tacoma

Below is an enthusiast article written by the automotive experts at Mini Truckin'. This is one clean Tacoma!

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LEARN WHY

IntelliChoice Value Rating

The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.

One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.

What is a good car value?

A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.

But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?

For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.

This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)

Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.

Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.

So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.

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Article From Mini Truckin' Magazine

Custom 1996 Toyota Tacoma - One-Hit Wonder

Painters Ahoy! / By Chad Lucas / photographer: Mike Alexander
/ Article provided by: Mini Truckin' Magazine

Owner: Quincy Johnson
Ride: '96 Toyota Tacoma
Hometown: Missouri City, Texas

Usually there are stories of hardship, arguments, and random, freak occurrences when building a mini. That's not the case, however, with Quincy Johnson and his oh-so-cool '96 Toyota Tacoma. If building a mini is as easy to build as he claims, we are moving to Missouri City, Texas, to try our own luck.

The hardest part of Quincy's build was trying to find an artist to spray his truck with some personality. The Tacoma had already been shaved smooth and basecoated with DuPont Chroma Base Meritime Blue by Voodoo Customs; it just needed that extra flair. After countless talks with upwards of five or six painters and no luck, a name was referred - Patrick Reid. If you recognize this name, then it's because he owns the Mini Truckin' cover vehicle from our Sept. '05 issue. If anyone knows Patrick, you know he's not hurting for ideas or personality.

Quincy and Patrick sat down at dinner and sketched-out some ideas and ate some fries. After a few Picasso-inspired visions, Quincy approved of the seasoning that would soon spice up his ride. Just weeks later, Patrick made the trip to do the graphics on location (Nice! We've never heard of a mobile graphic specialist). Once Patrick started throwing down the hammer, he didn't stop until the Tacoma was covered from tip to toe.

The only other aspect of Quincy's truck that had to be rethought was the color-matched bedliner, which soon faded to nothingness. We know what everyone is thinking, "Oh my god, how will he finish it now?" Wait - it's finished! The bedliner was redone and away into the sunset Quincy cruises, tearing up pavement and breaking necks.

Since Quincy's Tacoma involved no mental anguish, we know we have plenty more to see from him in the future. As we speak, Quincy is finishing up his other ride, which is said to be a show-stopper. We're sure we'll see Quincy's new project in no time, pending there aren't any brick walls installed in front of his garage.

The Lowdown

Rolling Attire
Wheels: Niche Rhine
Size: 18x7.5-inch
Tires: Kumho 711 225/40ZR18

Chassis Modifications
Suspension type: Airbags
Airbag/cylinder type and size: Firestone 2,600-pound airbags
Control arms: 2-inch dropped control arms, flipped ball joints
Rear suspension: Reverse four-link
Shocks: Nitro
Valves: 1/2-inch SMC
Compressors: Viair 450
Air line: 1/2-inch copper
Air accessories: 9-gallon air tank
Frame mods: C-notch
Gas tank: Relocated stock tank
Brakes: Slotted front rotors
Misc: Air Ride Technologies switches, custom-painted nitrogen bottles with graphics
Performed by: Mississippi Rob of San Antonio

Body Modifications
Shaved: Door handles, hood squirters, front signal lights, and tailgate handle
Rear end: Tailgate molded shut
Taillights: '00 Toyota Tacoma
Misc: Bed floor raised 3 inches and smoothed out, rounded notch cover, rounded battery cover
Performed by: Voodoo Customs

Paint
Colors: DuPont Chroma Base Meritime Blue
Style: Graphics
Performed by: Base by Voodoo Customs, graphics by Pat Reid of San Leon, Texas

Interior
Seats: Stock
Material: Gray leather with blue ostrich
Dash: Smoothed and painted to match truck
Door panels: Painted to match truck with graphics and ostrich
Flooring: One-off dark-blue carpet
Headliner: Ostrich
Gauges: Viair dual needle gauges
Misc: Ostrich steering wheel cover
Performed by: Brian Hill of Austin

Stereo
Head unit: Alpine CDA-9835 CD/MP3
Mids and highs: Rockford Fosgate T602
Amplifier for highs/mids: Rockford Fosgate T5002
Subwoofers: two 12-inch Rockford Fosgate subs
Amplifier for subwoofers: Rockford Fosgate T5002
Wiring: Monster Cable
Custom fabrication: Flush head unit with plexi backing, fiberglass box that wraps into fiberglass floating center console
Performed by: Insane Autowerx of San Antonio

Engine/Performance
Intake: Cold air
Battery: Dual Optima Red Tops
Performed by: Owner

Special Thanks
Lisa Durki, Santos & Jackie Ramos, JJ Platov, Freddie Williams, Mississippi Rob, Pat Reid, Brian Hill