After our first consultation Peter ordered a brand new 79 from Toyota and got put on the dreaded wait list, whilst in the background we started manufacturing his custom made tray and canopy and also ordering all the parts and accessories.

After around 9 months of waiting for the vehicle, Peter was informed by Toyota that he would be receiving the newly updated model which would be fitted with AEB (automatic emergency braking) and possibly a PCSS (Pre-Collision Safety System) see an article here and he was livid.

And in response, the words from the Dakar World Rally driver/champion were ‘ I don’t want a computer telling me when to brake’ !, So the decision was made to cancel the order with Toyota and start hunting for a pre-AEB model (with the smaller blinker).

After a bit of ringing around we ended up finding him one in Perth, on the other side of Australia, sitting in a second hand car yard, still brand new- no kilometers but had been registered. This is a tactic Toyota dealerships are using to get around selling the 79s at RRP. Because the demand is so high and the wait is so long they price gouge by registering the cars, then because they’re technically 2nd hand, they can put exorbitant prices on, way above RRP and people still pay.

After we sorted that out, I had the car sent over to Sydney by rail and picked up at a holding yard and brought into the shop so we could begin. Dusty, dirty, marks on the seats and fitted with a factory fitted bull bar and tray.

Because the vehicle had been registered, we were not able to do any SSM (second stage manufacture) modifications to the suspension or GVM, but we were able to fit the Marks Portal Axles, 35″ tyres and a 1″ suspension lift Post-Registration in NSW and have it engineered and registered. This makes the vehicle totally street legal in NSW.

Once the portals were fitted and the genuine Toyota tray and bull bar were removed, it wiped that ugly stock standard farm look straight off it and into another realm. From here on we spent the next 8 months procuring the vehicle into what you see in the images below. With no expense spared, Peter wanted the works with a full leather customized interior. Heated leather seats, top of the range Alpine sound system, Redarc TVMS controls at the wheel along with a plethora of buttons to control electrical items on the car like rear compressor and air bag levels, under vehicle rock lights, roof lights even a modified Starlink with uninterrupted internet anywhere on the planet.