The spectrum of cars considered to be cool varies widely depending on who you ask, and there’s little rhyme or reason to it all. If you ask a car enthusiast if a Hummer is cool, odds are they’ll be indifferent or say no, but if you ask the same car enthusiast if Toyota’s answer to the Hummer — the massive and massively rare Mega Cruiser — is cool, they’re going to say yes. So if you’re looking for a properly awesome and gigantic truck that can take you and nine of your closest friends anywhere that’s even remotely accessible by solid ground, the Mega Cruiser is the vehicle for you, and one is currently listed for auction on Bring A Trailer.
According to the seller, this one also happens to be the only high-roof civilian-market Toyota Mega Cruiser ever made from the factory. So it’s extremely rare, but unlike most other cool and rare cars, its 4.1-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission should also make it extremely reliable and relatively easy to repair.
Mega Cruisers are mega cool
Much like the American Hummer, the Mega Cruiser was originally designed for military use, but Toyota made between 130 and 150 of them for the Japanese civilian market. This is said to be the only factory-produced high-roof Mega Cruiser ever made, and it’s already imported into the United States so it should be good to go for any American buyer.
Also like the Hummer, the Mega Cruiser is fitted with a few features that facilitate the truck’s shocking 16.5-inches of ground clearance: its drivetrain components are mounted higher up in the chassis than they are in most vehicles, and it has portal axles.
Other features that contribute to the Mega Cruiser’s all-terrain capabilities include 4-wheel-drive, standard rear-wheel-steering (which the seller notes is not functional), three locking differentials, and a currently non-functional central tire inflation system that when functioning allows drivers to deflate and inflate the tires without getting out of the vehicle.
This is a truly one-of-a-kind truck
This high-roof Mega Cruiser has two rows of four seats in the back, so this could ostensibly take the place of a minivan or three-row SUV purchase. It also has some fun features that no other people hauler can come close to. Beyond its unstoppable all-terrain prowess, it has two roof panels that fully open up to allow rear passengers incomparable access to the great outdoors. If the great outdoors are not climate-controlled enough for your rear-seat passengers, then they’ll be happy to hear that both rows of rear seats get their own air-conditioning vents.
At the time this article is published, this one-of-one factory high-roof Toyota Mega Cruiser sits at a current bid of a mere $8,000 with a bit over five days left in its auction. It is a right-hand drive vehicle so it won’t be easy to Mega Cruise through your local drive-through, but given all the other unique and objectively cool things about this truck, that’s a small concession to make.
