Rare 1966 Toyota Stout 1900 pickup (Hilux, SR5, FJ) 47k miles, new engine/trans

Up for sale is a very rare 1966 Toyota Stout 1900 pickup. These were quite rare in the states but popular in places like Thailand and South Africa. In 1969 Toyota replaced the Stout with the Hilux. The Vin# shows this is #8 off the production line in 1966. Only 47,000 original miles and owned/garaged by collectors for the past few years!
Originally equipped with a 4-speed column shifter and small 4-cylinder stock engine, the previous owner upgraded both with a rebuilt Toyota 18R engine with a matching 4 speed transmission (with floor shifter) sourced from a 1972 Toyota Hilux. I'm not an expert but my local tech said whoever did the conversion knew what they were doing. The truck runs great and has so much more power than the original stock engine. The truck starts up and runs/shifts and goes straight down the road.
As best I've been able to determine, this truck first spent some time in California... then Idaho and Arizona before coming east a few years ago. It is dry and solid...the only blemishes are surface rust, paint scrapes in various spots as can be seen in the photos. I recently restored the cab interior but elected to leave the body exterior alone since it has a wonderful patina that you couldn't replicate if you tried. I believe the original color was a robbins egg blue but years ago it was painted the tan color it is today. There are areas, especially on the hood near the cowl, where some of the paint has peeled off...but like I said- if you appreciate the patina look, you'll leave it as-is. The bed had some light surface rust which was lightly sanded and then rattle-can painted black.
The interior is all newly restored... new black carpet over insulated padding (the floor pans were solid and clean), new seats, new matching door panels, new shifter boot and a new black headliner. The original metal dash is in good shape with the steering wheel being especially nice. New lap seat belts were installed this winter. All the gauges work but the speedometer stopped working last month. It's the metal ribbon style speedo with an orange bar that moves left to right across the instrument guage. It was very loud and then suddenly one day everything got quiet and it stopped working... This might be an easy fix but I haven't bothered to investigate. There's a small am/fm radio under the dash.
The ride is excellent for an old vintage truck and the tires have at least 90% tread remaining. The dog dish hubcaps are original and quite hard to find. Brakes (drums all around) are excellent with new shoes last year. Please note that the emergency brake was removed when the new engine and transmission was installed. The original e-brake handle is under the dash but the mechanism for the Stout configuration at the firewall clearly did not fit with the new 18R engine. There are alternate e-brake options but I've just left the car in gear when parked, or used a block on hills.
In the past year, the following work was done:
new front directional/turn signal lensesreplaced center drive shaft bearing and rebalancednew fuel pumpnew batterynew carburetornew spark plugs, points and wiresnew water pumpnew belts and hosesnew tiresnew brake shoesrebuilt master and slave wheel cylinders
The first time I took this truck to our local Cars & Coffee it was the hit of the day- no one there had ever seen a Stout in person, much less ever heard of one. If you are looking for something mechanically sorted and completely unque... this is your truck. I would also venture to say, with the recent popularity of Japanese cars in the collector community, that the Stout will also be an excellent investment. I've just acquired a couple of new classic cars and need some room in the garage.
While I have confidence you could drive this cross-country- it's that reliable... it's still a 50 year old truck with no a/c so shipping or trailering is recommended. I'm happy to assist with your shipper.
Feel free to send questions through Ebay and I usually can respond the same day. I'm located about 2 hours driving time southwest of Washington D.C. Local inspections encouraged with an appointment. Please- serious offers only. A $500 deposit via paypal is required on acceptance...balance due within 7 days.