There comes a point in life where a boy becomes a man. For us, that day has finally come with the release of our first Bring-A-Trailer auction, featuring our Squirrel built 1988 Toyota Pickup proudly named “Jolene”.
Consultation is a huge part of Squirrel Concepts. We’ve combined our passion for trucks along with a love for travel to mold this portion of our business; a segment of Squirrel that nurtures our favorite part of life as Toyota fanatics, THE HUNT. We’ve travelled across the country, spent countless hours on the road, and helped client after client get into their dream Toyotas, Jolene being one of our prime examples.
Our journey with Jolene started in Seattle, WA back in July of 2022, sourced from the trucks 2nd owner that just so happened to be a retired Toyota Master Technician. At a young 125k and 30 years of ownership, the truck was already immaculate, but the back story and care Jolene had received prior was ultimately what sold us on bringing her home. Besides being a clean truck, it’s these little details and relationships we look for that really make us good at what we do. After some back and forth on the phone, a one-way ticket was purchased and we were on our way to Seattle.
Jolene made the journey home without a hitch. We took our time, enjoyed the ride, and even met up with some friends along the way. Yes, we could have shipped her back to Long Beach or towed it home on a trailer, but what fun would that be? Its important to take your business seriously and do the best you can for your clients, but you need to have fun and enjoy the process. If you’re not loving every second of what you do, why even do it? With Jolene back at the shop we could have handed the keys over to our client and been done, but that wouldn’t make it a Squirrel Truck now would it?
Over the past few years, along with our client, we’ve been building Jolene up to be one of our most reliable, original, turn key and leak free trucks. We took our first stab at making a video below and although production value was…minimal, it contains a lot of the information on everything we’ve done. Typing the list here could go on forever but a brief recap would be a full A-Z engine tune up, new clutch and all related seals, a full Bilstein suspension with freshly powder coated wheels on BFG K02’s, a fresh exhaust system, hours of cleaning/detail work and all the final touches to make Jolene’s interior complete. Our latest project just a few months ago was a front to back brake job, featuring R1 vented rotors, a new master cylinder, rear shoes, drums, and wheel cylinders. We’ve dialed this truck in, put it to the test, and in true Squirrel fashion, stuck with OEM parts all along the way.
This 1988 Toyota Pickup, 22RE, blue on blue, single cab long bed 4x4 turns heads everywhere she goes and with our attention to detail and focus on reliability, will continue to do so for many years to come. We thank you for your support of the shop and for viewing our Bring a Trailer auction. If you decide to bid, we wish you the best of luck. And to Jolene’s future owner, you’re a lucky bastard.