Jump in, tap the air switches, crank the ignition, and dump the clutch. Watch as smoke pours off the rear tires that wrap hot rod-styled billet spools. This truck does not only haul but can hold its own on the showfield as well. What is this low-rolling stunner? It is none other than Mark Lindsey's '01 Toyota Tacoma S-Runner featuring intense body sculpting, a blend of unique custom color, and a trick inner realm. Since the truck is driven to every show, Mark has plenty of time to stretch the Taco's legs while managing to scare the daylights out of anyone who is crazy enough to strap themselves into his passenger seat. Now that we have established how Mark pilots his pride and joy, let's focus on how The Rockin' Taco came to life.
Back in 2001, Mark headed over to his local Texas Toyota dealership to pick up an extended cab 'Yota to fulfill his custom wishes. After dropping nearly $21K with the local Toyota boys, Mark wasted no time and drove the truck straight to Hill's Hot Rods in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, to have the little mini laid out, shaved up, and coated with custom color. Shop owner Jason Hill along with Ron Knowles, Nathan Hunter, Randall Tharp, Jason Lackey, and Mike Lindsey got cranking on the Taco immediately by slamming a complete Air Ride Technologies system under the truck to lay it down hard over a set of 18-inch front and 19-inch rear Intro aluminum hoops. The rear frame was C-notched for ample axle clearance, and a custom two-link setup with a Panhard bar was fabbed for the rear to work in conjunction with Firestone 2600 airbags. Up front, 18x7-inch Intro Scorpions billet wheels wrapped in Yokohama P215/35ZR18 rubber fill the 'wells, while the rear stuffs 19x8-inch Scorpions wearing Yokohama P235/35ZR19 low-pros. KYB shocks dampen the suspension when Mark hits rough terrain or stuffs the Taco a little too hard into the corners.
Now that the Taco was laying the 'rails and stuffing the wheels, the factory V-6 was given a mild power boost. To appropriately ventilate "the little V-6 that could" Mark tossed an EL Prototypes intake up top and increased the noise factor with a Flowmaster muffler. After adding a little more go under the hood, the Taco went under the knife and the crew at Hill's Hot Rods went insane with the welder. Going from the tail end forward, the rear steps, the tailgate handle, the taillights, the gas door, the door handles, and the windshield squirters were all shaved off the body. A custom roll pan and tailgate combo stuffed with a pair of Hi-Tech LED taillights redefine the rear. Once all the sparks settled and the welds were knocked down, Jason Hill rolled The Rockin' Taco into the paint booth and laid down eye-popping style with a combination of Creatix Auto Air Colors Onyx Black and T-Bird Blue fading into silver on the rocker panel and rear quarter panel regions. Toyota symbols were ghosted into the silver for a little something extra, and the beltline region was cinched up with Creatix Orange flowed into a custom graphic. Once the truck was buffed to a fine shine and met Mark's custom exterior wishes, it was delivered to Jimmy Davis at Stan's Car Stereo in Lubbock for an audio system capable of blasting out full-throttle metal jams consistent with Mark's driving style.
Jimmy delivered by packing the cab with a system capable of impressing the most discerning rocker. Up front, a Clarion DXZ 825 CD head unit feeds jams to a pair of Alpine R12 12-inch woofers mounted in a custom box behind the rear seat. Infinity mids and highs rock in the door panels, while an Alpine 450 V12 amplifier fuels the audio fire and hammers those AC/DC guitar licks out with fury.
With the audio artillery loaded, Mark raced over to American Upholstery in Lubbock to have Roy Gibbs hook up the factory seating surfaces with some fabric stylings. A combination of Katzkin orange and sand-colored leather provides spice to the front buckets. Assorted dash plastics and the custom center console crafted by Mark were sprayed in orange by Jason Hill. An Intro billet steering wheel tops the column and helps Mark stay in control during his full-throttle adventures.
Mark and the crew from Hill's Hot Rods have built one impressive Tacoma, which can strut its stuff on the street and at the shows. One of the coolest things about Mark's truck is the fact that he drives it and drives it hard. It just goes to show, when a truck is built right, it can pretty much take anything. Even the abuse of a hard rocker who only looks at the right side of the speedometer.