Old work utes are often relegated to a cobwebbed shed or left to rust on the side of the road, but one farmer is giving them a second life at his family farm.
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Far North Queensland grower Brad Jonsson has amassed an impressive collection of classic Toyota and Nissan vehicles over the years, including six LandCruisers, three HiLuxes and two Patrols.
Their build dates range from 1978 to 2015 and some have 500,000 kilometres on the odometer, while others are just getting run in at 50,000km.
They are a mix of four and six cylinder engines and most are fitted with steel rims, a bullbar and snorkel.
Brad and his brother Dean are fourth generation farmers, and alongside their families, manage 25,000ha Wombinoo station, 50km south of Mount Garnet, and their Ravenshoe farm.
With a large operation that includes vegetables, cotton, corn silage, cattle and more than 8000 avocado trees, Mr Jonsson even started naming the vehicles as a bit of fun and to help him keep tabs on them.
"We named them all because there's that many white ones that a worker would ring up and say, 'The white Toyota's broken down', and I'd say, 'Which one?" Mr Jonsson said.
"One is called 'Three Hearts' because it's on its third engine. We've got 'Ralph', because Ralph is one bloke who's been working for me for a while. We've got 'Slab' the HiLux, because we bought it off a bloke and his nickname was 'Slab'."
Vince's 1984
The 1984 LandCruiser 'Vince' is particularly special as it belonged to his late grandfather.
Vince bought it brand new and it's still got the original paint. Now, Brad's son Jack wants to keep the vehicle's story alive.
"The young fella is 13 years old and is adamant he's going to do it up for his first car. It's a sentimental thing," Mr Jonsson said.
The GT swap
The oldest utility in the fleet - a 1978 LandCruiser - belonged to Dean Jonsson's father-in-law.
He owned a Ford Falcon GT351 at the time but thought the Toyota would be more useful and swapped them.
"He said back then it was just a sedan and he needed a Toyota because he had to go working out bush and it was more practical," Brad said.
"A good GT now can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Carting avos
Some avocado farms put bins on the ground and have a tractor collect them when full, but Mr Jonsson believes it's more efficient to put two 500kg bins in the tray of a ute and fill them with a cherry picker.
While the utes might be quicker at hauling the fruit, they do suffer in the tough terrain.
"With tree branches sticking out, the utes cop a bit of a hiding, especially when you get backpackers driving them," Mr Jonsson said.
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That's why instead of buying new, the brothers keep an eye out for decent quality vehicles and service them on-farm.
"We try to find whatever's laying around at a reasonable price," Mr Jonsson said.
"I'm nearly a bloody qualified Toyota mechanic. Every old Toyota's got a story behind it - that's the good thing about them."
From Japanese workhorses to yank tanks
While the Japanese workhorses have their place, the family prefers American pickup trucks when hitting the road - Ram trucks in particular.
"They're the same price [as a LandCruiser] and you can get them as a six seater. We bought three of them last year," Mr Jonsson said.
"My brother bought one, I bought one and dad bought one. You can get three people in the front and I've got four kids, so it was perfect."
Brandon Long
Brandon Long is a Queensland Country Life journalist based in Toowoomba.
Brandon Long is a Queensland Country Life journalist based in Toowoomba.
