You could win $500 if you can guess the high bid on this Toyota Hilux Camper

Think of the star car of this week’s Bid is Right as a rolling Venn diagram—that you can sleep in! Whereas the preceding $455,000 Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R was targeted at a specific subset of wealthy JDM enthusiast, Cars and Bids’ 1989 Toyota Hilux Galaxy Camper double-parks itself across a web of cross-genre appeal. Regardless of final value, there will be quite a few curious folks watching this sale with keen interest. Can you guess just where the final bid on this trans-categorical curio will land? We’ll throw you $500 for your troubles if you land the top guess.

Right off the bat, it’s a camper. Any sort of functional and well-kept camper or RV automatically transcends our traditional markers for collectability, as it appeals to a wider audience beyond the relatively closed circuit of the collector car market. RVs and #vanlife isn’t as blisteringly popular now as it became during quarantine, but there’s still a healthy market for rigs that escape the urban sprawl.

It’s also built on the bones of a (now) classic truck. We’ve followed the steady rise in values of classic trucks and SUVs for a few years now, noting the market’s increasing voracity for domestic and imported 4x4s from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, so that’s another box checked. Not only that, it’s a well-preserved Toyota pickup truck from the ‘80s, a family of rugged workhorses that have surged in interest so strongly that it earned a spot on our 2023 Hagerty Bull Market roster. Another abacus bead slides home.

As a cherry perched neatly atop this collectability sundae, this sucker is verified JDM; that is, this cutesty camper was sold originally in the Japanese Domestic Market and imported from its motherland to the U.S. in 2020. As I’m sure you’ve heard and probably noticed, classic Japanese vehicles are hot commodities these days, and continue to appreciate at a steady rate.

A lot of factors to consider here. I reckon the trickiest bit to decode is the camper part; will this stoke the bidding section with a rare chance at a preserved Toyota RV, or dampen the Hilux-hungry who just want a no-frills truck to enjoy around town?

Well, that’s up to you, my fine friends. Chew it over, do some research, check for reference sales, and head back here to the comment section with your best guess as to where this will land. The closest guess to the final bid—without going over—takes home the $500 prize.

Do I really need to say it?

Get guessin’.

House rules:

• The commenter who guesses closest to the hammer price without going over wins. (Hammer price excludes auction house fees).
• One guess per commenter.
• If two people guess the same amount (within a dollar) the earlier guess wins.
• Commenters must provide first and last name in addition to email address.
• We will close the guessing on January 24th 2023 at 3:30 pm est.
• Your privacy is important to us, and we’ll never sell your information. By providing your email you will receive the weekly Insider newsletter, and you can opt out at any time.
• You can read the full rules here.