It's hard to say what a mint julep would taste like if constructed with warm sake, but it probably wouldn't ring any southern belles. Today's equally incongruous Tennessee Toyota is unquestionably tasty. The question is, is its price as well?

Sometimes you can find the most interesting things in the least likely of places. And frequently a car dealership would be the last place you'd expect to find an interesting car. That's because dealerships tend to cater to the broadest audience, meaning their inventory is usually populated with the milquetoastiest of offerings. That's why it's surprising to find a stick shift edition of Toyota's legendarily rugged original gangster SUV twiddling its thumbs on a dealer's lot.

This is currently at a dealer in the southern city of Nashville Tennessee. Now Nashville is famous for many things, but perhaps most notably for being home to that long-running cavalcade of corn known as Hee Haw. I loved Hee Haw.

The 60-series fell between the Gobi Desert conquering 55 and the luxury 80 series, which was so extensively appointed that, with few changes, it served as the basis for the Lexus LX450 luxorgasm wagon. The FJ60 came with a manual transmission and armstrong power windows while the later FJ62 - along with its rectangular headlamps - came only as an automatic and used electricity to raise and lower the glass. Fancy!

This one has 151,000 miles under its belt and a 4,230-cc Toyota 2F under its hood. That carb'd inline six put out 135-bhp from the factory and is known for its durability. The dealer doesn't give any details on the truck's mechanical condition, and in fact is selling it As-Is rather than with a warranty, but that may be more on account of its age rather than any impending disaster. Still, dealership. Behind that is Toyota's H4X four speed and the more robust split-case transfer case with 38mm idler.

In case you were wondering why this seeming desirable SUV would be sitting on the dealer lot this summer, the answer lies inside. As I noted, the FJ60 was the middle child - much like Jan Brady, not quite as polished or lickable as older sister Marsha, nor as big a spaz as younger sis Cindy. This one doesn't rock leather or even cloth seats that you might expect from a modern truck from Toyota, nor does it have the hewn form stone perches of the older models. Instead it has thigh singing vinyl front and back. And as Nashville's high temp this week is bumping uglies with the triple digits you can bet that jumping onto one of those thrones in your booty shorts after leaving the truck in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly will make your nuts climb up behind your ears in an attempt at escape.

Still, it all looks tidy and there at least is A/C to take the edge off. There's also a steering wheel off of a rack at Pep Boys and adds to the institutional ambiance. On the outside the red paint is shiny and a hue that would let you be just a Dalmatian away from pretending you're fire chief. The knobbies look full of tread and all the badges - down to the unleaded gas sticker over the fuel door are intact. Overall it looks unmolested.

The question of course is whether this dealer-dealt Land Cruiser is worth its $9,750 price tag. What do you think, is this a diamond in the dealer rough? Or, is that a price that would make this Nashville Toyota a Tennessucks?

You decide!

or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to brainsauce for the hookup!

Help me out with NPOCP. Click to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.