Blue, sturdy, and ready for anything, this 1983 Toyota pickup is one truck that won’t be daunted by ice or snow. The environment being what it is in the Midwest and East Coast right now, it seems there’s no better time to demonstrate what a man’s 4×4 can do in the worst Mother Nature has to hurl against humanity.

We get an up close and personal look at this rugged truck as its owner describes in great detail the aspects of its build. Unsatisfied with the puny power he was getting from the original 22R gas engine, the owner swapped in a Cummins 4BT engine from a delivery truck, and mated it to an NV4500 tranny with a 13-inch clutch and up-rated Ram input shaft.

For ultimate off-road aptitude, there’s also a 4.70:1 Marlin Crawler giving the stock Toyota transmission an assist. Combined with a Lock-Rite locker in the rear and locker (from a ’99 Tacoma) up front, as well as those big 35-inch BFG TKOs, the truck is a more-than-capable apocalypse vehicle.

Even when it comes to steep, ice-coated hills and ravines, the pickup can conquer the obstacle with ease. “It’s got a lot of low-end power now,” says the owner.

But that wasn’t all that had to change in this suped-up ‘Yota. The owner went wild on numerous other parts of the vehicle, like a custom-fit oil pan, fabricated tranny mounts, modified driveline, GM alternator, 2-inch body lift, and much more.

The bad-ass nature of the truck spans the interior too, with diamond-plate accents adorning the dashboard and door panels. With a few more burnouts and hill climbs, it’s made clear to us that this blue pickup is one tough bastard, or perhaps Frankenstein, of a truck.