TOYOTA TRAILS He was driving in town and another driver ran a stop sign, t-boned his truck, and totaled it! After the accident, Rainey bought his FJ40 back from the junkyard. He saved some of the parts for future use and sold the rest. Then he bought a replacement 1975 FJ40 from BTB Products. It was the original mustard color. Rainey says the only vehicle that looks good in mustard yellow is an FJ40. “Nothing else is awesome enough to wear that color,” he says. But as awesome as the mustard yellow looked, Rainey eventually returned to the zebra stripe theme. BIRTH OF THE “ZEBRANATOR” At the time of the accident, Rainey published the newsletter for his local chapter, the Southeast Toyota Land Cruiser Association (STLCA). He wrote about the accident in the newsletter and discussed plans for his new replacement FJ40. In the article, he “thanked-inadvance” everyone from his club for helping with the next great STLCA adventure, the building of “Zebranator II.” And that is how The Zebranator came to be (and the original Zebranator I was posthumously named). I asked Rainey about interesting technical projects he worked on with his 40s. He says when he heard about the new NV4500 5-speed transmission, he wanted to install it in the Zebranator. He got the adaptor plate and a friend helped him find the transmission. He designed and had fabricated his own mounts to install the NV4500 in his Land Cruiser. He loved having 5th gear on the highway and the granny 1st gear for off-road. He also took out the jump seats and put in a bench seat. He turned this seat facing backwards so his little girls could enjoy the ride looking out the back. Their heads were under the roll cage so they were safer. He also bought a white bikini top — which he says lots of people made fun of — but “it sure was cool in the 100-degree heat.” After many years, Rainey decided he was ready to sell the Zebranator and move on to something different. However, because 12 Top: Rainey’s Cruiser Art. Originally published in the early black and white issues of Toyota Trails. Middle: The completed Zebranator II Bottom: Rainey’s 1970 FJ40 next to his 1932 Ford