Maybe he slips and spins too much in the winter...instead of taking it to the scrap yard he could leave it in the back for weight, better traction in the snow.....................

But yeah, my serious suggestion is a 3RZ 2.7L 4cyl like BigMike did, a Chevy 4.3 Vortec V6 (in my opinion the V8 is too big n heavy), or maybe a VolksWagon 1.9L TDI turbo-diesel for fantastic fuel economy.