Driving five generations of classic Toyota Land Cruisers in one day back to back reveals just how enduringly capable the SUV has been.
We're on the verge of an all-new Toyota Land Cruiser for the U.S., but while we wait, let's take a trip down memory lane. Back when Toyota held a press preview for, it borrowed a bunch of vintage Land Cruisers from the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum to remind us of the history it was honoring with the new model. As a result, and somewhat incredibly, I got to drive five generations of classic Land Cruisers in one day. Here's what they were like.
The engine of this 1977-built example was somewhat out of tune and probably a bit pokier than most. Still, as I coaxed the FJ55 up the steep hill to the Snowbird ski resort—30 mph was all the old girl was willing to give me—I could understand why some Americans still didn't take"them furrin' jobs" all that seriously at the time. While slightly more airtight than the FJ40, the low level of refinement was similar.
Toyota would facelift the car for 1988, with a de-stroked fuel-injected version of the F-series engine, an automatic transmission, and square headlights. At the time, this might have seemed like the Land Cruiser for the ages—but big changes were afoot.It's hard to think of '90s-eras cars as old. But with knowledge of history, it's easy to see that the FJ80 is a transitional model, one with wheels planted in the future as well as the past.
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