Toyota Land Cruiser with Diesel Power Goes Retro for 70th Birthday

“No worries, mate. It’s a diesel”

Need an excuse for a party? Toyota fans in Australia are celebrating the 70th birthday of the Land Cruiser. To mark the occasion, Toyota has released a limited-edition version of its 70-Series model. The interior has embellishments, but the style is definitely retro. It's being called the 70th Anniversary truck.

The story by Ronan Glon appeared early this month on the Autoblog.

Toyota is making only 600 units for this occasion with three options for its basic foundation: single cab, double cab or wagon. The color options are fun: French Vanilla, Merlot Red, or Sandy Taupe. The article runs through the various talking points regarding exterior styling before opening the door for a look inside the cabin. 

The 70-Series incorporates a number of first time embellishments, which you can also read about in the article. What interested us most was what's under the hood. As it turns out, the power plant is a 4.5-liter turbodiesel V8 with a 202 horsepower rating and 317 pound-feet of torque. There's no automatic on this truck, only a five-speed manual transmission. "Every commemorative Land Cruiser will offer users a snorkel, low-range gearing, locking front and rear differentials, plus a 7,700-pound towing capacity," Glon writes. 

For those unfamiliar, the snorkel enables an engine to breathe while underwater. During World War Two, jeeps were equipped with ten or fifteen foot breather extensions that enabled them to drive underwater while making a beachhead. (Here are some tips for installing a snorkel on your off-roading machine.)

Toyota has decided to make 320 double-cabs, 200 single-cabs and 80 wagons, only for Australia. We've heard no rumors about anything similar for the U.S. market. In fact, according to the Autoblog story, the next-gen 300-Series will not be sold in the U.S. either. On a positive note, Toyota did announce that it plans to re-release a selection of hard-to-find parts for the 40-Series Land Cruiser (FJ40) which was built from 1960 to 1984.

The last part of the article contained a lot of trivia that you may not have been aware of. Did you know....

--The Land Cruiser name plate appeared on a Studebaker decades before Toyota used it.

--The Toyota Land Cruiser is not actually turning 70 this year. Rather, this is the 70th anniversary of the BJ, a Jeep-like 4x4 used by the Japanese armed forces.

--The BJ became the BJT, a touring car sold in select markets. No more than 300 were built.

--The name Land Cruiser was first used by Toyota is 1954.

--Land Cruiser sales began in 1958, the year after Toyota opened an American division.

--Only one Land Cruiser was sold that year. It is now in a museum in Salt Lake City. 

There are lots of photos and a video at the Autoblog site. Find the full story here:
https://www.autoblog.com/2021/08/03/toyota-land-cruiser-70th-anniversary-australia/

New Twin-Turbo Diesel Toyota Land Cruiser Unveiled... The Good and the Bad, Nothing Ugly

Let's lead with the bad news. It's not available in the U.S.

Now that that's out of the way... On Wednesday this week Autoblog.com published a story about the new LC300 Toyota Land Cruiser that has been unveiled. The LC200-series Land Cruiser has just completed a successful 14 year run, but now Toyota is turning the page.

The new LC300 Land Cruiser features a twin-turbo diesel engine, inserted into a new platform that the article describes as "a clear evolution of past models, with blocky styling and off-road specifications designed to reliably cope with the harshest conditions and climates the world has to offer." 

Some of those climates include Australia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. What you need in the Outback and other remote terrains is reliability and durability, and that is what has made the Land Rover so successful. This latest version comes with two engine options, both V6. The 3.5-liter gas-powered V6 delivers 415 hp and 480 pound-feet of torque. The 3.3-liter diesel delivers 309  hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. With either selection you have a 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive.

Both Toyota and the article tout the chassis and suspension setup. The article include dramatic illustrations of these features. In addition this SUV is 440 pounds lighter than its previous iteration. The vehicle has a Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System that purportedly improves road handling performance as well.

When the article describes monitors that provide views of obstacles ahead and behind, it brings to mind my last visit to SEMA and the futuristic displays there in the Toyota booth. It was as if we were experiencing the year 2045 as envisioned by Spielberg in the Tom Cruise cyberclassic Minority Report. It does seem like when we experience some of the new tech being incorporated into todays cars and trucks, it feels like we are living in the future.

You can find more details on this breaking story here.