A Trip Down LandCruiser Memory Lane - Part 1

I think it’s fair to say the LandCruiser is Toyota’s holy grail. It’s the vehicle that first comes to mind whenever we talk about Toyota. The ‘beast’ built for the toughest terrain. Dating back to just under 70 years ago, the LandCruiser was the creature everyone wanted to tame, the car parked in every driveway. Over these past 70 years, it has grown and evolved to our current LandCruiser 300 Series. Changing each year and growing in popularity each year, it is still an Aussie Icon! Let's take a journey down Landcruiser memory lane to see the life of the statement LandCruiser.

Jeep BJ/LandCruiser

Toyota introduced their first off-road vehicle The “Jeep BJ”, built as a vehicle made for the military during the Korean War. However, Willy’s had trademarked the name “Jeep” in 1954. This began the vehicle's rebirth as the LandCruiser. One of the most popular vehicles in the market for Military, police, and fire vehicles.

LandCruiser 20 Series

Next up, is the LandCruiser 20 Series. The 1955 market was hit with a new type of off-road weapon. Although, I don’t know if I would put money on this bad boy to cruise up Fraser nowadays. As it made its way into the US market, the 20 series had ten models from FJ20-FJ29.

LandCruiser 40 Series

Following this, the 40 Series entered the Toyota family. This LandCruiser was what set off our Australian love for the brand. Although comfort wasn’t at the top of this one’s features, its introduction of low-range gearing, made it ideal for Australia’s mining and farming industry. The late 1970’s also brought upgrades to the range with features including 4.2 litre diesel engine, four-speed manual transmission, power steering, and air conditioning. Air conditioning, can you believe it! Something we all count on in our Queensland heat now.

LandCruiser 50 Series AKA “The Iron Pig”

The family fun car. Built for American freeways and Aussie dirt roads, the 50 Series commonly referred to as the ‘iron pig’ was built for every journey. It may have not been entirely easy on the eyes but it sure made for so many 4x4 adventure stories.

LandCruiser 60 Series

 Introducing to you the 1980 4WD with genuine comfort, transitioning from a working vehicle to a passenger vehicle. Rumour has it that this series LandCruiser struck the hearts of many Aussies who are still fanatic for it today! It’s family-friendly nature with standard AC and power windows made it a national crowd pleaser.

We cannot forget about the 70 Series through to our current 300 Series, keep your eyes peeled for part two of LandCruiser history!

See Part 2 of our Trip Down Landcruiser Memory Lane here.

Disclaimer:

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g20901778/cruisin-for-a-bruisin-the-visual-history-of-the-toyota-land-cruiser/