LandCruiser turns 60
The LandCruiser has just celebrated its 60th birthday, and boasts a lineage the envy of other manufacturers.
The original 1951 Toyota 4WD (Model BJ) was based on the successful Willys Jeep and was known as the Toyota Jeep. The name was changed in 1954 to 'Land Cruiser', with the first FJ25 rolling off the production line in 1955. The FJ was replaced by a number of modified versions, with the FJ40 series arriving in 1960 -- the direct ancestor of today's LandCruiser.
The LandCruiser has been an outstanding success in Australia, with Toyota recently celebrating the milestone of 750,000 sales in Australia. The total includes 280,000 LandCruiser wagons including the current 200 Series, 310,000 "military" versions seen in the 70 Series line-up, and 160,000 LandCruiser Prado models.
In Australia, one of the first LandCruiser customers was construction magnate Sir Leslie Thiess, who bought several for use on the rugged construction trails of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme.
LandCruiser's performance in tough local conditions helped make Australia the largest single market for the model, accounting for more than one in 10 of all LandCruisers ever built. There followed an impressive succession of 4x4 LandCruisers. The FJ25 (SWB) and FJ28 (LWB) arrived in Australia in 1958, with Thiess gaining the franchise for Toyota in Queensland the following year.
1960 saw the first LandCruiser assembled in Australia and the introduction of the FJ43/45 in 1962 and the military style FJ45V in 1963. The first 4WD wagon to have an enormous impact on the 4WD landscape was the FJ55 LandCruiser, arriving in1968. It was also the year that the first HiLux was introduced.
The FJ60 followed and the 100,000th LandCruiser was sold in Australia in 1981. The 4-cylinder LandCruiser Bundera arrived here in 1983 and the 70 Series replaced the 40 Series in 1984. The new LandCruiser 60 series arrived in 1987, with the 200,000th LandCruiser delivered in Australia in 1988. The LandCruiser 80 series was released in 1990, the 100 series in 1998 and the current 200 series in 2007. Toyota's other successful LandCruiser model, the Prado, is a relative newcomer, having been introduced locally in 1996.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the LandCruiser, Toyota Australia is offering a special edition model. Based on the 200 Series GXL, the anniversary model gains leather accented interior, Bluetooth-compatible touch screen satellite navigation with a four-CD changer, premium steering wheel and shift lever, silver roof rails and 60th anniversary badges.
The twin-turbo V8 diesel special edition model has an effective price increase of just $76 because it also gains the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS), which is normally a $3,250 option. All quad-cam V8 petrol LandCruisers have KDSS as standard. Prices for the 60th Anniversary petrol model start at $79,990, with the increased specification representing significantly improved value.
