In my early years, I remember the Nipponese Land Cruiser being the most popular vehicle ALL over the World (Chile/Brazil to Kenya/Niobe). I remember reading that many of the parts (at the time) were swappable (with no, or little modification) with the U.S. Jeep too.

I heard that if you wanted to make it out of the Australian outback alive you went in a Land Rover but if you wanted to come out alive come out in a land cruiser.

I was looking at the prices of LC 100. Thought it odd that there was such a variation in prices. Until I found out that both the 100 Series, and 105 series was sold here (Australia). The 105 was offered as it used the underpinnings of the 80 series. The 100 introduced independent front suspension, which probably improves the on-road manners, at the expense of off-road ability.

105 my favorite

There are now rumors of the Land Cruiser Prado coming to America as the new Land Cruiser(leaving the 300 series version for Lexus as the LX600). They have also said that the 4Runner will be remade as well. I'm sure there will be a new Lexus GX soon as well.

Jon - I have a 2011 LC200 since new and would have bought an LC300 if offered in the US. Rides great - not too large / long - super functional. LC300 didn’t lose its way. More customers in USA want Tahoe size and thus the Sequoia. Or Escalade like bling. Nothing against Lexus yet it has a different style / vibe / design / image.

Awesome 👍🏻🙂. Thank you

I recall first seeing a Land Cruiser, and actually the first Toyota product almost 60 years ago at a local Plymouth dealer. I think they were considering selling them, may have sold a few. Some were not fond of them as from Japan and less than 20 years from the end of WW II.They kept one for snow plowing until the 1970's. Due to their high quality, ruggedness, power and reliability they pretty much chased out the American Jeep and UK Land Rovers in many countries around the world.

Wonderful video. Can I just go out on a limb and say that the 200 series land cruiser is the greatest vehicle ever built. It is the most capable, reliable durable overbuild over engineered best vehicle money can buy. That is not an overstatement. I plan to keep mine forever. Thank you again for posting a wonderful video

Thanks for the history Jon. I have a lot of respect for the Land Cruiser, a couple friends have 100 series. Even though Toyota changed the LC and moved it upmarket, I can’t help but feel like they meant for the 4Runner to fill the segment the LC left behind.

I was a Nissan patrol person "old style GQ" But the land cruiser is the duck's guts for a 100% reliable truck & the new V8 land cruiser is such a beautiful truck but no way is a new one worth $110.000 it's only 1/2 a truck the other half is the tray....

Well the FJ Cruise was/is a great jeep for sure. Awkward looks but such a practical car overall. BTW the Land Cruiser is of course very popular here, in Russia, but there was a big request from SUV owners to sell the Sequoia. Of course Toyota managers said it's impossible; still a very large number of used Sequoias/Tundras is still on the road (unlike Ford/GM full-size SUVs plagued with rust issues and transmission reliability).

I drove Land Rovers from 1964 into 1994. Owned various Series IIA and III models (and even a 1951 Series I I planned to restore but never did). Knew a number of Toyota FJ-40 Land Cruiser owners. From 1974 to 1986, I owned a Rover/Land Rover parts business in San Diego, California. It was during this period of time I realized that Rover products did not have the same reliability that their major Japanese competitor's products had. (Far too many broken rear half shafts on Land Rovers; the Rover 2000 and Rover 3500S, U.S. market, had a similar problem with the short shaft coming out of their differentials that connected the diff with the double-jointed rear half shafts.) Oil leaks, speedometer heads, valve guide problems, cracked exhaust manifolds, broken mainshafts and layshafts, and various other issues that appeared to get worse after the B.L. take-over led to my loss of faith in Land Rover's product quality. I've never owned a Toyota of any type. (My wife drove an old Corolla for a good number of years. To this day, Debbie has a strong affinity for that old Corolla.) As a Pacific War historian, I've great respect for the Japanese culture. Perhaps someday, I'll wise up and buy a Toyota---any Toyota, as I believe that Toyota probably builds THE most reliable automobiles in the world. I greatly like your brief history series. Thank you very much! Andrew "Andy" McKane IV, 9 January 2023, Maunaloa, Molokai, Hawaii.

I still get a ‘hard-on’ when I see a J40 (increasingly going extinct in the US) toolin’ down the highway. While I now drive the ‘22 Bronco (2-door), as well as Wranglers in the past, but I would kill for a J40.

Love the video, only critique would be to check pronunciation of names and such

I have a 1956 bj28 still registered unrestored

I just want to replace my 1993 80 series land cruiser with something new but there is nothing that will do what. It does,. Toyota really did an amazing job with the 80 series...The EPA and the governments desire to keep foreign diesels out of the US market and Push out ICE vehicles it will be tough for any automaker to meet the regulations and provide what we need.. I would love a new turbo diesel 70 series...

The reason Toyota probably discontinued the Land Cruiser in the USA is because of its poor gas mileage. Toyota doesn't want its fleet to have low average gas mileage

Well I would say the unfortunate truth is most companies are moving away from the basic off-roader that puts lots of emphasis on the towing capabilities the off-road capabilities. Of course there was research conducted in the 1980s is it more than sad that most off-road vehicles are owned by people just for the simple fact of owning it. Simply because most of those vehicles will never see off-road or they'll never see a lot of off road. I mean AMC Jeep corporation knew this in the early 80's. So of course you have companies trying to cheapen saints up as much as possible well you know it's cheaper to dress it up with a bit more posh interior than it is to actually spend the money on real gears. And because it has at least some off-road capability well they can still sell it as such coupled with luxury they can command one hell of a price out of it. It would be nice if they would go back to you the basics offering what we would call the strip down model that purely focused on the four-wheel drive capabilities and didn't really have luxury or a lot of it. One could argue that we're basically in another malaise era when it comes to four-wheel drive vehicles. So I would say with 40 years of research that said most people aren't going to take these things off road that's exactly what they're all betting on. Yes they're going to give it some capabilities so that it's not a total disappointment and maybe some models will be better than others but you're going to pay a high price. Meaning I look at these vehicles is largely a novelty especially for the nostalgia crowd and the reason being is simply because they're going to price themselves out of the market if they haven't already!

9:13: a 4.5 litrr petrol? 4.2 liter diesel?

I like how Land Rover guys and Land Cruiser guys all shit all over Jeeps but their vehicles are literally just rebuilt Jeeps that they "borrowed" the design from

The problem with the FJCruiser was that it wasn’t a direct competition to the Jeep, but more to other high end SUVs. If Toyota had offered a more bare bones version with removable top and doors, it would have done much better in the US market. Add in a little better take on the retro look, and they could have had a real winner. They could have even beat Jeep to a truck version. Toyota really can’t design a good looking vehicle, most look extremely plain and look dated even when they are new.

Mt Fuji not Fiji?

I had a FJ55 wagon, but when Toyota went "luxury " they lost me. The FJ55 was a tank, underpowered but reliable.

and we don't get any new ones in the U.S. id buy a LC300 gas would be ok over. a defender or new bronco , toyota priced them out of the U.S. market to much luxury car Than its basic roots

Toyota should build an off-roader that will inspire Scotty Kilmer to trade his 94 Celica for one.