We love the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) show in Vegas every year because that’s where the craziest concepts come out. But those are mostly heartthrobs showcased by makers of wheels, suspension mods, tires, turbos, etc. What Toyota – and many other automakers – bring this year is quite intriguing, because so many of these vehicles feel like trial balloons. Like:
‘What if we made this? other vehicle? Would customers buy it?”
This Turbo Trail Cruiser doesn’t fall into that bucket. Toyota isn’t going to bring back a 1985 Land Cruiser FJ60 and give it a modern V-6. Sorry. It’s not happening. But what they’ve done here makes us think about other possibilities that are well within Toyota’s capabilities. Here we will describe this particular rig in detail and explain what it means.
Bona Fides of the Turbo Trail Cruiser
Toyota said they didn’t want to tarnish the chassis of the 40-year-old FJ60 by sticking on the modern, 3.4-liter twin-turbo V-6 from the 2025 Tundra. What they did want to do was give it significantly more muscle mass. The i-FORCE V-6’s 389 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque accomplish that handily, virtually doubling that 4×4’s inline-six output. Toyota also points out that the i-FORCE is quieter, more refined, cleaner and more economical.
Impressive retro mod
Here’s what you wouldn’t guess: Toyota’s Motorsports Garage didn’t replace the transmission on the stock FJ60. Instead, they built a custom adapter plate to mate the i-FORCE V-6 to the FJ60’s factory five-speed transmission. They also redesigned the Land Cruiser’s oil pan to fit the FJ60’s frame, and created a custom exhaust system. They even managed to make a new heat exchanger, but attaching it to the original mounting points. It’s not surprising that they had to fit a custom wiring harness for the ECU, since the inline-six clearly didn’t have anything like the computer equipment of the modern Tundra.
The FJ was also raised 1.5 inches and shod with fat 35-inch tires.
Authentic skin
Toyota has given this beauty a new look with like-new graphics and decals, and repainted in 1986 PPG Silver 147 paint, which is period-correct. Perhaps going against purist instincts, Toyota has updated to a modern JBL sound system – and we don’t like the flat-screen display in there.
Still, the interior is absolutely great, and certainly looks from the mid-eighties and then some.
TopSpeed’s opinion
FJ60 Land Cruisers don’t sell for the extreme money of some other ’80s classics. You can find them on Bring A Trailer for a modest $15,000 – $25,000. But considering that companies like ICON will charge you $175,000 for an FJ44, we wonder if Toyota wouldn’t have a decent business model by equipping and reselling their own wares with modern Toyota powerplants. Jaguar-Land Rover does this. Porsche does that too, as does Mercedes, and of course all exotics too. Toyota may feel like it’s not worth the effort; After all, they make a very good modern Land Cruiser. But this little exercise makes us wonder. The inventory is there, and they wouldn’t (maybe not) go the whole ICON route and plastic surgery of the Land Cruiser so far out of the vehicle’s original, working-class bones that it’s unrecognizable.
If their colleagues in Luxo-land can do it, why not Toyota? And really, who better to get this recipe right?
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