Someone has towed home a new project car, and it’s a tough one, literally.
The FJ55 Land Cruiser was the FJ40’s big brother, with a long wheelbase and squared-off styling. These were legendary trucks, and were the ones that muscled the Land Rover out of Africa. They were popular in the deserts and mountains of America’s West too.
This one hails from Arizona, which means it’s a former desert rat, and rust, other than superficial, will be a non-issue. The colors alone suggest the desert.
The FJ55 had a long run, starting in 1968 all the way through 1979, at least in some places. The engine was the rugged 3.9L ohv six, an engine that got a lot of inspiration from the GMC and Chevrolet sixes of the 40s and 50s. It was rated at 125 hp @3600 rpm. beginning in 1975, it got a bump to 4.2 L and 135 hp. Transmission was a three speed until 1974, when a four speed took over.
To how many remote Arizona desert spots have these seats carried its occupants?
The four wheel drive system was traditional old school, with solid axles and two-speed transfer case. The ride was as rough as gnarly as it looks. But these quickly developed a rep for getting one home, which was the most important thing.
Needless to say, it hasn’t come home under its own power this time. A bit embarrassing for it, but not necessarily a result it being unable, but more likely the new owner was unwilling to put it to the test. Or just couldn’t face that long of a ride in it.
Toyota Land Cruiser history here: CC 1965 Toyota FJ – The First Toyota Sent Out To Conquer The World
Nice ! .
Hopefully you’ll be posating more articles once it’s back in service .
-Nate
Oh I like that.
When we visited Moab Utah a few years ago I looked around and said “Yeah if I lived here I’d own a Land Cruiser”.
But I don’t, so I don’t. Best of luck to the new owner and yes please update.
It’s too bad Toyota didn’t resurrect this instead of the FJ40.
Love those rigs. I have a Peterson engine swapping book from the mid 1970’s, and one of the swaps covered was a 350 Olds into one of these. Fits much better than a small block Chevy
Love these. Kind of like the forgotten Land Cruiser. I actually painted one of these recently.
The 55 was the truck that sparked my interest in classic 4bys. I remember seeing one of these in the blue/white scheme while travelling back in the 70’s…I was probably 6 years old and we passed it on the interstate. brand-spankin’ new – still had the window sticker. Since then I have owned 2 40’s and currently drive a Land Rover IIA, but the ‘Pig’ has sadly remained out of reach due to their propensity to succumb to the tin worm.
I’ve never so much as seen a photo of one of these before. I have to say, the front end styling is a bit weird to my eyes, to the point of being off-putting.
I know style isn’t the point of these, but that being the case, they could have had a much more simple, rugged look up front. It looks a bit kit car/knock off to me.
If it helps, the front bumper on this looks…..wrong? I think it’s supposed to be a bit closer to the front end.
Nope thats how they looked, I say looked as I havent seen a live one in a very long time rust devoured everything Japanese in rapid order here and the last complete 55 I saw belonged to a traveller in Bowen NQLD it was Perkins powered but had eaten the gearbox he was working hoping to revive it and move on it must have been an early one as it had been a 3 speed.
Nope. Look at Jeep CJs and Wranglers too. The front bumper sits ahead of the vehicle, and in all cases, theyre sturdy enough to take a good hard whack. I found out just how ingenious that really is when my ’00 TJ kissed a concrete barrier at 45 mph (slid out on black ice). Having a big assed battering ram out in front of your rig protects the sheet metal…and likely rips the other vehicle to shreds.
Only 10 comments as of 8:30 Pacific? Im surprised this beast isn’t getting more love. This is from the days when Toyota actually made vehicles that were interesting, capable, tough, and oozed character…nothing like the appliance like blobs they’ve been making for 20 years or so.
My first up front experience with one of these was a guy who was 3 years ahead of me in school and lived across the street. He came awful close to picking up a reddish orange and white FJ-55. Now in 1988 and in west TN Jeeps were fairly rare…LC’s of any kind were practically nonexistent. Billy was in love with it, and brought it over for my dad to take a look at since he’s the neighborhood gearhead and everyone trusts his judgement. Miraculously, it had little to no rust issues at all but so many niggling little mechanical and electrical issues that for a 17 year old, it would have been a total nightmare. These were pre-internet days and anything outside of GM or Ford at that time would’ve been maddening in terms of sourcing parts. Need someone familiar with rare classic 4x4s to help lay out the bag of snakes…good luck!
Ever since I found out these existed (which happened sometime in the late 90’s for me) I’ve liked them. I’ve only ever seen a handful in person, probably less than 10 total over the years. The styling is definitely an early example of Japanese Weird, but it somehow works and it’s got tons of character. They look good in two-tone also. Hopefully this one will be roaming the roads and trails of Eugene in short order!
That dash just screams of being left uncovered in southern Arizona.
I have had this on my short list of classics to buy for a long time. Assuming that you start with a non-running basket case in need of restoration, I always envisioned modernizing some of the mechanical and suspension parts so that it would be more comfortable and practical for daily use and longer trips. EFI straight six and overdrive trans from a later LC and modern springs and shocks to help make it livable for longer trips.
Awesome story! I’ve always liked the Land Cruiser FJ55. This and the FJ60.
Sure looks nice as does the Dodge towing it and I would like to know when this Toyota was last registered, but I cannot read the license plate tab.