Has the Land Cruiser always been very expensive?

Toyota must have pissed a lot of people back in the day when they drastically changed the Land Cruiser. It's like you have a Wrangler, the next day you wake up and the Wrangler has become a Grand Cherokee

 

The Land Cruiser in the picture you posted was quite a truck. Bulletproof straight six, short wheelbase. I knew a guy that had one of those in the early 80s, and he did some gnarly things with his.

 

I wish I had been born in the 60s, I would drive a 1978 Land Cruiser and listen to the music of the 70's and 80s

 

Now here we are in 2022 thinking Tesla are cool. Give me a f****** break!!!

 

My first Toyota truck was a 1979 HiLux. And I did listen to 80s music in it. Still do, even though the truck is long gone. It was probably the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned.

 

I listen to the music of 70s and 80s every day, but in a freaking Camry. It wouldn't hurt that much if the Camry was from the 80s, but no it's not

 

Man the Land Cruiser of the 60s and 70s must have been a solid rival to the Jeeps. Jeeps must have been really working hard for their money.

 

I love the 100$ push button AM radio, what a deal!
Even in 78 Toyota could build a locking gas door, why my 2018 4Runner doesn’t have one I’ll never know.

 

Cutting Edge technology of the time, bro

 

If Toyota announced that they will restart the production of the 1978 Land Cruiser, and won't change a bit about it, will you buy it for 30 grand? I will, and I will not give a crap about its gas mileage.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that Land Cruiser isn't a single vehicle. At least not historically, and definitely not internationally.

Nowadays in the US, it's dead. Bazinga! But up to this point, which it was only in the past year, it's a luxury SUV. That's the short version of it. Granted, it's a super durable and very capable luxury SUV, but it's luxuried up for the US market. The platform of the Land Cruiser that's on offer in the US that's used for sale in other countries isn't quite as luxury, at least not at the base model. (I believe this is the LC200. I think it's the LC300 that just came out that isn't available in the US though the ultra luxury Lexus version is available in the US.)

There are other Land Cruiser models that are of lesser price and have different mechanical characteristics. I know Australia has the Land Cruiser Prado. That's... its own thing. I think it's diesel there. It's not like it's a cheap vehicle, but at least it's not as super expensive as the US-offered LC200. It also shares a platform with Lexus's GX, and you can even get a kit to change your badging and some exterior body parts to the Land Cruiser Prado parts.

One of the major omissions from the US market is the LC80 which has been in production for decades largely unchanged and is sold in many parts of the world. Look up Toyota Africa. It's not a cheap vehicle by any means, but again it's not pushing 6 figures like the US's LC200. What it is is a super rugged and super reliable vehicle.

And then historically there were the old ones that were like old Jeeps. That's what the FJ Cruiser was harkening back to.

If you've got Land Cruiser on your mind but don't like the LC200 or the ridiculous Lexus equivalents then 4Runner is your jam. The FJ Cruiser would have been another option if you wanted something a bit lower end but still super capable, but that's gone. 4Runner fills the role of the old Land Cruisers decently. The US LC200 and the Lexus versions are largely a way to swing your gargantuan moneysacks that masquerade as your testicles in the faces of all of the other drivers on the road while all of those other drivers on the road in the US is oblivious because the Land Cruiser name doesn't carry the weight of that scrotum like it does in other parts of the world. That's what nearly everyone who buys them does with them. They're like mall crawler 4Runners but with even worse gas mileage. In fact, a LC200 might even be a worse option than a 4Runner in actual off road adventures because it's so ridiculously thirsty and has a moderately lacking gas tank.

Seriously, I wouldn't even bother with an LC200, LC300, whatever. We have the 4Runner, and if you take care of it then it'll last nearly as long as a Land Cruiser while also taking you to the far reaches of the badlands... the badlands of your local mall's parking lot. And if the 4Runner still isn't big enough for you, I don't know, get a Sequoia.

 

Land Cruisers in the mid 90s were the size of the current 4Runner. I see those Land Cruisers sometimes on the road, they were small. I think we should just pretend that our 4Runner is the Land Cruiser of the mid-90s.

 

Cars are getting bigger and bigger, I mean today's RAV4 is the size of the original Highlander it even looks almost as big as the third gen 4Runner

 

I saw this Land Cruiser few months back, look, that's the size of the current 4Runner

 

Maybe so, but IMHO much uglier. If one doesn't lift a Land Cruiser of that vintage and put big tires on it, it doesn't look right. In my opinion.

 

What do you think, what year is that?

 

That was then and this is now. Lots of things have changed since then. Back then you could get a rugged offroader with no soft arm rests. Nowadays I don't think you can even get a Corolla without soft arm rests.

Look at how surprised Ford was with how popular the new Maverick truck has been right out of the gate. Your super intelligent businesspeople are woefully out of touch. You've been sold on thinking you need more than you actually do for years. The super honchos apparently thought the Maverick was going to be a little niche thingamabobber. They were wrong. If the Maverick was around a few years ago, I might have one now instead of my 4Runner.

 

I like the look of the Land Cruiser from the time when the LX was LX470

 

I would say a 2000 something? I don't care about land cruisers, so I don't really follow them. My boss has a 2007 or 2008 - and the thing just looked stupid the way it came off the dealer's lot. He put a lift / level on it, ARB bumpers front and back with Hella driving lights, and a set of much larger wheels and tires. Then it looked okay.

(At least I don't have to wear a paper sack over my head while riding in it... )

 

It looks 1998ish to me. I walked all around it but couldn't find a clue about the year.

 

1998 4Runner and the LC. They look similar, the LC should be 1998ish.

 

When you got money for $100K vehicles, gas is nothing.

 

The Prado also shares a platform with the 4Runner.


And, we had the 80 series here from ~91-97.

That's an 80 series. They're the last Landcruiser we had with a solid front axle. They're one of the best combinations of on road and off-road capability ever produced, IMO.

They look great in person. And, yes, they look even better with 35's.

 

'98 was the first year of the 100 series.

 

Ah, I see. This LC is the one with 4.7, and LX470.

 

Yeah, I forgot about that.

And now we don't. Booooooooooo.

Meh, people care too much about how vehicles look. I thought my old Wrangler TJ looked like a stupid elf shoe. I still drove it.

Hell, I think the post-2014 5th gen 4Runner looks like a deformed praying mantis. The headlights are the stupidest things I've ever seen. I actually hate how it looks. I think the 2010-2013 front end was way better. But look at me, I'm still driving my 2020 5th gen.

 

I once saw an old RAV4, must be from the early nineties or something, my God it looked so funny, you couldn't tell if it was a RAV4. Now Rav4 pretty big

 

I didn't realize they had kept producing the 80's overseas. I think they're great vehicles. No skin off my back if someone thinks they're ugly.

This one belongs to a friend. It's a Japanese market, right hand drive, turbo diesel.

 

What the hell is this? I found it from Google. Somebody import this to the US and stomp the Broncos