Toyota Stalking, er...um, SPOTTING with Charlie™ (Land Cruiser, FJC, and Lexus LX/GX Edition)!

1976 FJ40


June 10th, 2022:

Trappe, Pennsylvania

 

I'm not gonna lie; I think that this thing is a bit of an abomination, but at the same time I think it's a work of art. The craftsmanship and overall quality that went into this thing is just incredible! It is a 1968 Toyota Land Cruiser; At least that's what it is on paper (Title, registration, proof of insurance, etc). The body is obviously from a Land Cruiser, and the title stays with the body, but it is powered by a pre-OBDII V12 engine from a BMW 7-series, mated to a manual transmission from a BMW 5-series; The rear differential is positraction, but I forget what the guy who built it told me it came from. The wheels are obviously from a Corvette, and the frame was built pretty much from scratch.

The guy who commissioned this thing was not readily available, but the builder was, and he answered every question I could think of. He told me that he's heard everything from people who have seen; A lot of people love it, but some people obviously hate it. It would be one thing to do this to an incomplete FJ40 that has a clean title, or one that has a salvage title and would have a greatly dimished value in stock form, but I could not do this to a decent FJ40; Restomodded FJ40s with modern features like A/C and disc brakes, Chevy small blocks under the hood, and operational 4WD systems are fine by me, but while I think this is cool I could not do this to a decent FJ40!


June 11th, 2022:

Fleetwood, Pennsylvania

 

Powered by a BMW V-12!

 

Kinda looks like a mail truck...

 

No A/C, but it does have heat!

 

June 19th, 2022:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

2000 J100


June 26th, 2022:

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

 

July 1st, 2022:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

1977 FJ40


July 3rd, 2022:

Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania

 

This was sold new in Costa Rica; The owner's cousin restored it in Costa Rica and outfitted it with modern amenities; It had manual steering, maNew nual 4-wheel drum brakes, no A/C, no heat, and no radio; It now has power steering, power brakes with front disc, A/C, heat, and a decent stereo system. All of the work was done in Costa Rica, and then the FJ was brought stateside and registered in New Jersey.

 

This was sold new in Costa Rica; The owner's cousin restored it in Costa Rica and outfitted it with modern amenities; It had manual steering, maNew nual 4-wheel drum brakes, no A/C, no heat, and no radio; It now has power steering, power brakes with front disc, A/C, heat, and a decent stereo system. All of the work was done in Costa Rica, and then the FJ was brought stateside and registered in New Jersey.

 

The interior stays true to its utilitarian roots, but it has tastefully upgraded with modern amenities like air-conditioning and a Sony stereo system...

 

The owner had his wife and daughter with him, as you can see here; Gotta love a family who loves Toyotas!

 

This was the truck's "factory A/C" prior to the real A/C being installed...

 

I have several pictures of a 1988 Land Cruiser Prado that was sold new in Spain and imported into the USA; It was equipped from the factory with a VM Motori diesel engine. A guy I know on TacomaWorld also shared pictures of an FJ40 with a Mercedes diesel that he saw at an auction; I was surprised when the owner told me that this was Toyota diesel engine, considering that Toyota seems to have outsourced engines in some markets. This is also a 4-cylinder engine, rather than an inline-6; The red 1982 FJ42 seen above has a gasoline 6-cylinder engine...

 

The owner and his lovely wife (seen here) were both wearing these matching T-shirts...