Toyota Land Cruiser

Toyota Land Cruiser

Toyota Land Cruiser
2014 Toyota Land Cruiser (J200) VX wagon (Australia)
Overview
Manufacturer	Toyota
Production	1951–present
Body and chassis
Class	Off-road vehicle

The Toyota Land Cruiser (Japanese: トヨタ ランドクルーザー Toyota Rando-kurūzā^?) is a series of four-wheel drivevehicles produced by the Japanese car maker Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series.^[1]

Production of the first generation Land Cruiser began in 1951 (90 units) as Toyota's version of a Jeep-like vehicle.^[2][3] The Land Cruiser has been produced in convertible, hardtop, station wagon, and utility truck versions. The Land Cruiser's reliability and longevity has led to huge popularity, especially in Australia where it is the best-selling body-on-frame, four-wheel drive vehicle.^[4] Toyota also extensively tests the Land Cruiser in the Australian outback — considered to be one of the toughest operating environments in both temperature and terrain.^[5][6][7] Main rivals include the Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery, Jeep Wrangler, Mitsubishi Pajero and Nissan Patrol. In Japan, the Land Cruiser is exclusive to Toyota Japanese dealerships called Toyota Store.

As of 2014, the Toyota Land Cruiser J200 is available in every market except Canada, North Korea, and South Korea.

Origin

When the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the Philippines in 1941 they found an old Bantam Mk II Jeep and promptly sent it to Japan. The Japanese military authorities ordered Toyota to make a similar vehicle but to change the appearance. The resulting Model AK prototype led to the Yon-Shiki Kogata Kamotsu-Sha (四式小型貨物車 type 4 compact cargo-truck).

Later in 1941 the Japanese government told Toyota to produce a light truck for Japan's military. In 1942 Toyota developed the AK10 prototype by reverse-engineering a Bantam GP Jeep. The half-ton truck features an upright front grille, flat front wheel arches that angled down and back like the FJ40, headlights mounted above the wheel arches on either side of the radiator, and a folding windshield. The AK10 is powered by the 2259 cc, 4-cylinder Type C engine from theToyota Model AE sedan coupled to a three-speed manual transmission and two-speed transfer gearbox. Unlike the U.S. Jeep, few AK10's were ever used and photographs of them in the battlefield are rare.

The postwar Toyota "Jeep" BJ is completely different from the AK10 and inherits no mechanical parts from it.

Off-road oriented

BJ and FJ (1951–1955)

BJ and FJ
Overview
Production	1951–1955
Assembly	Toyota City, Japan (ARACO)
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door softtop
Layout	FR layout
Powertrain
Engine	3.4 L B I6 3.9 L F I6
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,650 mm (104.3 in)

• 1950 — The Korean War created demand for a military light utility vehicle. The war put a Jeep on Japan's doorstep. The United States government ordered 100 vehicles with the new Willys specs and Toyota was asked to build them.
• 1951 — The Toyota "Jeep" BJ prototype was developed in January 1951. This came from the demand for military-type utility vehicles, much like the British Land Rover Series 1 that appeared in 1948. The Jeep BJ was larger than the original U.S. Jeep and more powerful thanks to its Type B 3.4 L six-cylinder OHV Gasoline engine which generated 63 kW (86 PS; 84 hp) at 3600 rpm and 215 N·m (159 lb·ft) torque at 1600 rpm. It had a part-time four-wheel drive system like the Jeep. Unlike the Jeep, however, the Jeep BJ had no low-range transfer case.
• 1951 — In July 1951, Toyota's test driver Ichiro Taira drove the next generation of the Jeep BJ prototype up to the sixth stage of Mount Fuji, the first vehicle to climb that high. The test was overseen by the National Police Agency(NPA). Impressed by this feat, the NPA quickly placed an order for 289 of these offroad vehicles, making the Jeep BJ their official patrol car.^[8]
• 1953 — Regular production of the "Toyota Jeep BJ" began at Toyota Honsya Plant (Rolling chassis assembly), and body assembly and painting was done at Arakawa Bankin Kogyo KK, later known as ARACO (now an affiliate of Toyota Auto Body Co.).^[8] The "Toyota Jeep BJ" Series was introduced alongside the following:
  • BJ-T (Touring),
  • BJ-R (Radio),
  • BJ-J (Cowl-chassis for a fire-engine).
• 1954 — The name "Land Cruiser" was created by the technical director Hanji Umehara. "In England we had another competitor — Land Rover. I had to come up with a name for our car that would not sound less dignified than those of our competitors. That is why I decided to call it 'Land Cruiser'," he recalls.^[8] The name had already been used on the US Studebaker Land Cruiser car from 1934 to 1954 but this didn't cause any problems.
• 1954 — The 93 kW (126 PS; 125 hp), 3.9 L Type F gasoline engine added for the fire-engine chassis. Models are renamed as:
  • BJ-T (Touring),
  • BJ-R (Radio),
  • BJ-J (Cowl-chassis for a fire-engine),
  • FJ-J (Cowl-chassis for a fire-engine).