Junkyard Find: 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser
The Land Cruiser is one of those vehicles that washes up in self-service junkyards only after its body and interior become so thrashed that even bottom-feeder truck shoppers can’t stand the idea of being seen in the thing. Contrast this with the legions of great-looking 1980s Jaguars you’ll find in the very same yards.
Here in Colorado, FJ60s are still all over the streets, being used as suburban family transportation, work trucks, and (very thirsty) daily drivers. Not quite as luxurious as modern SUVs, but simple and durable. Actually, they were pretty luxurious trucks for their time, but the bouncy suspension, cabin noise, and dearth of cupholders seem very dated today.
This much-abused example didn’t quite make 200,000 miles. The interior didn’t smell so good, which was probably the final straw for its last owner.
The Toyota F engine was pure truck, though supposedly the Toyota Crown Police Interceptor (not what they called it, but they should have) got the F. Lots of torque, lots of noise.
This isn’t a great loss to the world, since most of the FJ60s built are still above ground, but it’s a shame to see one of these sturdy machines get used up like a salvage-title Geo Tracker.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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This truck last 27 years, so it is time for good bye, not every sinlge old vehicle can be a 'classic' to be restored to concours level. And not surprise to see a '99 Outback in SS yard, since 90's car values are dropping like rain. To a working class car buyer, a 2000's car is a status symbol.
The engines in these were a near carbon copy of the old chevy straight 6.