There’s no doubt that the FJ40 Landcruiser of the late 60s is a very cool thing. To just look at one, it just oozes offroad mojo, rock-hard toughness and indestructibility. But an FJ40 also has a softer side too. See one at the beach and now it’s a picture of laid-back, surfie-dude charm. It’s an unlikely JDM classic, but its credentials are sound.
But to drive, they’re pretty crude and primitive, with bouncy suspensions and asthmatic engines. But now a California outfit called TLC has refreshed the FJ40 Landcruiser for the 21st century.
They start out with an original chassis, then refurbish and reinforce it. Then they fit beefed-up Dana axles, Emu shocks, air locker diffs, and then a powertrain headed by a 350hp GM small block V8 crate motor.
They top it off with a remanufactured replica of the original FJ40 short wheelbase body, and then everything is powdercoated for a no-nonsense, tough military look.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1J3L78eUB0[/youtube]
There’s no doubt that the final result combines the best aspects of the original Landcruiser character, with the hardcore offroad hardware to allow the Icon to pretty much go anywhere without raising a sweat. And hardcore hi-end motorsport-spec hardware costs a lot of money in anyone’s language, and whenever you say things like “handmade body” you know it’s going to hurt when you pull out your wallet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU4pjHsbB-o[/youtube]
But I hope you’re sitting down….they start at US$96,000 plus options. Yes, of course I want one. But….wow….it’s expensive!
