Bruce Canepa is no stranger to amazing cars. The ex-race car driver owns a literal museum and dealer showroom of Porsches, Nissans, and Trans-Am era race cars. He’s a constant at the Monterey Historics and has raced in everything from IMSA to the Pikes Peak hillclimb. He also happens to be an owner and dealer for the FJ Company’s drool-worthy Toyota Land Cruiser resto-mods.
We’ve covered the FJ Company‘s gorgeous Land Cruisers before. These are frame-off, bare-metal builds using old J40 chassis but fitted with modern hardware, including engines sourced from present-day Toyota trucks. Each build is customizable to the buyer’s specs, including color, interior, and engine. Prices can surpass the six-figure mark, but it’s well worth it when considering the amount of work that goes into them.
Canepa’s army green Cruiser started off as an FJ43, slightly longer than an FJ40 but not quite as long as an FJ45. Beneath the hood is a 1GR-FE, the same 4.0-liter V6 found in a Tacoma or 4Runner, but supercharged.
It’s no secret that stock FJ40s and even FJ60s can be a scary to drive in today’s traffic. They weren’t quick in their time but they’re positively snail-like in an age when a RAV4 can go from 0-60 in under 6 seconds. Quick lane-change and stopping maneuvers can get pretty dicey as well. As capable as they may be off-road, these rigs aren’t the best daily drivers unless you’re willing to put up with a lot of trade-offs.
“With [the FJ Company build], you can drive all day, every day, anywhere you want to go,” Canepa explains in the video. “The air conditioning will freeze you out if you need to be cold… if you need to slam on the brakes, it stops. If you need to weave in and out of traffic, it weaves in and out of traffic. There’s no deficiency in these vehicles and yet you get the nostalgic FJ look.” We’ve never had the pleasure of driving one of FJ Company’s creations, but hearing Canepa describe its traits we want to try one even more than we already did.
I was already a fan of Bruce’s work with the Porsche 959, so seeing him apply that same special touch to the FJ is really cool!