Toyota Land Cruiser (1951). The off-roader celebrates its 70th anniversary

Toyota’s first Land Cruiser, launched in 1951, celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. At the time, it was named Toyota Jeep BJ.

Launched in 1951, the Toyota Land Cruiser celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. The celebration began with the presentation of a new generation, unavailable in France, in June. It continues with the announcement of the remanufacturing of parts by Toyota Gazoo Racing for older models.

Toyota unveiled in June 2021 the thirteenth generation of its Land Cruiser, 4 x 4 which will not be sold here. The model celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, since the first generation called Land Cruiser BJ was officially launched in 1951. For the occasion, Toyota has also announced the return of certain remanufactured parts for the Land Cruiser 40 Series, produced between 1960 and 1984.. The manufacturer also offers a form to assess requests for spare parts for other generations.

toyota land cruiser generations — The Land Cruiser lineage has been broken down as follows since 1951.

1^er August 1951, Toyota launched the ” Jeep BJ “ first generation. The rustic model was initially studied for the National Police Reserve (now the Japan Land Self-Defense Force). It has four-wheel drive and a 3400 cc 6-cylinder petrol engine³. Despite its good performance, the model was abandoned by the Japanese police who preferred the Mitsubishi Jeep, a licensed Willys Jeep. The Toyota BJ was converted into a civilian car and arrived in dealerships in 1953. It changed its name to Land Cruiser in 1954, the surname Jeep BJ having already been registered.

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More and more civilized and luxurious

toyota land cruiser 20 series — In 1955, Toyota renewed its Land Cruiser to “civilize” it, with the 20 Series.

The Land Cruiser line developed from 1955 with the 20 Series. More suited to civilian life, this second generation offers several bodies (soft top, pickup, 2 or 4 doors …) but do not forget the professionals with specific variations for the police or firefighters. The model is exported to North America and other international markets including Europe.

toyota land cruiser 60 series — To replace the 55 Series, a more luxurious Land Cruiser 60 Series arrived in 1980.

In 1960, the third generation arrived. The Land Cruiser 40 Series is getting a little more modern, and offers different wheelbases to meet all needs. A more advanced 5-door variant, the 55 Series, arrived in 1967. The two lines will then follow each other in parallel. The 40 Series was replaced 24 years after its release by the 70 Series, in 1984, while the 55 Series was replaced a little earlier, in 1980, by the Land Cruiser 60 Series.

Over 10 million units sold worldwide in 70 years

toyota land cruiser fishing — 60 years later, the third generation Land Cruiser (40 Series) is still used in several countries, such as here for fishing in the United Arab Emirates.

The Land Cruiser continues to evolve from year to year, with ever more comfort for the passengers. It becomes much more opulent, like the 120 Prado Series and 200 Series Station Wagon versions of the 2000s. However, it does not abandon its crossing skills, and even remains faithful to the first generations in certain markets. Certain vintages continue to be used more than 50 years after their manufacture, in particular for the extraction of ore in Australia or the harvest of vegetables in Costa Rica. A true bestseller, the Land Cruiser passed the milestone of 10 million units sold worldwide in 2019 since its launch in 1951.