While the full-size Land Cruiser was busy rubbing shoulders with the stealth wealth set from Bangkok to Montauk and the Prado was fulfilling a light-duty role, their smaller, ruggedized sibling was doing the world’s hard work without complaint. It’s done such an effective job that while five generations of comfort-oriented full-size Cruiser have been offered since 1984, the J70 has been going strong with just one generation. For the first time in 15 years, the iconic 70 series Land Cruiser has been updated once again, and although we still aren’t able to buy it for road use in North America, it’s going back on sale in its home market of Japan having proved itself to be a legend.
Up front, the new 70 series Land Cruiser gets round LED headlights and a mesh upper grille, bringing the 70 series Land Cruiser in-line with its new American counterpart while throwing things back to the original front clip. The separate fender-mounted indicator units are another lovely retro touch [Editor’s Note: Seriously, I love to see non-integrated indicator units in the modern era! They’re fantastic! – JT] , and even the channel running down the center of the hood is a throwback to OG 70 series models. I guess what’s old is really new again, right?
It’s a similar deal with the interior, evolutionary rather than revolutionary while paying tribute to heritage. The updated steering wheel is sure to be appreciated, and the same goes for the 6.7-inch infotainment screen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Although the modern connectivity on deck brings the 70 Series Land Cruiser into the 2020s, the new gauge cluster with squircle dials feels straight out of the ‘80s in the best way possible, all while integrating a tiny 4.2-inch digital display for powertrain information.
Speaking of powertrain stuff, a 2.8-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel mated to a six-speed automatic transmission comes fitted as standard equipment, pumping out a reasonable 201 horsepower and a strong 368 lb.-ft. of torque. If you want a manual gearbox, you’ll have to step up to the 4.5-liter turbodiesel V8 which curiously makes 52 fewer lb.-ft. of torque than the four-banger but 1.341 more horsepower. Those figures don’t sound brilliant for a V8, but the 1VD-FTV is a relatively understressed engine, so don’t be surprised if it lasts basically forever.
With an impressive production run coming up on 40 years, the 70 series Toyota Land Cruiser isn’t exactly the paragon of refinement. You won’t find Greenwich, Conn. types running errands in these things, but that’s what the full-size Land Cruisers are for. If the 70 series is good enough for mining, winning wars, and going wherever the U.N. needs it to go, chances are it’ll be good enough for whatever you throw at it. If that isn’t enough, here’s an Australian proverb: “If you want to go into the bush, take a Land Rover. If you want to get out of the bush, take a Land Cruiser.”
(Photo credits: Toyota)
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As a current owner of a “holy grail” 1990 4-door J75, I love this update. Yes, it’s a little awkward. Yes, it’s like a tractor (not really but sentiment is there). Yes, I wish they brought this to the USA instead of the prado variant.
Andrew @ 4xOverland on YouTube has done a quick reaction video, which I will try to post here. He’s owned half a dozen Land Cruisers, and right now has one 78 Series overlander in Australia and another in South Africa.
https://youtu.be/waAa-W4fFf0
In short, the addition of an automatic transmission is welcomed, because it opens up the accessibility of this workhorse to many more people. But there appears to remain an unresolved difference between the front and rear axle widths, a legacy of the 2007 update to accommodate the wider V8 engine. Aftermarket suppliers sell kits to widen the rear track, which makes for smoother off-road driving on rutted roads.
If money was no object, I would still buy the best 78 Series (“troop carrier” or “Troopy”, 3-dr wagon) I could as the basis of a serious overlander, especially for travel in Asia, Australia or Africa where everyone knows someone who can fix a Toyota diesel.
Wow the power numbers are laughable
I appreciate this level of precision.
I’ve already berated this car on the Discord.
But I’m not going to miss my opportunity to do it again. This is an absolutely terrible facelift. There was no reason for them to go so hard on the retro-futurism, the 70 Series has had a very slow visual progression over the years, it’s a true evolution of design throughout its lifespan. They’ve thrown all of that straight in the bin, and penned this thing with a memo that probably said: “make it look like the old one, and also like our brand new Land Cruiser.” And they’ve absolutely ruined the design.
Also, the article absolutely should have included the photo that shows the side silhouette because it is HIDEOUS. You could sleep in the valley between the windshield and the bulge of the hood. The current generation is absolutely gorgeous in a functional utilitarian way, this face lift gives nothing over what it takes away.
I mostly like it, though I find the hood unnecessarily blocky. Why?
I do like the wheels that seem to consciously evoke the split-five-spokes found on mid-80s Celicas and Supras.
It’s always been blocky since the V8 diesel was installed due to its height and a top mounted intercooler. The current version runs a scoop in the hood and it’s well known for collecting sticks, leaves and the odd unfortunate small bird.
However, this time they’ve removed the forward slope which may be due to the old grille area not being tall enough for the front facing intercooler and other radiators required for the new four cylinder.
One wonders if the four cyl version and the eight cyl version will have two different bonnets. Or if there now room for in-bonnet ducting for the V8’s intercooler…
Still has slider HVAC controls? Which means it’s almost certain that they are mechanically linked to blend doors. For a vehicle that’s supposed to not really visit a dealer ever… I like that a LOT.
There doesn’t appear to be any cupholders in the center console. Don’t NGO field workers get thirsty?
It’s got one. And you will like it!
Why can’t we have nice things in this country?! (╥﹏╥)
This most definitely not a “nice thing”. They are noisy and agricultural. It’s basically a tractor.
What do you have against tractors?
I actually prefer the tractor driving experience.
OK, but I bet they said that about G Wagens at first too.
Toyota has had a LONG time to turn the 70 into a g-wagen if they wanted to. The fact that every update is done with minimal cost shows they aren’t really interested in doing anything but the bare minimum to keep its market share happy.
The new hood is…bad. It’s clear they were forced to raise it but bleh. Also note the strange rear taillights moved from the body and blanked over (probably due to regulations around lights being visible even with the door open since the tire swing would cover one side).
What I love is that Toyota can afford to rebuild the front end (again), but NOT change the rear axle track width issue still. Seriously Toyota, its a little more tube on the rear axle housing and longer shafts, how hard is it?
The 1GD is a good choice and finally an option for both an auto trans (which is a major request) and something with better consumption numbers. The 1VD is a fantastic motor and WAY underrated (it’s not hard to get another 50 kw safely with just a tune) but its also expensive to run.
I’ll be curious to see if Toyota updated the structural safety features of the dual cab, troopie and wagon variants to the same standard of that of the single cab which they had to do back in 2017(?) to get five star ANCAP rating so as to maintain access to government and mining fleets due to their work health and safety requirements.