Toyota · Land Cruiser

Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series

Years: 1984–2004
Drivetrain: 4WD

Story

As 4WD vehicles came to be used in place of passenger cars, its styling was renewed to improve comfort, operation and usability. After sales in Japan ended, production continued as an overseas-only model.

Stories

A Part Conceived After Falling into a Hole

Up to the 60 Series, the Land Cruiser was a vehicle finished as a commercial vehicle able to run on rough roads. In developing the 70 Series, Takanobu Fukuoka worked on improving off-road capability, for example by starting test drives off-road outside the company. Around that time, while test driving with his superior in a revetment area near the Tahara Plant, the car fell into a large hole. The leaf spring inverted and the shackle stretched out fully in the opposite direction, and Fukuoka devised a part to prevent the inversion. The 70 Series improved off-road capability, but driving it off-road required a certain amount of skill from the driver. Could anyone be made able to drive off-road with ease? That wish became the starting point for devising Multi-Terrain Select and Active Traction Control.

Takanobu Fukuoka

Chassis

Width1,690-1,790 mmHeight1,835-1,950 mm

Length3,975-4,805 mm

Wheelbase: 2,310-2,730mm
Curb weight: 1,740-2,130kg

Production plants

Honsha Plant
Toyota, Aichi

US import eligibility

Earliest cars: Eligible since November 200925 years after sales began in November 1984
Last cars: Eligible during 202925 years after sales ended in 2004 (month not recorded)

Eligibility depends on each car's month of manufacture on its build plate, not on the sale dates shown here (NHTSA).

Japanese cars by US import year →

Engineers

Takanobu Fukuoka

A Toyota test driver. He moved to vehicle evaluation and development for commercial vehicles, and was responsible for testing and evaluating successive Land Cruisers from the 60 Series to the 200 Series. He is called the Land Cruiser Meister.