Toyota · Land Cruiser

Toyota Land Cruiser BJ

Years: 1951–1955
Drivetrain: 4WD

Story

A vehicle planned for the National Police Reserve of the time (now the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force). When the Mitsubishi Jeep was officially adopted it turned to civilian use, and because of the trademark the name was changed to "Land Cruiser".

Stories

Up to the sixth station of Mt. Fuji, to prove it was no worse than a Jeep

The US military and the National Police Reserve called for development of a four-wheel-drive vehicle, but Mitsubishi's Jeep was chosen. Umehara, the engineering manager who led development of the BJ series, was proud that it was no worse than the Jeep. To beat the record of a US Army Jeep that had climbed to the fifth station of Mt. Fuji, he took on a climb of the mountain, and both BJs made it all the way to the sixth station.

Hanji Umehara

Production plants

Honsha Plant
Toyota, Aichi

US import eligibility

Earliest cars: Eligible since August 197625 years after sales began in August 1951
Last cars: Eligible since 198025 years after sales ended in 1955 (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

Hanji Umehara

The first development lead for the first-generation BJ series of the Land Cruiser. At the time Toyota did not yet have its chief engineer system, and he was general manager of the engineering department. He gave the "Land Cruiser" (a cruiser on land) its name.