[Music]
from the scorching plains of sub-saharan
Africa to the brutal cold of the Arctic
Circle this vehicle has driven
everywhere on our green earth it's a
shining beacon of utilitarian belief and
perfected practicality so low your tire
pressure lock up them diffs and put her
in low it's time to go off-road this is
everything you need to know to get up to
speed on the Toyota Landcruiser
and we're going on a field trip I'm at
the landcruiser Heritage Museum in Salt
Lake City Utah surrounded by the most
strategic collection of Land Cruisers in
the world with nearly every single model
represented it is clear that the Land
Cruiser is one of the most diverse and
influential vehicles in the entire
history of the automobile you ever heard
of it the Land Cruiser is Toyota's
longest-running nameplate starting
production in 1951 with the BJ model it
was a military vehicle produced in Japan
for American use in the Korean War after
the armistice agreement in 1953 the war
was over but Toyota wanted to keep
making the BJ because it made him a lot
of money but they couldn't just send a
bare-bones warfighter out into the world
and expect to sell big numbers so Toyota
gave the workhorse a redesign we've come
for your seats and softer suspension
this new model called the model 20
encompass both the gasoline-powered FJ
20 and the diesel-powered BJ 20 this
Land Cruiser was extremely important to
Toyota in fact it's possible that
without it they might not be around
today that means no Supra no mr2 no
Hachi Roku Toyota had been building cars
in Japan since 1936 but weren't selling
them outside of the country after the
war Toyota started looking abroad but
there was a problem the biggest markets
already had their own passenger cars
however the FJ was just as good if not
better than America
Jeep so what they did was send the FJ
and the BJ to oversee markets then put
their new passenger car the crown next
to it the reliability and capability of
the Land Cruiser gave the crown
credibility within Toyota this was
called the land cruiser strategy and
Toyota implemented it all over the world
thanks to the Land Cruiser the Toyota
lineup was seen as a credible option
okay quick timeout I'm gonna be saying a
lot of numbers and letters in this
episode and it might seem confusing but
it's not here's what they mean the first
letter is the engine F means it has a
straight-6 gasoline engine B is a
four-cylinder diesel engine and H means
your cruiser has a six-cylinder diesel J
is Toyota Talk for land cruiser most
people say it stands for Jeep but it's
never been officially confirmed by
Toyota the number after the J is the
body style 14 through 42 is short
wheelbase 43 44 and 46 or medium
wheelbase 45 and 47 s our long wheelbase
is both available in true P and truck so
when you hear someone say FJ 44 that
means it's a 6-cylinder gas Land Cruiser
in the 40 series with a medium wheelbase
C easy 1960s saw the first refresh of
the FJ line the model 40 yeah it looked
pretty similar to the model 20 but the
40 was better in every way
Toyota had refined their construction
techniques so the frame and body were
stronger the fj40 also had a low range
gear that made off-roading way easier
and the model 40 had more horsepower 125
you might be saying gee whiz James that
doesn't sound like a lot and you're
right but horsepower isn't that
important for offroading dum-dum it's
all about the torque the next fgi update
was in 1967 the model 55 FJ it was
basically a station wagon for the
outback some versions had seating for up
to nine people that's more people than
were in my eighth grade graduating class
the model 55 is probably the funkiest
looking of all of the land
earning the nickname iron Pig because
some people thought it looked like a pig
that was made out of metal the model 55
marked the transition in thinking around
utility vehicles yes they can be used to
do work in remote places but they can
also carry people just like the pickup
truck people were starting to see that
the landcruiser wasn't just meant for
work it was also meant for life the
paradigm shift was complete when Toyota
dropped the landcruiser model 60 in 1980
it was still the unstoppable off-roader
people came to know and love but now
there was a luxury model the GX had a
moonroof power mirrors and more
comfortable interior Toyota knew that
customers were shopping the Land Cruiser
against the Land Rover and then it
needed to be better if they were gonna
compete the most critical component was
the Land Cruiser solid front axle well
that's a solid front axle on heavy duty
vehicles the wheels are connected with a
solid beam this is stronger than
independent suspension and perfect for
hauling stuff around the simple nature
of solid axles made them more reliable
which is exactly what you want when
you're out in the bush there are less
components to brake so if something goes
wrong it's easier to fix plus a solid
axle lets get sweet flex bro however
solid axles aren't great for handling
and aren't as comfortable on the road to
solve this Toyota put softer Springs in
the Land Cruiser which allowed them even
more flesh which made them even better
offroad
good job Toyota the Land Cruiser
continued to modernize with the model 70
released in 1984 small adjustments were
made to make the now legendary
off-roader
even better the body panels were
thickened by a millimeter to make them
more durable and the styling was updated
for a more domesticated look if the
model 60 in 1980 marked the Land
Cruisers transition from utilitarian
focus to comfort 1989's model 80 was a
full commitment to luxury Toyota knew
that most people weren't going to take
the latest cruiser off-road that for
most people in the US the Land Cruiser
was a family
but the landcruiser didn't mind because
it was still a bad eh Explorer it didn't
matter if the model ad eventually got to
safer features like anti-lock brakes and
airbags because in 1996 the Land Cruiser
earned the ultimate in off-road
credibility the dakar rally is one of
the most demanding races on earth
spanning from granada spain to Dakar
Senegal navigating city streets sand
dunes and some of the most treacherous
terrain on earth
Toyota entered to model a deal and
cruisers in the unmodified diesel class
that means they didn't modify them and
guess what they won Toyota would return
in 2001 and win ugly and if that wasn't
enough they won in 2005 oh that's still
not enough they came back in 2014 and
won it goes without saying but you can't
stop a Land Cruiser in 1998 however the
80 series was replaced by the Land
Cruiser 100 by now everyone knew that
Land Cruiser was the best we all knew
this it rode like a cloud over roads
that were impassable to lesser vehicles
it could maneuver itself over the most
unforgiving terrain and it would not die
hashtag invincible it is so reliable as
a durable 4x4 that the United Nations
passed a resolution to use it as their
field vehicle of choice Toyota made the
best even better they developed a new
32-valve v8 that made more horsepower
got better mileage and reduced emissions
and while in some markets they released
a 105 series that carried over most of
its guts from the 80 series including
solid front and rear axles the 100
series that we got had quite a few
game-changing bells and whistles the
front suspension was a double wishbone
type independent suspension and the
steering was now rack and pinion this
Land Cruiser was designed to feel more
like a passenger car then it's heavy
duty rough-and-tumble
predecessors to further improve riding
comfort and steering stability it had
hydraulic vehicle
height adjustment and Toyota electronic
modulated suspension or skyhook Timms
which made it perform better if for some
reason you were driving on paved roads
in 99 ain't got traction control and in
2002 the Land Cruiser featured new
technology that enabled drivers to see
in the dark just like a cat night view
uses headlight projectors to emit
near-infrared light then a camera
captures that reflected radiation a
computer processes it and it projects a
black and white image on the windshield
I'm serious they made this this is Bruce
Wayne stuff though the landcruiser 100
continues to evolve on the path of
luxury passenger car there are still
users overseas who must drive it
off-road to meet the needs of Australia
Africa and other rugged environments
Toyota is still cranking out the Land
Cruiser 105 series no matter how much it
takes on the aura of luxury the Land
Cruiser is never far from its roots as
an off-road vehicle the latest version
is no different the 200 series is one of
the most capable off-roaders let alone
luxury off-roaders that you can buy
today it is a beautiful monster
introduced in 2007 to 200 series
pioneered features like downhill assist
control off-road anti-lock brakes and
crawl all caps which is basically cruise
control for the trail using weird
computer science it basically drives
itself despite the openly luxurious
appearance the 200 series is still one
of the best overland vehicles in the
friggin world from its start the land
cruiser dominated the harsh landscapes
of untouched country but the landscape
has changed today the land cruiser
dominates the automotive landscape
looking down from its lofty luxury perch
as king of the mountain and those harsh
unexplored environments well it still
dominates there too hail to the king
baby thanks for watching up the speed
what's your favourite offroad story
share it in the comments below I want to
say a huge thank you to Greg Miller and
everyone at the
and Cruiser Heritage Museum for having
us out and letting us look around this
place is amazing and if you're in the
Salt Lake area you should definitely
check it out if you're lucky then he'll
be here and you can learn a ton just
like I did come here take picture tag me
and donut in it and I'll send you
something weird don't forget to Like
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