1951: a jeep that climbed Mount Fuji
In January 1951 Toyota built a four-wheel-drive prototype called the BJ. In July that year test driver Ichiro Taira drove it up to the sixth station of Mount Fuji, the first vehicle to climb that high. Japan’s National Police Agency was impressed enough to order 289 of them.
1954: a new name
The BJ was often called a jeep, and Willys, the maker of the Jeep, objected to the use of its trademark. In June 1954 Toyota’s technical director Hanji Umehara chose a new name that would sound as dignified as its British rival, the Land Rover: Land Cruiser.
The 40 Series makes the legend
The 20 Series of 1955 became the 40 Series in 1960, and it stayed in production for about a quarter of a century. Simple, tough and easy to repair, the 40 spread across Africa, the Middle East, Australia and the Americas, and it is the shape most people still picture when they hear the name.
Two families: work trucks and family wagons
- 1980: the 60 Series wagon brings more comfort for families.
- 1984: the 70 Series work truck arrives. Remarkably, it is still built today for Africa, Latin America, Australia and the Middle East, and it returned to Japan in 2023.
- 1990: the 80 Series, the first of the large luxury wagons; the smaller Prado line begins the same year.
- 1998, 2007, 2021: the 100, 200 and 300 Series wagons.
- 2023: the 250 Series, a smaller and lighter model.
By August 2019 Toyota had sold more than 10 million Land Cruisers worldwide.
Leaving and returning to the US
Toyota stopped selling the big Land Cruiser in North America after the 2021 model year. The name came back for 2024 on the smaller 250 Series, sold in the US as a hybrid. It has sold well: about 29,100 in 2024 and about 43,900 in 2025.
Own one? The 2024 to 2027 Land Cruiser Hybrid is part of a new recall for a fuel tube that may leak. See this week’s recalls.
Why they last
Part of the Land Cruiser’s reputation comes from design, and part from owners who keep up with maintenance. Old Land Cruisers with hundreds of thousands of miles almost always come with a long history of regular oil changes and repairs done on time. That is the habit Badger’s maintenance schedule is built to make easy.
