Toyota’s Land Cruiser FJ Is A Fantastic Mini 4×4

• Toyota’s baby Land Cruiser FJ is ready for the off-road, just not in the North American Market.
• The Mini Land Cruiser FJ is the size of a compact crossover, but has the durability and capability of the legendary FJ40.

Just in time for the holidays, Toyota unveils the compact 4×4 beast we didn’t know we needed. Today, we got news of the new Toyota Land Cruiser FJ. The Land Cruiser FJ uses the Hilux platform, providing a robust off-road focused platform. Toyota says the inspiration for this rig was to pay homage to the FJ40, and its capabilities certainly match up.

Toyota’s Specs For The Land Cruiser FJ

The heart of this beast is the 2.7 liter inline-four with 161 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque with a 6-speed automatic transmission. Ground clearance is unknown as of now, but gauging by the photos, there’s plenty of it. The Land Cruiser FJ’s footprint is 180.1 inches long and 77.2 inches wide. This model is the runt of the litter, but that’s exactly the point! With a platform like this, Toyota is reaffirming its authority as a car enthusiast brand.

The styling of the Land Cruiser FJ is retro-futurism at its finest. With cues of the current model Land Cruiser, the FJ40, and the red headed step child, the FJ Cruiser, this model stands out as more than a baby Land Cruiser. The plastic trim may be a bit of excessive, but that is part of the platform. Toyota designed the corner bumpers to be easily removable and replaced should you mess them up out on the trails.

Interior-wise, the Toyota is pretty basic. While the back seat appears tight for adults, it seems usable enough. How I view it, this is a car built for the trails and is just comfortable enough to be driven on the street. Hopefully this back-to-basics interior can allow for the price to be significantly lower than the big brother Land Cruiser.

Now that we covered the positives of this 4×4 rig, there is one fatal flaw keeping it from being a truly awesome off-road SUV. Unfortunately, this rig will most likely never make it to the North American market. What is weird about this move is that SUVs are all the rage in the USA. If it were my call, I believe a limited run of these could have been a great move by Toyota. With the popularity of the FJ Cruiser and other Toyota 4x4s, I would hope that if it does well overseas that it will be considered in the North American market.

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