Australia made the Land Cruiser’s reputation. Thiess Brothers imported FJ25s in 1958 for the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme, the first substantial Land Cruiser sale outside Japan, and the 40 Series became the vehicle of cattle stations, mines and the Northern Territory; Toyota Australia still sells more 70 Series than any other market. In Brazil the Bandeirante, built at São Bernardo do Campo from 1958 to 2001, was the working vehicle of the interior.
Across Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia the 70 Series and the 80, 100 and 200 wagons are the standard vehicle of the United Nations, the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Food Programme, of oil, gas and mining companies, of safari operators and of missions and survey teams; the Hilux is their pick-up. The 60 and 80 Series wagons were the vehicles of the Australian outback tourer, and the Land Cruiser won the Dakar Rally’s production class year after year in the 2000s and 2010s.
Snowy Mountains and the outback (1958–1984)
3 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTERThiess’s Snowy Mountains FJ25s of 1958, the 40 Series troop carriers and pick-ups of stations and mines, the Northern Territory police and the Royal Flying Doctor Service; the Bandeirante in Brazil and the 40 Series assembled in Indonesia, Venezuela and Sarawak for local fleets.
Registry records · chapter 1
Aid, oil and the 70 Series (1984–today)
3 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTERThe 75, 78 and 79 Series of the mines of the Pilbara and the Northern Territory, and the white 76 and 78 Troop Carriers of the UN, ICRC, MSF and WFP; the 79 double-cab of Australian farms and utilities since 2012. Oil and gas fleets in the Gulf, Central Asia and Africa run the 70 and the 200.
Registry records · chapter 2
Touring, safari and rally (1980–today)
4 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTERThe 60 and 80 Series as the Australian outback tourer with long-range tanks and roof racks; the 70 and 100 Series of East African safari operators; the Land Cruiser 100 and 200 in the Dakar Rally’s production class, won by Toyota Auto Body’s team every year from 2014.
Hilux at work (1979–today)
2 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTERThe Hilux 4WD as the pick-up of Australian tradesmen and stations, of African and Asian fleets, of the UN and aid agencies, and of the Antarctic and Arctic expeditions of the 2000s (the Arctic Trucks Hilux reached the South Pole in 2010).
Registry records · chapter 4
Sources
- Toyota Land Cruiser — Wikipedia
- Toyota Land Cruiser (J70) — Wikipedia
- Toyota Hilux — Wikipedia
- Toyota Land Cruiser Bandeirante — Wikipedia
Working Land Cruisers vehicles in the registry
10 records, oldest first.
Land Cruiser 20 Series (BJ/FJ25)1955–60 · Japan
Land Cruiser FJ401960–84 · Japan
Land Cruiser FJ45 / HJ451963–84 · Japan
Hilux 4WD (N30–N40)1979–83 · Japan
Land Cruiser 60 Series (FJ60/62, HJ60/61)1980–90 · Japan
4Runner / Hilux Surf (N60)1984–89 · Japan
Land Cruiser 70 Series1984 · Japan
Land Cruiser 80 Series1990–97 · Japan
Land Cruiser 100 Series1998–2007 · Japan
Land Cruiser 200 Series2007–21 · Japan