Toyota built its first four-wheel drive in 1951 for the National Police Reserve tender that Mitsubishi’s licence-built Willys won: the Toyota Jeep BJ, a 3.4-litre Type B six on a truck chassis, which climbed to the sixth station of Mount Fuji in a demonstration that year. Willys objected to the Jeep name and in June 1954 Toyota renamed the vehicle Land Cruiser.
The 20 Series of November 1955 was the redesign for civilian sale: a lower chassis with longer leaf springs, a rounded body by Arakawa Auto Body, and from 1955 the 3.9-litre F engine that gave the FJ25 its name. Toyota sold the 20 Series in Japan, began exports to Latin America and Asia, and in 1958 sent knocked-down kits to São Bernardo do Campo in Brazil, where it became the Bandeirante.
Toyota Jeep BJ (1951–1955)
1 VEHICLE IN THIS CHAPTERThe BJ used the Type B 3.4-litre petrol six of the Toyota truck in a ladder chassis with part-time four-wheel drive and no low range. It failed to win the police order but sold to the National Safety Force, the Forestry Agency and electricity companies. In June 1954 it was renamed Land Cruiser, a name chosen by technical director Hanji Umehara against the Land Rover.
Registry records · chapter 1
FJ25 and BJ25 (1955–1960)
1 VEHICLE IN THIS CHAPTERThe 20 Series kept the BJ’s drivetrain but under a new body: soft-top and hard-top on 2,285 mm, and a longer 2,650 mm wheelbase for a pick-up and the first four-door station wagon (FJ28). The F engine of 1955 gave 105 hp. The 20 Series was Toyota’s first exported four-wheel drive, reaching Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Latin America; the 40 Series replaced it in 1960.
Registry records · chapter 2
Bandeirante in Brazil (1958–1968)
1 VEHICLE IN THIS CHAPTERToyota do Brasil assembled the 20 Series from 1958 at São Bernardo do Campo with a Mercedes-Benz OM-324 diesel, the first Toyota built outside Japan. The Bandeirante name outlived the 20 Series: the 40-based Bandeirante was built there until 2001.
Registry records · chapter 3
Base models
The structural configurations the registry and the Creator build from; each page carries the researched specification.Sources
- Toyota Land Cruiser — Wikipedia
- 75 Years of Toyota — vehicle lineage — Toyota Motor Corporation
- Toyota Jeep BJ — Wikipedia