I’ve become a regular. I walked into the Land Cruiser Heritage museum...which I like to do when Im downtown for work and have a few minutes and or don’t feel like heading back to my desk. Yesterday was more a “or” but that’s beside the point. I walk in, start looking around and the curator on deck for the day walks over to see what was up, realized it was me and said “Ah, its you...your back. I figured it might have been.”
I’m a Cruiserholic apparently. Im okay with this.
Prepare for a dump of the new stuff.
FJ25
55 series wrecker.
For a vehicle that barely moved itself under its own weight this must have been an interesting drive. I think the axle is unique and probably has a crazy low ratio though.
This one is an odd duck. Its an FJ40 pickup from brazil. I guess this is one of 3 surviving. They aren’t technically factory though.
Ugly suckers.
This is that.
I’ve never liked the bugeye headlights he uses on these but after seeing them in person I have to say that I hate them. They look so terrible and out of place. barf. The rest of the build is, of course, excellent.
“FJ44" The museum has 3 fire trucks now, this is a 47 series.
This RHD 47 truck is on load. I love the air filter.
HZ75 troppy.
This is a...uh...goose? Also notice the silver arrow above the Toyota badge. Not a mistake.
Also notice how weird it is.
This is an OJ 50 LVB. If you know your Land Cruiser naming that prefix might seem odd. OJ meant it had a Mercedes engine. The venerable OM-314. One of the best diesels ever built...for durability not for speed. it made even an F engine truck feel like a rocket.
These Bandierante trucks which roughly translated means “pioneer”, “scout” or more loosely “Land Cruiser” were Brazilaion domestic products that were built and sourced from the country with no Japanese parts. As a result they are known to be a little less the Land Cruiser standard, but are still generally well made and reliable.
“Auto Trading LTDA
Phone: 2007
Conselheiro Lafaiete
Minas Gerais (city and state in Brazil)
Business
Mercedes-Benz”
Still one of the coolest trucks...ever. A Maltec HDJ81 camper. 5 speed manual, turbodiesel luxury camper conversion. These are stunning.
Toyota F110 engine in an FQ15 truck. This is generation 1 of the F engine, which ran from 1955 to 1992, almost as long as the Nissan VQ.
You can clearly see the similarity to the Chevy 235 on which this engine was loosely based. (built under licence). The block is different (tall deck vs short) but it’s pretty close.
Here is a 1992 model.
yes, this was installed as new in 1992 models (well not this excellent stroker build, but basically this.
Cute little BJ73 hardop shorty.
Arctic trucks Hilux that was the first ever vehicle to cross the greenland ice sheet
I don’t really know the story of this 40 series...but it looks AMAZING in that color. I wants it.
I was just about to wrap up when the curator asked if I’d seen the 60 series fire truck they had (remember I said they had 3? A 55, a 40 and 62). It was in the backroom and looking awkward/awesome as can be. So Terramazing.
Also back there was this. Its the Museum owner’s daughters.
Good taste runs in the family.
It’s basically the best looking 3rd gen I’ve seen.
Well there you go! Like I said this is just the new stuff they got in...the museum is bursting at the seems these days and they are still buying. There are some mine trucks coming in I guess.
Bonus: My gas problem
My gas was basically not working, pilots lights kept going out randomly and then yesterday the stovetop wouldn’t work worth a darn and it smelled like gas, so I called in the gas company and their insanely large Ram 5500 long bed truck...walking around this thing was a workout. Turns out, surprise surprise, that the previous owner had proven they have no business in DIY again when it was discovered they had jacked around with the regulator to increase the gas pressure (illegal btw) and ruined the regulator. Thankfully it was no charge to me.
People - If you are going to DIY...you had better do it right, or at LEAST legally and safely.