Photo: Brian's Auto Center
Importing JDM classics to North America is a chore and a half. You have to purchase the vehicle from a certified importer, sign more paperwork than the average DMV session, and pay enough in import and excise taxes to fund another couple of U.S. wars. What looks like a great deal on a Japanese import website might not look so fantastic when you take all the extra bureaucracy into account.
But what if you wanted to cut out the middleman? There's at least one way to do that. You could always buy a classic JDM import from someone who's already done all the hard work for you. Such is the case with this 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, a plucky little Japanese off-roader quite unlike any 4x4 in a long time. If you're used to what the Land Cruiser name represents in the U.S., the Land Cruiser Prado might be especially alien-looking.
The bespoke Land Cruiser Prado, also called the Toyota Bundera and the Toyota Merú at various times and places, can almost be interpreted as a Rav4 equivalent for markets anywhere other than North America. It's not a total apples-to-apples comparison, but it's hard not to get the same vibe as an old three-door Rav4 from the same period as this Land Cruiser. In truth, the J90-series three-door Land Cruiser Prado RZ is more closely related to the N180-series, third-generation Toyota 4Runner.
With a peppy three-liter 1KZ-TE turbodiesel four-pot under the hood and a beefy four-link suspension with double wishbones up front, this was just as capable a 4x4 as any 4Runner. Weighing in touch under 4,000 lbs (1814.4 kg), the Land Cruiser Prado RZ makes a modern J300-series Land Cruiser look like a barge. It's hard to say this JDM take on a relatively small family 4x4 is better looking than its North American counterparts. But in the same way, a slice of pizza tastes like a delicacy after a few years of Soviet gulag gruel, seeing such a unique face in a sea of the same cars and trucks we constantly see in North America is nothing short of lovely.
It's only thanks to Brian's Auto Center in Manasquan, New Jersey, that we're even aware this funky JDM classic made it stateside. No word on whether they imported this Land Cruiser Prado themselves or bought it after the fact from whoever went through the hassle of shipping the vehicle. Whatever the case, with all the headaches and the import taxes out of the way, the notion that classic JDM ownership overseas is an expensive nightmare isn't always the case. For a low-low cost of just $9,500, admittedly with over 206,000 miles on the clock, you can at least claim Toyotas from this era are built like tanks.
The bespoke Land Cruiser Prado, also called the Toyota Bundera and the Toyota Merú at various times and places, can almost be interpreted as a Rav4 equivalent for markets anywhere other than North America. It's not a total apples-to-apples comparison, but it's hard not to get the same vibe as an old three-door Rav4 from the same period as this Land Cruiser. In truth, the J90-series three-door Land Cruiser Prado RZ is more closely related to the N180-series, third-generation Toyota 4Runner.
With a peppy three-liter 1KZ-TE turbodiesel four-pot under the hood and a beefy four-link suspension with double wishbones up front, this was just as capable a 4x4 as any 4Runner. Weighing in touch under 4,000 lbs (1814.4 kg), the Land Cruiser Prado RZ makes a modern J300-series Land Cruiser look like a barge. It's hard to say this JDM take on a relatively small family 4x4 is better looking than its North American counterparts. But in the same way, a slice of pizza tastes like a delicacy after a few years of Soviet gulag gruel, seeing such a unique face in a sea of the same cars and trucks we constantly see in North America is nothing short of lovely.
It's only thanks to Brian's Auto Center in Manasquan, New Jersey, that we're even aware this funky JDM classic made it stateside. No word on whether they imported this Land Cruiser Prado themselves or bought it after the fact from whoever went through the hassle of shipping the vehicle. Whatever the case, with all the headaches and the import taxes out of the way, the notion that classic JDM ownership overseas is an expensive nightmare isn't always the case. For a low-low cost of just $9,500, admittedly with over 206,000 miles on the clock, you can at least claim Toyotas from this era are built like tanks.
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