Do you miss the Toyota FJ Cruiser? Probably yes, if you're into off-roaders with quirky looks, as the model was dropped in North America after 2014, though it stayed in production at the company's factory in Tokyo, Japan, for eight more years.
Toyota sounded the death knell for the FJ Cruiser altogether in late 2022, with the last one being sold in the Middle East. In its home market, it gave up on it in early 2018, celebrating it with the aptly-named Final Edition swansong. In the US, it was the 2,500-copy Trail Teams Ultimate Edition that sent it off, featuring a few special things over the normal ones, including a Heritage Blue finish.
All versions of the Toyota FJ Cruiser came with a single powertrain, which was a 4.0-liter V6 unit offered in different states of tune depending on the market. Customers were able to choose between a five-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission, with the latter being limited to four-wheel drive models. Base versions had to make do with rear-wheel drive, and needless to say, they were inferior to the 4WD models off the beaten path.
Based on the same platform as the old Land Cruiser Prado, which automatically tied it to the era's Lexus GX, too, and the 4Runner, the FJ Cruiser was reportedly built in just over 238,000 examples for North America between 2007 and 2014. It is unknown how many of them still survive. Those that do change hands for less than $10,000 when it comes to the older ones with many miles under their belts. The priciest tend to be valued at around $50,000 or a bit more.
There have been several unofficial talks about a possible revival of the FJ Cruiser, and now that there is a new Land Cruiser out, they are being repeated. After all, a hypothetical new generation would share the same underpinnings as the 2024 Land Cruiser. Several rendering artists have already imagined it with a good dose of trust-us-bro when it came to the styling. Q Cars' unofficial proposal stays true to the original and features a boxier look, and between us, we're fans of the design.
If they were to bring it back from the dead, then it would automatically take a swing at the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. Given the popularity of these models, stealing some sales from them would be tricky, but Toyota would ultimately rely on the original FJs to secure a spot on the podium. Realistically speaking, there is nothing to indicate a brand-new FJ Cruiser, so chances are this model is wishful thinking. But would you really buy one if the car manufacturer from the Land of the Rising Sun relaunched it?
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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