Photo: Mecum Auctions
While much of the off-road enthusiast community in America is all eyes on the brewing feud between Ford’s reinvented 2021 Bronco and its Jeep Wrangler archenemy we are also on the lookout for beautifully restored gems. Search no further than Mecum’s Florida event taking place August 27-29 because this is where a beautifully restored, LS-swapped, vintage Japanese pickup will cross the auction block.
There are so many things we could say about the legendary Toyota Land Cruiser and its continued production since way back in 1951. But let us just think of a way the American and Japanese car aficionado communities could find common ground in this beautifully restored and enhanced pickup.
After all, the Land Cruiser itself is inspired by the ubiquitous American military Jeep – so it is only fitting that another wartime hatched might get a fitting burial with this particular restomod.
Even the pale-green shade invites towards calm, mindfulness, and introspection. Oh, everything gets blown to smithereens when you turn the key, but that is exactly what the owner had in mind when the Chevrolet LS-swap occurred (probably). As such, under the hood of this pristine 1973 Toyota FJ-45 Land Cruiser pickup is a 350 cubic inch (5.7-liter) crate V8 engine with modern fuel injections.
And the customizations do not end there. The serene looking, virtually-stock Toyota pickup also has an upgraded five-speed manual transmission helping to send power to the ground (tarmac or not) through those beefy-looking all-terrain tires.
While the oldie looks ready to haul anything no matter the terrain you cross in case some mishaps appear there is also a Warn winch up front ready to come to rescue.
Unfortunately, the listing is quite short on details pertaining to the actual restoration – the auction house only explains it was done sometime in 2003 at Toyota of Orange County, California prior to being acquired by the current owner in 2005.
The latter seems to have enjoyed quite a while the various upgrades – among them being the cool AC unit (pun intended) and an easy to enjoy modern sound system. Wonder how they kept it in this tremendous condition for such a long time? Long live the almighty garage!
After all, the Land Cruiser itself is inspired by the ubiquitous American military Jeep – so it is only fitting that another wartime hatched might get a fitting burial with this particular restomod.
Even the pale-green shade invites towards calm, mindfulness, and introspection. Oh, everything gets blown to smithereens when you turn the key, but that is exactly what the owner had in mind when the Chevrolet LS-swap occurred (probably). As such, under the hood of this pristine 1973 Toyota FJ-45 Land Cruiser pickup is a 350 cubic inch (5.7-liter) crate V8 engine with modern fuel injections.
And the customizations do not end there. The serene looking, virtually-stock Toyota pickup also has an upgraded five-speed manual transmission helping to send power to the ground (tarmac or not) through those beefy-looking all-terrain tires.
While the oldie looks ready to haul anything no matter the terrain you cross in case some mishaps appear there is also a Warn winch up front ready to come to rescue.
Unfortunately, the listing is quite short on details pertaining to the actual restoration – the auction house only explains it was done sometime in 2003 at Toyota of Orange County, California prior to being acquired by the current owner in 2005.
The latter seems to have enjoyed quite a while the various upgrades – among them being the cool AC unit (pun intended) and an easy to enjoy modern sound system. Wonder how they kept it in this tremendous condition for such a long time? Long live the almighty garage!
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