Back in 1984, Toyota had replaced the then 25-year-old Land Cruiser 40 Series with the Land Cruiser 70 Series. After no less than 32 years of continuous production in multiple body styles, the time-worn Land Cruiser 70 Series isn’t ready to drop dead just yet.
As per our friends at Motoring, Toyota Australia spokesman Stephan Coughlan declared that the Land Cruiser 70 is “an indefinite member of the Toyota family, it’s a crucial and much-loved vehicle in Australia.” Other than that, Stephan went on to say that there’s an updated Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series in the pipeline, without going into the fine details.
The spokesman added that the J70 “will solidify in a lot of people’s minds that we’re not giving up on the model. It’s here and it’s here to stay.” This bit of good news comes roughly two months after the U.S. Special Operations Forces have signed a contract with Battelle for a fleet of specially modified off-road vehicles. Incidentally, the 556-strong order includes plenty examples of the Land Cruiser 76 (four-door wagon) and Land Cruiser 79 (pickup truck).
So yeah, there’s still a place for older Toyota Land Cruiser models somewhere in this world. One of the updates that are in store for the 70 Series is a Euro 5-compliant turbo diesel. The 4.5-liter intercooled V8 will be gifted with things like a slightly different ECU, better piezo injectors, a particulate filter, the whole nine yards to make it that little bit more efficient. On a different note, safety regulations are another area where the J70 will be bettered.
According to the cited publication, a five-star safety rating could be in the cards thanks to the addition of side curtain airbags and a driver’s knee airbag. In addition to these, it’s likely that the 70 Series will benefit from electronic stability control and traction control, as well as hill-start assist, brake assist, electronic brake-force distribution, and cruise control.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News