Land Cruiser: History and heritage

We take a look at the making of a brand that has become synonymous with driving on torturous offroads around the world

With a lineage lasting almost 60 years, the Land Cruiser is Toyota's longest running brand. Not surprisingly, there are more Land Cruisers on the streets and off-roads of the world than any other SUV. With a bloodline extending over eight generations in its current station-wagon styling alone, the SUV has carved out a name for itself in automotive history - one that can be safely taken in the same breath as durability, robustness and reliability.

It was back in 1951 when Toyota made its first 4x4 vehicle, the BJ - later renamed to carry on the Land Cruiser family name. The BJ's technical competence and grit was obvious in its first iteration itself after it became the first vehicle ever to drive right up to the sixth hill of Mt. Fuji, 2,500 metres over sea level. The car's go-anywhere attributes proven, it was made the standard vehicle for the Japanese police force.

Soon, it was time to take the Land Cruiser's reputation to foreign lands. Within a year of its launch in 1951, the Land Cruiser became the first Toyota vehilce to be exported from Japan. The American and European markets were already inundated with local products from indegenous manufacturers. Toyota instead set out to capture the Middle Eastern, South East Asian and South American markets with the capabilities of the Land Cruiser - all regions offering large and uncultured landscapes for the 4x4 monster to make itself indispensible.

Not surprisingly, many privateers chose and continue to choose the Land Cruiser as their vehicle of choice for the torturous Dakar Rally, one of the foremost cross-country rallies in the world. The first Land Cruiser made its appearance in the rally in 1979, and since 1995 when the Land Cruiser's campaign became more organised as a part of the factory team TLC, it has consistently figured in the list of rally finishers, and has almost always finished on the podium for the unmodified class of vehicles. That is a stock vehicle traversing some of the most demanding terrains in competetion and finishing without problems, and with flying colours.

Until 1967, the Land Cruiser carried the BJ's 'jeep-style' offroad clothes only. Later that year, the first station-wagon style Land Cruiser was unleashed upon the world, taking its everyday-use appeal even further, cemented with its competent offroading skills. This is the styling that the SUV carries to date after seven generations. Today, the car is sold in over 140 countries across the world, makes for a sizeable part of Toyota sales, and is amde in nine plants around the globe to meet its popular demand. The eight-generation V8 Land Cruiser only expected to take this SUV's legend further into our times.

LAND CRUISER TIMELINE

Year	Event
1951	Launch of the first generation Land Cruiser in Japan, originally called the BJ
1952	Land Cruiser becomes first Toyota passenger car to be exported from Japan.
1959	Land Cruiser becomes the first Toyota model to be manufactured outside Japan, in Brazil.
1967	Launch of the first Land Cruiser ?Station Wagon? model (in the USA).
1975	First official Land Cruiser sales in the UK.
1996	Land Cruiser Amazon replaces the Land Cruiser 80 in the UK.
2008	Land Cruiser V8 replaces Land Cruiser Amazon, offered in a single specification with a 286hp V8 petrol engine. It is the eighth generation of the larger, station wagon Land Cruiser models.