I had a ‘76 Toyota Land cruiser and the 258 6 cylinder burned a quart every 4-500 miles. It only had about 50,000 miles on it. Spent $3,000 to rebuild it.Toyota’s reputation for toughness and reliability goes back to WW2 with production of the first Land Cruiser in 1951. Land Cruisers are built for developing countries without decent roads. That’s why you see them in all the old National Geographic films and why they’re still the vehicle of choice in Africa, South America, and Asia today. They used to be tough, simple, and easy to repair.
The US doesn’t get the diesel versions unfortunately but the 5.7L V8 in the gas LC is the same engine that’s in the previous gen Tundra and Lexus LX570. The Lexus GX460 is known as the LC Prado overseas and is a very durable vehicle as well. Can’t think of a more durable vehicle than a diesel 70 series Land Cruiser.
Toyota has always had a very conservative approach to building vehicles. They never have the latest tech. They let the big 3 figure what works and what doesn’t then incorporate what works.
They were built heavier than many other brands. An FJ 40 outweighed a same year Jeepster by about a thousand pounds. Have owned both.Early Land Cruisers had a bad habit of rusting while sitting on the dealer lot. They were tremendous rusters.
Good thing about the oil burning engine was, you could yank it out and replace it with an American made inline 6 and live happily ever after or until the body corroded entirely away.
I owned one as well, a red one. Rode like a tank but could go anywhere. Bought it new. I believe I paid around 3100 bucks for it. Wish I had it today, it was a kidney buster however.
Owned a 41 Willis Overland as well, which is what the LC copied.
It's funny, I actually had more rust issues with the Jeeps especially around the edges of the floor steel. Those were Kaiser built Jeeps though.Wish I had one today as they are very collectable and very capable. Gotta give the Japanese credit for copying an iconic American 4wd utility vehicle. Too bad the sheet metal they used corroded quickly.
You cold drop in a small block V8 as well...
I really liked my Overland more. Problem was, it was severely underpowered with it's 4 banger and it was 3 on the tree with a dashboard overdrive and top speed with a tailwind was around 50 mph. Would go anywhere sane or insane as well, just went slow. Solid front axle and rear on leaf springs and like the Land Cruiser, rode like a Sherman Tank.
When Toyota came out with their modern day Cruiser, I wasn't impressed at all and far as I can tell, it was basically a flop anyway.
Hummf. I've been a Chevy man all my life. I bought this 2013 Silverado 5.3 new. It had 86,xxx miles on it and began leaking oil from the pan gasket and oil filter adapter housing fit to block.No irony at all. Never will be a Toyota anything in this driveway. Just Fords, GM's and Dodge's.