Tag: Toyota

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One

The Land Cruiser 70 Series Is Special in a Unique Way

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998584

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998584


To put it into context, the 70 series is nearly four decades old and came out in 1984, the same year that Apple debuted its Macintosh, the Cosby Show was a ratings winner, and Bruce Springsteen was performing Dancing in the Dark.

What this 70 really is, is a no-nonsense off-roader with just the essentials and not much else.

These days, every other cross-over is being splashed on with Body cladding and touted as an SUV, but the 70 Series is what a REAL SUV looks like.

I mean ask yourself, how many of you would actually take your prized Porsche Cayenne, or BMW X5, or even a Range Rover, mud-plugging?

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998585

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998585


With something like the 70, you wouldn’t think twice about heading off-road. Surprisingly, in keeping with the times, the 70s boxy design has aged well, and thankfully the Boxy form factor really is coming back. I mean take a look at the new Ford Bronco and the Land Rover Defender.

How the Land Cruiser 70 Series came about

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998589

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998589


The Toyota Land Cruiser had already established a good reputation as a rugged, no-nonsense 4WD vehicle that could be relied on in the world’s most hostile climates. There were limitations to what could be done to upgrade its predecessor, the 40-series models.

As a result, Toyota’s Chief Engineer back then, Masaomi Yoshii overhauled the design and had to adhere to these rules. What resulted was the 70-series, which led the Land Cruiser into a new generation. It has been in dealerships in several parts of the world since then.

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998590

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998590


Toyota widened the LandCruiser’s design brief to include more comfortable family-friendly station wagons (the 55 Series and then 60 Series), leaving the 40 Series vehicles as the range’s sole workhorses. And it was in this capacity that the 70 Series stepped in.

What’s So Special About the Land Cruiser 70 Series?

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998604

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998604


Toyota’s 70 Series really is part of a long-running line of vehicles that completes the workhorse end of the LandCruiser lineup. It might be functional and utilitarian, but they certainly are dependable and easy to fix. Ask someone who takes the things in the bush. They really do swear by them,

There are a number of tried and tested gas or diesel engines.
There are several body styles to choose from. It is, therefore, best to think of the 70 Series as a family of cars rather than a standalone vehicle. 

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998588

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998588


It has all of the off-road capabilities of a typical Land Cruiser minus the extravagance and luxury features that we are so spoilt for these days.

The vehicle is legendary for its toughness and the design is so good that the 70 has been in series production without being overhauled since 1984. That is a staggering 37 years.

To keep it relevant in modern times, Toyota has updated the 70 with safety and tech over the years, like Airbags and ABS. Even a five-speed manual gearbox was finally added with a taller fifth gear back in 2017 to further refine the experience from behind the wheel.

Where can you get one?

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998599

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998599


Today, Toyota still sells both SUV and pickup variants of the 70 Series in countries like the UAE, Australia, and many parts of the world. People in Dubai for example can still get a brand new one for as little as $38,600. Another fan favorite, theFJ Cruiser, which Toyota discontinued in the United States in 2014, is still available in the UAE.

Africa is another favorite destination for the Land Cruiser 70 Series. In South Africa for instance, pickup variants of the 79 Series based on the 70 Series are still available, notably last year’s Namib edition. Also, in some South American markets, such as Venezuela, you can still purchase a Land Cruiser 70.

Why didn’t the 70 make it here?

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998587

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998587


Back in the day, following the end of production of the classic FJ40, Toyota split the Land Cruiser lineage in two. The four-door FJ60 wagon, that remained on the American market and the LC series. However the 70 Series – a more direct replacement for the FJ40 — was one iconic model that the American market never got. As such, it is possibly the most enticing vehicle for US Land Cruiser fans — at least until we learn when the new 300 Series Land Cruiser will be available here.

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998592

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998592


While it’s a shame the J70 Cruiser never made it to the United States, Toyota had its fair share of reasons. Due to emissions regulations, it wasn’t made available in either the United States or Europe. However, it is available in much of the rest of the world. The most obvious one being is that the automaker already sells a bare-bones, very durable, smaller SUV in the United States. The Toyota 4Runner.

Final Thoughts

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998594

Toyota Still Makes This Nearly Four-Decade Old Land Cruiser, and we Never Got One Exterior - image 998594


Many four-wheel drives have a long model cycle, but no one could have imagined that the 70 Series would still be in production in 2021 when it was introduced nearly four decades ago. Toyotas formula took the approach of why fix something that ain’t broke with this one and it definitely seems to have worked. Since the car has been around for this long, would it be a good candidate for an EV resto-mod conversion by importing an example over 25 years old? Let us know in the comments below.

Here’s Paul Maric from Car Expert YouTube Channel take us on an in-depth tour of the Land Cruiser 70 series.

A Week With: 2021 Toyota Sienna Limited AWD

The 2021 Toyota Sienna Limited AWD comes with a new hybrid powerplant.

Are you secure enough – make that brave enough – to drive a minivan? For many, the answer is no.

Its image tarnished long ago by the sneeringly chauvinistic and emasculating epithet “soccer mom,” the segment continues to wither under the assault of crossovers, which are little more than cross-dressing minivans.

No, seriously, they are. Consider this: they have seating for up to eight, lots of cupholders and rear-seat entertainment systems. Just like a minivan. Except their perceived wardrobe’s faint nod to off-roading gives them an alleged image boost. But let’s face it, they’re a minivan, with a less practical shape that limits their utility compared to a minivan.

But this bit of common sense eludes buyers, and so the minivan’s U.S. market share continues to crater, plunging 86% during the past decade from 7.1% of U.S. light vehicle sales in 2010 to 2.4% in 2019, before falling to mere 1% last year.

(Toyota goes “all-hybrid” with new Venza, Sienna models.)

The Sienna offers seating for seven passengers while still getting more than 35 mpg in combined driving.

Part of the segment’s plunge is no doubt due to Dodge’s decision to discontinue the long-in-the-tooth Dodge Grand Caravan, a darling of rental fleets and those who needed the cheapest minivan available – and what wallet-challenged parent doesn’t? Despite the overall drop in volume in 2020, Fiat Chrysler remained the leader in the segment, followed by Honda, Toyota and Kia.

Overview: And yet dollar for dollar, nothing beats the value provided by a minivan. And for 2021, Toyota is distinguishing its rugrat hauler by offering it solely as a gas-electric hybrid in LE, XLE, XSE, Limited and Platinum trim levels.

Exterior: A decade ago, Toyota tried marketing the third-generation Sienna as the “Swagger Wagon” with little luck, as it was a definitely wagon, but lacking in any swagger. But you could be forgiven for using the term on the fourth-generation Sienna, which was designed by Toyota’s styling studios in Newport Beach, California, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, its appearance was allegedly inspired by the Shinkansen Japanese Bullet Train. Boasting an outrageously oversized jaw capped by aggressively slanted LED headlamps, it’s best described as expressive.

”’… Aggressively sculpted side panels and muscular wheel arches suggest it’s got some SUV DNA in it, but it doesn’t. It’s certainly distinctive, something that couldn’t be said of the previous Sienna …”

Interior: Surprisingly, the cabin is a welcome counterpoint to the over-caffeinated exterior. The cleanly styled instrument

The Sienna’s interior is clean and crisp, offering the driver easy access to all controls.

panel features cupholders and a flat shelf on which to place smaller items and includes a wireless charging pad. It’s augmented by what Toyota calls its “Bridge Console,” a very tall center console that puts the major controls within easy reach with a massive center console bin that doubles as a small refrigerator. There’s also an opening underneath for front seat occupants to place a purse or manbag.

As you might expect, there are three rows of seats, with second row Captain’s chairs, with Platinum and Limited grades getting “Super Long Slide” seats that slide back and forth a whopping 25 inches. The test vehicle’s second-row thrones doubled as recliners, although they work best for those far less than six feet tall. And they fold, but not flat into the floor like Chrysler’s Stow ‘n Go seats. But legroom is impressively spacious in the first two rows, and acceptable in the third. With all of the seats in use, there’s 33.5 cubic feet of schlepping space, growing to 101 cubic feet when they’re not.

(Can minivans regain their cool factor?)

The Sienna is powered by a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder paired with electric motors that put out a combined 245 horsepower.

Powertrain: The biggest change comes under the hood, where a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder and dual electric motor hybrid powertrain replaces last year’s V-6. Generating 245 horsepower, the Sienna loses 51 horsepower to the V-6, but it gains at the gas pump.

For 2021, the EPA rates the front-wheel-drive Sienna at 36 mpg in combined city/highway driving, and 35 mpg with all-wheel drive. Both figures are 15 mpg better than their respective 2020 counterparts, reducing annual fuel costs by an estimated $750 annually. By comparison, Chrysler new Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid runs 32 miles on electricity, returning 82 MPGe in combined driving, and 30 mpg running purely on petrol. Toyota rates the Sienna’s towing capacity at 3,500 pounds.

Technology and Safety: Being a family hauler, you’d expect a full slate of standard safety systems, and you’d be correct. Toyota’s second-generation Toyota Safety Sense is standard, and includes pre-collision system with pedestrian detection/lowlight detection, blind spot monitor, rear cross traffic alert, dynamic radar cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist, lane trace assist, automatic high beams, and road sign assist.

Toyota also includes its Star Safety System, which adds stability control, traction control, electronic brake-force distribution, brake assist, and anti-lock brakes with smart stop technology. There’s also a 10-inch color head-up display that can be controlled through voice recognition or steering wheel switchgear.

There’s also an available digital rear-view mirror that eliminates obstructions in the cabin from blocking your rear view as well as an optional 360-degree view camera, and Curb View, which helps prevent scuffing tires when parallel parking.

But most occupants will be more concerned about the tech package. A nine-inch touchscreen is standard, and is flanked by shortcut buttons, as well as a volume and tuning knob for the audio system. Speaking of tunes, a six-speaker AM/FM/XM audio system with, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa compatibility is standard, and includes seven USB ports, voice recognition and Bluetooth. It can be upgraded to a JBL Premium audio system with 12 speakers, a subwoofer and 1,200-watt amplification.

Driving impressions: Being a hybrid, it’s little surprise that this van is exceptionally quick, quiet and tranquil at lower speeds, as it’s running purely on electric and your children are behaving. This changes when you need extra grunt, as the gas engine comes on with a mighty roar, although it proves powerful enough to move this minivan with moxie.

The new Sienna offers plenty of cargo space whether full up with passengers or empty.

Thanks to Toyota banishing the 2020 Sienna’s rear twist-beam axle, handling is far more precise and far less floaty. Credit the new multilink rear suspension. Overall, it makes for a very serene, controllable yet somewhat engaging driving experience.

(Kia replacing Sedona minivan with new Carnival line.)

Wrap Up: No matter what its looks, the 2021 Toyota Sienna is still a minivan. It proudly proclaims what you’ve accomplished: You’ve gone forth, you’ve multiplied, and now you need space for the whole family. It’s not hip or trendy — but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Kudos to Toyota for a truly impressive update that injects some flavor into a vehicle that has always been blandly practical at best. The 2021 Sienna delivers the amenities, practicality and driving experience that’s every bit as good as its archrivals, and fuel economy that beats them all.


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Automakers, Manufacturing Trade Group React in Horror to Washington Insurrection

Trump supporters staged an insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The rioting that swept Washington, D.C. Wednesday triggered by President Donald Trump’s false and disproven claims of election fraud triggered a nationwide backlash with some of the most severe responses coming from groups that traditionally steer clear of electoral politics.

One of the harshest statements came from the National Association of Manufacturers which not only described the insurrection as an attack on “the vision of America,” but also called for the use of the 25th Amendment, which could lead to an immediate removal of Trump from the role of president.

“This is not the vision of America that manufacturers believe in and work so hard to defend,” said Jay Timmons, NAM’s president and CEO. “We are trying to rebuild an economy and save and rebuild lives. But none of that will matter if our leaders refuse to fend off this attack on America and our democracy — because our very system of government, which underpins our very way of life, will crumble.”

(Trump attacks GM, demands it move Chinese manufacturing operations “back to America.”)

The trade group’s statement also stressed that the rioting – which culminated in a mob takeover of the U.S. Capitol – “is not law and order (but) mob rule.” And it called Vice President Mike Pence to “seriously consider” calling on the Trump Cabinet “to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.”

Adopted Feb. 10, 1967, the 25th Amendment covers issues related to presidential succession and incapacity. Among other things, it allows for a sitting president to be removed, either temporarily or permanently if deemed unable or unwilling to perform the duties of the office.

But it requires the vice president and a “majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,” to declare in writing the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

Were Section 4 of the amendment invoked, Vice President Pence would immediately become president, though only until President-elect Joe Biden were to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

In conversations with TheDetroitBureau.com, officials with several automakers expressed similar concerns about what could happen should Trump remain in office during the next two weeks, escalating his efforts to reverse the results of the November election. On Tuesday afternoon, the president told his followers gathered in Washington, including members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys, to go home. But he also praised them and further escalated his claims that the election was stolen.

Shortly afterwards, Twitter announced a 12-hour ban on posts by the president.

A Trump supporter carrying a Confederate battle flag wanders the Capitol Building. (Photo courtesy NBC News.)

(As Biden’s new Transportation chief, “Mayor Pete” will face massive list of automotive challenges.)

With so much at risk, automakers tend to avoid direct involvement in politics. Ford, General Motors and Toyota have all come in for beatings from the Twitter-loving Trump since he launched his campaign and captured the White House more than five years ago. But all three also, as an official with one company said on background, “felt it necessary to speak out” in light of the Wednesday riots.

“The peaceful transition of power is a cornerstone of American democracy, and regardless of politics the violence at the U.S. Capitol does not reflect who we are as a nation. It’s imperative that we come together as a country and reinforce the values and ideals that unite us,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in a statement to TheDetroitBureau.com.

With similar sentiments, Toyota said in a statement requested by TheDetroitBureau.com: “Lawlessness has no place in our society. Toyota urges everyone to demonstrate restraint and patience, and allow for the peaceful transfer of power that is the hallmark of our country. Tomorrow is a brighter day and democracy will, and always has, prevailed.”

The timing of Wednesday’s terrorist assault on the Capitol was no coincidence. It was intentionally planned to disrupt the Constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College votes that would complete the presidential election process and officially name Joe Biden the incoming president.

“On a day which should be a reaffirmation of one of the most important democratic ideals, the peaceful transition of power stemming from a free and fair election, we saw actions that are the antithesis of those ideals. Beyond the physical damage to our Capitol and the attacks on public servants, these were destructive acts against our shared principles and beliefs,” Ford Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley said in a joint statement sent to TheDetroitBureau.com.

“There are no easy lessons to learn from this moment. It is clear that there will be more difficult days ahead as our country tries to overcome the things that challenge and divide us: a public health crisis, the lack of faith in public institutions, and a fractured sense of what we value as Americans.

“These problems can and must be resolved,” the two executives stressed.

(Trump attacks Ford after it agrees to a clean car deal with California.)

After a roughly eight-hour delay, during which rioters ransacked the offices of some lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the counting of the Electoral College votes resumed.

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Japan Joins Growing List of Countries Set to Ban Sales of Gas-Powered Vehicles

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga supports the move to ban the sale of non-electric new vehicles staring in 2035.

Despite strong pushback from the country’s largest automaker, Japan has announced plans to halt the sale of vehicles relying solely on internal combustion engines after 2035.

The move means the Asian nation will join a growing list of countries planning to phase out vehicles powered by gas or diesel, including both the United Kingdom and Norway. A number of other countries, including France and Germany, are considering similar bans.

Vehicles with internal combustion engines won’t be banned entirely. Automakers will still be able to market hybrids in Japan, regulators ruled. Even so, the plan released on Christmas Day was a significant victory for Japanese environmentalists considering it was strongly opposed by key industry leaders, including Toyota President Akio Toyoda who warned earlier this month that a broad shift to electric vehicles could cause the auto industry’s traditional business model “to collapse.”

(Toyota boss Akio Toyoda remains EV skeptic.)

Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s top officer, is against the ban.

As the head of Japan’s largest and most powerful company – and in his role as the head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association – Toyoda hoped to convince regulators to back off on the proposed ban. But it had widespread backing from other quarters, including Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

In October, shortly after assuming his post, Suga had pledged to cut Japan’s carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 while indicating he supported a shift to battery-powered vehicles.

Global sales of electrified vehicles remain modest, running in single digits in all but a handful of markets, even when including hybrids, PHEVs and fuel-cell vehicles, as well as pure battery-electric vehicles. But demand is expected to increase sharply as key obstacles, such as range, cost and public charging, are addressed. It also will help that scores of new BEVs are scheduled to go into production in the coming years, proponents say.

While Japanese automakers were pioneers with their early push to bring hybrids to market, “Japan is very far behind” in terms of developing more advanced products relying solely on battery power, Masayoshi Arai, an official with the country’s

Nissan is one of a few Japanese automakers dedicating resources to a move to EVs.

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said last week.

Toyota only recently introduced a BEV model in Europe, though it has announced plans to add two more – one through the flagship Toyota division, a second under the Lexus badge. It also this month revealed an all-electric microcar targeting the Japanese home market. Only the Nissan and Mitsubishi brands, among Japanese automakers, have committed significant resources to the development of pure battery-electric vehicles and, even then, they have fallen behind key foreign rivals in terms of bringing new products to market.

(Toyota hopes to boost interest in hydrogen tech with second-generation Mirai.)

Toyota officials have, throughout the years, pointed to numerous concerns about BEVs, including their cost, limited range and other obstacles to widespread consumer acceptance. For his part, company chief Toyoda said this month that he feared a switch to all-electric models would seriously disrupt the classic automotive industry business model. He also raised questions about whether Japan’s electric grid could supply the needed energy — and, if it did add the generating capacity, he warned, that could actually increase the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

With the debut of the 2021 Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, Toyota’s hoping to spur interest in the tech again.

For his part, Japan’s new prime minister is downplaying such concerns and said that efforts to address greenhouse gas production “should be tackled as a strategy for growth, not as a limitation on growth.”

Downplaying the need for new coal or natural gas plants, the plan released by the Japanese government would add up to 45 gigawatts of new offshore wind generating capacity by 2040.

With the Christmas Day announcement, Japan becomes the second member of the Group of Seven, or G7, to lay out specific plans to ban non-electrified vehicles.

The UK originally had planned to do so by 2040 but now has pushed that target date up to 2030. Like Japan, its ban will continue to permit the sale of hybrids – but only through 2035, at which point only pure, zero-emissions vehicles will be able to be sold in Great Britain. That will include both BEVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

Despite its reticence about EVs, Toyota rolled out a new battery-electric car Dec. 25: the C+pod.

A handful of other countries, including Norway, have also laid out ZEV transition plans. So have some states and regions – including California and the Canadian province of British Columbia. A number of cities, such as London, Paris, Berlin and Mexico City, plan to bar vehicles not running in zero-emissions mode, meanwhile. China, meanwhile, has laid out plans to have “New Energy Vehicles,” plug-based models, reach 20% of the market by 2025. It is considering a total ban at a later date.

(Britain to ban sale of all new gas and diesel cars by 2030.)

With most of the country’s automakers reluctant to bring plug-based models to market, demand has grown far more slowly than in many other major regions. The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade noted that consumers purchased only 6,000 PHEVs and BEVs during the third quarter of 2020. By comparison, demand tripled in Europe to 270,000 – all-electric models accounting for roughly three-quarters of Norwegian sales. China, meanwhile, is expected to again top 1 million plug-based models for all of 2020.