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Toyota LandCruiser celebrates 70th anniversary with a special edition – UPDATE

The Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series is one of the oldest vehicles on sale in Australia, and changes are few and far between – even when celebrating a 70th anniversary.


The Toyota LandCruiser nameplate has celebrated its 70th anniversary with its most iconic model receiving scarcely any changes or candles on its cake – and the differences are so subtle Toyota Australia initially mixed up the photos.

Toyota has today issued a photo of the anniversary edition of the LandCruiser 70 Series after initially distributing the wrong image, an easy mistake given the minor changes.

Below left is the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series in showrooms today, and below right is the anniversary model. Both appear to be computer-generated images, as the special edition doesn't arrive until September 2021.

With the Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series all but sold out while showrooms wait for the new-generation 300 Series to arrive later in the year, responsibility for the birthday celebrations fell to the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series workhorse models.

The current generation Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series line-up dates back to the 1980s.

Above: The last time Toyota Australia did an anniversary edition of the LandCruiser 70 Series, in 2001.

While age has not wearied it – the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series continues to remain hugely popular in outback Australia where they’re as common as Toyota Corollas in the suburbs – changes are few and far between. And this latest special edition is no exception.

Changes to the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series have occurred at a glacial pace over the past 35 years; air-conditioning only became standard three years ago, cruise control was added four years ago, and power windows are still not standard on all variants today.

Modest changes to the anniversary edition of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series will be included on a special batch of the 79 Series single-cab ute, 79 Series double-cab ute, and 76 Series wagon. All examples will be based on the better-equipped GXL model grade.

 

Above: Can we please have a discussion about bringing back the styleside ute tub? It would have made a great addition to an anniversary model, for example. Surely not everyone wants a dropside ute tray.  

The 70th anniversary editions will gain a black “heritage grille” with TOYOTA lettering, a black front bumper, black fender flares, darkened 16-inch alloy wheels, tinted headlamp bezels, and front foglights and daytime running lights have been upgraded to LEDs.

Each example will be distinguished by a ‘Heritage’ LandCruiser badge above the front wheelarch, as well as a 70th Anniversary logo.

Above: Toyota Australia released this image of the interior, however it came with a disclaimer that this was a pre-production vehicle. It appears to have a HiLux steering wheel (minus buttons), in which case does that mean the 70 Series will eventually gain a HiLux infotainment system which can be controlled via steering wheel buttons?

The interior of 70th anniversary editions will come with black cloth trim, and a black leather-accented steering wheel and gear knob.

The instrument panel has woodgrain-look trim and there are silver accents for the air vents and a black panel for the power window switch trims in the doors.

A new black centre console comes with two additional 2.1-amp Type A USB chargers and a pair of cupholders.

In every other regard, the special editions are the same as the rest of the current Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series range, powered by a 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 (151kW/430Nm) paired to a five-speed manual transmission.

An automatic is still not available, and only the single-cab ute gets five airbags. Other variants of the 70 Series soldier on with just two airbags and, as a result, are not eligible for the latest five-star safety rating.

The limited edition models retain the 70 Series’ low-range gearing, 3500kg braked towing capacity, front and rear differential locks, a snorkel air intake, and 130 litres of fuel capacity.

Toyota says 600 examples of the LandCruiser 70th Anniversary edition will be produced – 320 double cabs, 200 single cabs and 80 wagons – available in three colours, white, red, and beige.

The anniversary models are due to begin arriving in dealerships in September 2021 priced from $80,050 (single cab), $82,600 (double cab) and $78,500 (wagon) before on-road costs.

It comes as Toyota reports 10 million LandCruiser-badged vehicles have been sold worldwide since 1954, including 1.14 million in Australia to date.

The platinum anniversary – 1 August 2021 – marks 70 years to the day since the Japanese debut of the Toyota BJ, which was renamed LandCruiser three years later.

Toyota originally developed the BJ four-wheel drive in 1951 for use by Japan’s National Police Reserve.

The military-grade vehicle earned praise – and a fleet order – when a Toyota test driver drove a prototype to the sixth of 10 checkpoints on the 3775m Mt Fuji – higher than anybody had thought possible in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

In 1954, Toyota changed the name to LandCruiser. The following year, the second-generation was launched with a redesigned look for civilian use. And the rest is history.

The ‘recent’ history of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series

  • 1985 Model introduction with six-cylinder petrol and diesel power (replaced 40 Series)
  • 2007 Turbo diesel V8 introduced
  • 2007 Power windows became optional
  • 2009 Dual front airbags and tilt and reach steering introduced
  • 2012 Anti-lock brakes introduced
  • 2016 Single-cab models equipped with five airbags, all models gain stability control, traction control and cruise control
  • 2017 Air-conditioning standard across the range
  • 2020 Navigation standard across the range
  • 2021 Power windows still not standard on all models, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto not available at all

Is it just us, or does the naff windscreen sticker on this original Toyota LandCruiser really ruin this photo above?

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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