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2026 Chevrolet Tahoe ReviewThis Toyota FJ Cruiser Off-Roads Retro Style
This Toyota FJ Cruiser combined retro styling and legit off-road chops to make it one of the most unique and capable used 4x4 you can find today.
FJs of Futures Past
Retro throwbacks in car design are a hit and miss proposition. Drawing elements from a beloved or revered car and reinterpreting them through a modern design lens can result in eyesores like the Chevy SSR (yikes!). But the same process can yield compelling vehicles like the current Ford Bronco which deftly borrows from the first-generation Bronco of the 1970s. Count the Toyota FJ Cruiser in the latter camp. That mid-aughts off-roader took the looks and rugged capabilities of the old school Land Cruiser FJ40 and reimagined them for the 21st century to create a neo-classic 4×4 that’s only now becoming fully appreciated.
Our appreciation for the FJ Cruiser led us to seek out a particularly compelling example on Carsforsale.com, a Trail Team Ultimate Edition from the final 2014 production year. Below we’ll highlight the off-roader’s unique origins and explain why this listing might be the ultimate of FJ Cruisers.
FJ Cruiser Background
The idea for what would become the FJ Cruiser began back in the 1990s. The 80 Series, and later 100 Series, Land Cruiser was trending away from its origins as a barebones jeep analogue and toward a modern SUV. It wasn’t so much that creature comforts were an issue, and the 80 Series was plenty tough and capable, but the Land Cruiser’s shift left Toyota without a direct competitor to the rough and rugged Jeep. Thus, a concept for a new off-roader was drawn up based on the classic FJ40 Land Cruiser.
The new concept debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2003 with many of the same design elements that would make their way to the production model, which debuted two years later at the Chicago Auto Show. The Toyota FJ Cruiser made its way to dealerships in 2006 as a 2007 model. Sales were impressive, topping 56,000 and 55,000, respectively, in its first two years. Sadly, the Great Recession cut into auto sales as a whole and the FJ Cruiser’s numbers dropped significantly, with just over 28,600 in 2008 and a mere 12,000 units for 2009. Sales failed to top 20,000 units in a year prior to the FJ Cruiser’s eventual cancellation with its final 2014 model year.
Only a few years after the FJ Cruiser was discontinued did we see the massive boom in off-roading and overlanding explode across automotive circles. Prices for reliable off-roaders, especially Toyotas, spiked, including those of used FJ Cruisers. Today, the FJ Cruiser offers a unique take on the highly capable 4×4, one part legit off-roader and one part uniquely quirky retro SUV.
Vintage Design
The front end of the FJ Cruiser is its most direct homage to the original FJ40. It features a pair of round headlights housed in the white center grille complete with TOYOTA spelled out across it at a time when all other Toyota’s carried the brand’s badge out front. The FJ Cruiser’s high stance and two-tone white roof also harkened to the OG FJ40. Like other less successful retro designs of the time, Toyota beefed up the body paneling so that the new FJ Cruiser looked a lot like an FJ40 that had been gobbling protein powder and trying to max out its deadlift.
Off-Road Wonder
The FJ Cruiser was designed to not just look like the FJ40 but to perform as well or better off-road than its vintage inspiration. To that end, Toyota built the FJ Cruiser with the same underpinnings as the Land Cruiser Prado and the 4Runner. This meant the same kind of bond-on-frame construction and the same 4.0L V6 (239 horsepower and 278 lb.-ft. of torque). The FJ Cruiser also got Toyota’s A-TRAC traction control system, 9.6 inches of ground clearance, and shorter overhangs than the 4Runner for off-road-friendly 34° approach and 30° departure angles. The FJ Cruiser could be optioned with either a five-speed automatic with part-time four-wheel drive or a six-speed manual with full-time four-wheel drive. Either version could be optioned with a locking rear differential, which became standard on the six-speed starting with the 2011 model year. Toyota benchmarked the FJ Cruiser’s off-roadability against the Jeep, even taking the prototype for testing on the Rubicon Trail.
Unique Features
Toyota is a notoriously conservative company when it comes to design, think Corolla for nearly all of its existence, not exactly head-turning. However, there have been some notable exceptions where designers were no longer required to play it safe, and the FJ Cruiser was clearly one of these instances. The FJ Cruiser’s oddity goes well beyond its bodybuilder bulkiness.
Just look at the FJ Cruiser’s rear doors, they’re rear hinging! Sure, this isn’t always convenient, but it is always cool looking. Then there are the windshield wipers, of which there are three to maximize coverage over the near vertical windshield and contend with the copious mud splatter you’ll inevitably encounter off-roading your FJ Cruiser. There are also little lights affixed to the side mirror housing, though they’re not actually bright enough to be much more than decorative, but again, they do look cool. Both practical and aesthetically pleasing are the factory-equipped roof rack and armor-like body cladding.
The FJ Cruiser’s cabin continues the theme of practical meets funky. The controls are big and chunky, easily used even with winter gloves on. The floor is rubberized rather than carpeted to make cleaning out dust and debris easier. The dash and door cards get body color matching paneling. A trio of gauges are set atop the dashboard: a compass, a thermometer, and an inclinometer.
Special Editions
Though the FJ Cruiser didn’t have the longest production run, that didn’t stop Toyota from creating plenty of special edition versions. Among these was the TRD Special Edition which added all-terrain tires, a TRD cat-back exhaust, a locking rear diff, the A-TRAC system, rock rails, and off-road shocks as well as niceties like a nine-speaker sound system, TRD floor mats, and a unique shifter knob.
The Trail Team Special Edition, arriving for the 2008 model year, sported 16-inch alloy wheels and TRD Bilstein shocks. Rather than the typical two-tone, the Trail Team sported special year-specific paint jobs and black trim, including on the grille bezel. For the FJ Cruiser’s final year Toyota released the Trail Team Ultimate Edition with an upgraded and lifted suspension that included new racing dampers with rear remote reservoir, TRD bash plate, and a unique Heritage Blue paint scheme with the grille bezel again in the classic white.
This FJ Cruiser
This cool car find, a 2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser, is one of 2,500 of those Trail Team Ultimate Editions. Beyond the FJ Cruiser’s signature styling and baseline capabilities, this version came equipped from the factory will a gaggle of upgrades and additional features. These included the TRD Bilstein suspension, all-terrain tires wrapping 16-inch TRD wheels, rock sliders, and a TRD front skid plate. This FJ Cruiser also offers the A-TRAC traction control and crawl control systems as well as a tow package (the FJ Cruiser is rated to tow up to 5,000 lbs.). As a Team Trail Ultimate Edition, this FJ Cruser comes in Heritage Blue with a Dark Charcoal interior. It carries 68,739 on the odometer with the seller noting that air filters (cabin and engine) have been replaced, oil changed, and front brakes and rotors replaced. Priced at $49,995, this rare Team Trail Ultimate Edition Toyota FJ Cruiser is an historic blending of form and function.
