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This immaculately restored J60 Series Toyota Land Cruiser is about as rad as 4x4s come. Here’s what makes it special.
As Tough as They Come
1988 Toyota Land Cruiser – carsforsale.com | Shop 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser on Carsforsale.com
Among the 4×4 faithful, no other nameplate carries as much prestige as the venerated Toyota Land Cruiser. Its bullet-proof engines, old-school off-road architecture, and legendary durability make even long-in-the-tooth examples highly sought after (and priced accordingly). Among the many iterations and generations, the J60 generation, spanning from 1980 through 1992, is one of the most impressive. In the J60 Land Cruiser classic 80s aesthetics meets indefatigable reliability.
Today’s Cool Car Find is an impeccable example of a 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser, fully restored with numbers matching running gear and a killer set of period perfect decals. Here’s what makes it so great.
FJ60 Land Cruiser Specs
The J60 Land Cruiser was the second of the “station wagon” Land Cruisers, an offshoot from the more jeep-like FJ40, that began with the FJ50 which originally debuted in 1967. The “iron pig” Land Cruiser presaged the coming advent of modern SUVs with its family-friendly layout. The J60 Series continued the wagon body style, along with more creature comforts like standard AC and rear seat heating, power windows, and bucket seats rather than a bench up front.
The Land Cruiser FJ60 featured multiple different engines. It’s important here to pause and to a little explainer on Land Cruiser codes, starting with the J40 Series in 1960, the FJ code indicates a gas/petrol engine, the BJ code indicates a four-cylinder diesel, and the HJ code meant a straight-six diesel. (Prior to the J40s, the BJ code still meant a gas engine, specifically the B Type engine, from which the later F Type engine was developed.)
With all that said, the J60 Series Land Cruisers offered three different gas engines: a 4.2L straight-six (FJ60), a 4.0L 3F straight-six (FJ62), and then from 1988 onward, a new 4.0L 3F-E straight-six (also the FJ62), which upped output roughly 20 horsepower to 155 and 220 lb.-ft. of torque. The J60’s diesel engines, not available in the US, included a 3.4L inline-four (the BJ60), a 4.0L straight-six (the HJ60), and a 4.0L turbocharged straight-six (the HJ61).
In the US versions of the J60 Land Cruiser, a four-speed manual transmission was the only available until that 1988 update, when a new four-speed automatic replaced the manual. Elsewhere, the J60 carried a five-speed manual, which according to Land Cruiser aficionados was much superior to the four-speed manual and is often swapped in for either US four-speed.
This Cool Car: ’88 J60 Land Cruiser
Our Cool Car Find today is a 1988 FJ62 Toyota Land Cruiser. That model year is significant as 1988 marked major updates to the Land Cruiser. These included the more powerful 3F-E straight-six, a new four-speed automatic, and a revamped front end that traded round headlights for a set of squared quad lamps instead.
This Land Cruiser has been fully restored, just ten miles added since completion, with a total of just over 110,000 on the odometer. The J60 was built in both Japan and Venezuela (where it was called the Toyota Samurai). This factoid is relevant because this restoration was performed by a Venezuelan expert in Land Cruisers with over two dozen builds under his belt.
1988 Toyota Land Cruiser – carsforsale.com | Shop 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser on Carsforsale.com
This restoration has been masterfully executed for as close to factory new as you’re likely to ever see in a vintage Land Cruiser. And with just over 110,000 miles on it, this ultra-marathoner of an off roader has many more adventures yet to go.
