When did you buy your first 80? (1 Viewer)

[scottryana]

There is another thread that is debating if someone should buy an 80. I am just kind of curious if everyone kind of bought around a clustered time, say mid 2000's before 4 door jeeps, new tundra's, etc or if those vehicles already existed and you still bought an 80.

Thanks!

 

[ewillis]

I sold my 07 Tundra in 2013 and bought the 80.

 

[scottryana]

Well than please vote 2013

I sold my 07 Tundra in 2013 and bought the 80.

 

[chap79]

First one in ‘08, second in ‘15.

 

[ERG80]

Voted

 

[Red Merle]

I had an FJ62 back in 2003-2008 and I wanted an 80 back then, but they were way, way out of my price range at the time. The only reason I was able to afford(when I say that, I don't mean I couldn't afford a more expensive car, I just don't believe in car payments) the one I own now is because I swapped labor for half the asking price of the truck I have now knowing that I was going to dump a lot more money into it.

Before I bought the 80, I had a '73 Jeep Wagoneer, a '76 IHC Scout, an '84 4WD Toyota pickup, three 4WD Tacomas, a 4WD Tundra, a couple of early '80s Subaru 4WD wagons and an '86 4Runner along with about 30 other cars and other trucks over the years. The 80 was always the pinnacle of 4WDs for me, I just had to wait until I could justify owning one. I probably have the income now to pull a more expensive truck, but I still only want the 80. It's the best 4WD truck ever made in my opinion and I have no plans to ever get rid of mine now that I have it and and I have rebuilt most of the mechanical portions of it. If Land Rovers were as reliable as Toyotas are, I might want one of those, but they are not, so it's a moot argument in my mind.

 

[LINUS]

Bought the longtimer that has outlasted the 450 & the 40th A.E. ones in either Feb '00 or '01 (forget).

I finally had a good enough income my $18K for a FZJ 80 was reasonable in my mind. It was a goal realized & had been in my sights for easily since the '93-'94 had come out & I'd become familiar with the local Toyota showroom back then.

I still had the 1997 Toyota brochure when I bought it (lost it, was ~1/4" thick & had a backstory/development for the 80's - was pretty cool), it was a long time coming & had many friend's whose parents had owned 40's, 60's, 80's.

 

[scottryana]

Yeah my family was a Jeep family, we had Audi's and Jeeps, around 1993 when the "new" Grand Cherokee body style came out, we bought one. My uncle on the other hand was the Senator for Idaho and he was a Cadillac and Land Cruiser guy that same year they bought a Land Cruiser. I was so Jealous when they would come over in their great big 1993 Land Cruiser, as a kid maybe 13-14 years old I just remember it being massive.

Bought the longtimer that has outlasted the 450 & the 40th A.E. ones in either Feb '00 or '01 (forget).

I finally had a good enough income my $18K for a FZJ 80 was reasonable in my mind. It was a goal realized & had been in my sights for easily since the '93-'94 had come out & I'd become familiar with the local Toyota showroom back then.

I still had the 1997 Toyota brochure when I bought it (lost it, was ~1/4" thick & had a backstory/development for the 80's - was pretty cool), it was a long time coming & had many friend's whose parents had owned 40's, 60's, 80's.

 

[chap79]

The first time I did any work on one was in ‘96. I was hooked after that. Just took time for the dream to materialize for me to get my own.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Nov 1991. I was 16. I fell in love with a 40 Series in town. I went to the Toyota dealership and was told they weren’t available new and rarely saw them used. There was a new 80 Series there. I looked at it and knew it was bad a$$. I didn’t have the money for the one on the lot so I asked them how cheap I could buy a new one. The salesman, Bill Cook, walked me through the whole process. Subtracted the moonroof, running boards, roof rack, and cruise control on one to order. I went home and talked to my mom. She told me to sleep on it. The next day I talked to my father. He told me to buy a Chevy and not a “rice burner”. My mom took me to the dealership that afternoon. Then I waited for it to come in.

4-5 years later I looked at a Heep for my wife. I drove it around the block. The most embarrassing 2 minutes of my life.

 

[LINUS]

@scottryana - Haha exactly Ryan, -while my immediate family wasn't a "Cruiser-clan" it was the fact specifically 2 of my buddies families were that got me the introduction to the obsession.

One fam was 'in deep' - driveway was a 40/60 collection & a garaged FJ80 that was the DD. My friend's 1st vehicle was a 40 when we got licensed, but he was responsible for repairs & so we were really conservative about offroading unless his dad was with us (he taught us alot of wheel/winch tech, great guy).

Another wasn't as well-off but very free spirited car-camper -types, still had a V8 40 (his-he had a few derilic 40's too) and the V8 60 ( but his project) - I did more car camping with them than my own parents, and those memories cemented my own goal for one as more than 4 attached tires you drive.

I'm prob about 5yrs older than you based on model references, but sounds like we had very similar introductions to LC's.

 

[BILT4ME]

I have always wanted a Land Cruiser since I saw an article in Four Wheel and Off Road magazine in the early 1980's about the trucks in Reykjavik, Iceland.

We tried to test drive a 1996 model in 1998 and we're told that it was a high end vehicle and we would need to put down a deposit and all our information before driving it.
We couldn't afford it then and I didn't want to give that dealership all our information so I told them to pound sand and they would NEVER get our business.

Our neighbor's kid got a 1996 LC as his first car in 2007. He drove it hard and didn't take care of it. They had to get rid of it when he went to college, so we bought it and rebuilt it. It is now my daily driver.

I want another one just like it.

 

[Gabriel 71]

Saw an article in Peterson's about the fj and fzj back in the late 90's early 2000's and wanted one ever since. Got my chance in 2011 champagne locked 94 less than 200,000 bad seats bad paint but loved it. Bad price of gas in 2012 caused it's sale. Had long commute. Times changed and picked up my 97 in 2015 black locked and a bad head gasket. I didn't own the 94 long enough to do any real work on it. 97 I did the head , axles all work was my own hand. I thought I loved the 94 I really love my 97.

 

[flintknapper]

Got my '97 in 1999. Still loving it today. Plan on always having it.

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

1996 got my 1995 model which was turbo intercooled 4.5 petrol with full cage, strioped interior, fuel cell, laminated diff housing, polycarbonate windows, fibreglass panels, twin terratrips, and tonnes of other good stuff.

Had competed in 2 x Australian Safari s and finished second to the factory Holden Isuzu team that year.

Was an awesome truck well ahead of its time.

Have has 23 80s total, only spec level I havent has is 95-97 Sahara factory TD spec.

Still have SNOWY in the USA.

 

[arcticaaron]

Bought my ‘97 in 2017, selling my 2015 4 door tundra next month to daily drive the 80. Love it!

 

[retrofive]

2007

First rode in a 60 and 80 in 1994, loved them but out of my $$ range back then.

 

[HardyDanger]

In college I had a '72 40 in '95 for 2 weeks, bought it for 2500, thought I got a deal, hindsight: I'm pretty sure the lift kit was from a 1980 novelty golf cart,...it lasted one trail ride in Colorado, left me stranded in the back country (not a fan of the PO) sold it for 1000 to the mechanic, took a bus home. licked my wounds.

Spent the next 20 years trying to find a way back to a LC, and bought the 97 in 2016

 

[Dave 2000]

I purchased my 80 after having a LR Discovery for a few years, the Discovery built for competition did well however, there was ALWAYS something to fix at the weekend, a leak here a rattle there.

The quality of construction inherent in the 80 just meant less running repairs, the seed was sown and I went to the UK and brought one back with me to Spain.

Mods and service record link in my sig.

Regards

Dave

 

[nukegoat]

I bought one because in 2013 they were cheap and haggard but had 4 doors. If I were a rich man I probably would have bought a JKU due to ease of modification and aftermarket support.