60 vs 62 Which do you prefer and why?

[Devils Paw 80]

Looking to add a weekend rig to get out and play in the beautiful high desert we live in. My husband has concerns in the fact that I like to have the ability to drive quickly. While I know these rigs aren't made for speed he has mentioned we have speed limits of 65 mph to get to our home. His thought process and research is showing FJ 60 = 60mph capped. I love the looks and manual transmission of the 60 however the ability to go at a little higher speed and ability to take a road trip uo the mountains is appealing too. Thoughts and real life experience? I currently have a 200 series but want something cooler to explore with.

What's your budget? Probably quite a bit if you're looking for a nice 60 series. If your pockets are deep, this is an alternative I would consider: Colorado: 1976/Toyota Land Cruiser/ FJ55 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/classifieds/colorado-1976-toyota-land-cruiser-fj55.588/

For less money than a 60 you could buy a really nice 1st generation 4Runner with EFI, a manual transmission and better MPG. Also manual windows and locks. Just a thought...

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

I have owed both series of land cruisers. And I gotta say the 60 wins hands down for me. once you have the carb professionally rebuilt and dial that tractor motor in it is a reliable engine. I also enjoy shifting through the gears on a 60 series. yes both will come to a crawl pace on hills but when you get a good run a few miles before it can gain some ground but not for long.

 

[franklin40]

i like the look of the 62 better personally. i love the 4 headlights for extra night lighting. i love the look of the dash (but finding an ac bezel to replace the old cracked one has proven difficult (rust farmers came though in the end). i love the power locks and windows for kids. i didn’t love the automatic in the end and did a diesel with an h55. now it’s the best of all worlds!!

not everyone will agree with me here but that’s my 2cents. mechanical stuff fails less often than electrical but it takes more effort to open windows and doors with out it. if it’s a back country warrior then you’re not like to lock your doors so it’s not an issue. mine is my daily driver so that was important to me. there are loads of upgrades you can do to fix or improve the electrical. all depends on how much time and $ you want to spend tinkering.

 

[BurntToast]

4 eyes 4 life

But yes the stock auto/3fe is miserably slow. Nothing a V8 can’t fix.

Also if you regularly go onto military bases and they ask you to roll your back windows down, it’s a lot easier to do in a 62

 

[Skniper]

All excellent points made for both models. And having both is possible.

When shopping for a 60 series way back when, I loved the styling of the 60 and the idea of a manual and clutch in an old style truck. Also loved the "refinement" of the 62, mostly interior. Ended up with 1990 62 in almost pristine condition with all the 3 point belts, headrests, dash, power stuff, EFI. It took a few years for the plotting to begin, then the parts hoarding, then "built" the 6X series I wanted.

At one point I had 400W of 4 eyes going down range which was great (but pulled LOTS of power even with upgraded harness), but still yearned for the classic 60 styling.
So she got her eyes done...

The power windows became woefully slow over the years, and I did all the fixes to make them better (not the relay fix, still considering reversing back to that though).
I grew tired of them and wanted some 3rd world reliability. All my power window switches look like this now...

I did appreciate the power locks, so I found this nifty item from a euro spec Cruiser (pretty sure I'm the only kid on my block with one of these)...

No need to rehash the auto transmission issues, it propelled us well for many years, and I ran it hard...it died completely.
The auto shifter looks like this now....

There's a couple other items I still want to swap/add (maybe), but every mod done is 100% OEM Toyota, plug-n-play, and completely reversible. Except the transmission sh!tbox, the only way that changes back is with an 8-holed Bowtie stuffed in the front.

To each their own, but I wanted a little of each.