A weekend with the FJ Cruiser Trail Team

[Sporin]

I realize I'm preaching to the converted, but I thought I'd share....

The FJ Cruiser Trail Team attended our Yankee Toys Fall Gathering this weekend and really won a lot of people over. http://www.yankeetoys.org/

The truck flat out works. It wheels GREAT in most any condition, only being let down by it's stock ground clearance (easily rectified). The ATRAC is freakin' magic in mud and steep dirt covered rocks.

Obviously it's not a hardcore, Dana60-at-both-ends rockcrawler, but it will certainly handle anything the "casual" 'wheeler can dish out.

The Trail Team is a pretty neat marketing setup. They show up at your event, cook a BBQ for you, give you lots of REALLY nice shwag (multi-too, map case, hat) let you ride along and DRIVE offroad all you want, and are not the least bit "selly." Great group of people to have at an event. It's an interesting marketing effort, basically no TV and print is geared very specifically toward the offroad market.

We gave them the same 'wheeler earful they get from every group; needs a diesel, needs a solid front axle, etc.

I didn't sign up and drive as I was alone in my 4runner and didn't want to park it but a great many of our members DID and were really impressed. These are guys with Troopy's, FJ40's, BJ42's, FJ55's, FJ60's, the works.

We'll have some better pics of them on the hardcore stuff sometime this week and everyone gets them uploaded.

http://www.toyota.com/fjtrailteams

http://tlc.off-road.com/tlc/ar...20244

 

[Ba-Outfitters]

FJ Cruiser Trail team rocks

Not only are they not your typical salespeople.
They are incredible ambasssadors for the "sport" of off-roading.
Tim Scully and his team were always willing to help out with the rest of the crowd, and put up with all of the typical comments of "no rock stacking" etc.

At the coal Mine Tim took 45minutes to help troubleshoot one 40 that had electrical issues, when he certainly could have been out showing off the fj.
It is really nice that Toyota may be starting to have the focus on the off-road events marketing that Land Rover has had over the years. (ie. Camel Trophy truck series etc.)
I honestly thought that this would be a 1 year marketing scheme, but it looks like it will live for at least another year.

Kudos to the east coast trail team for a job well done. It was a pleasure wheeling with you all.

And for all the whining I hear about the FJ-cruiser not having this or that.... I sure haven't seen a lot of 100's on the trails around here, but I'll bet that within the next year or two there will be FJ's out there with us.

Bill Atkinson
'76 40