Media FJ40 Pics from "Back in the day" (70's, 80's)

Chamba · Nov 29, 2025

Living in the Past said:
On the post above yours didn't seem to help that it was one of those not too short and not too long 40 series.

I understand why the mid wheel base never made to the US being they really were after the small car market originally. But why Australia only seen a few mid wheel base 40 series in the early years is a mystery.

The mid wheel base did make it to the US in the form of the 45 fixed top pickup in the 60s. From what I've been told, Toyota was shocked by how few of the short wheel base 45s sold that they never tried selling them again. Then I imagine the Jeep Scrambler sealed the deal when it sold less than 20% of what AMC thought it would.

Besides, by that point the Trekker was probably what they hoped would grab the small off road segment for them.

Australia could just be a simple tax issue in the 70's: anything over 94" wheelbase was a utility. Thus the 96" 43 incurred the same tax consequences as the 104" Troopy... so why bother?

devo · Nov 29, 2025

Any thoughts on why the 43 was so prevalent in Colombia only? Was it a place to “dump “ the mid wheel base that wouldn’t sell elsewhere?

Chamba · Nov 29, 2025

Many years ago when I was in Columbia (in the late '90s) I was enamoured with all the 43s running around (the first I'd ever seen in the wild- the first was at Marv Spector's shop in about '94). Many of them were still in use by the government and many older ones were in private hands but still had traces of city markings.

I asked one of our drivers about them on the way to the airport one day and he said that when he was a kid almost all the government and police cars were Land Cruisers.

I suspect like much of Latin America many of the new cars are originally bought by government, rental agencies and the military. These are then sold used after 10-15 years to the public at a price they can more easily afford than a new car. So, if the government had some kind of deal with Toyota (which seems likely, as that's also why Venezuela had so many Land Cruisers), then perhaps they bought huge fleets of 43s over the years and they eventually moved on to private ownership.

Given we all know that the 40 series is extremely hard to kill, it makes sense that there would be a fair few left alive despite the harsh lives they were forced to live.

Living in the Past · Nov 29, 2025

Chamba said:
The mid wheel base did make it to the US in the form of the 45 fixed top pickup in the 60s. From what I've been told, Toyota was shocked by how few of the short wheel base 45s sold that they never tried selling them again. Then I imagine the Jeep Scrambler sealed the deal when it sold less than 20% of what AMC thought it would.

Besides, by that point the Trekker was probably what they hoped would grab the small off road segment for them.

Short wheel pickup with a small cab is a different market than a SUV. Couldn't imagine going on a long camping trip with three people in the cab of a fixed top 45. Those are worse than removable top 45. When I bought my 45 pickup I traveled to California/Nevada to look at three. One LWB and two SWB (65s with a removable tops). Would have been an SUV probably gone SWB instead went LWB for a truck.

As for Scrambler Jeep had the CJ6 before that which was rare to see when I first noticed one in 1975. Odd looking but departure was far better than the scrambler. Toyota's FJ43 while not as good departure as the CJ6 was better than the Scrambler. Comparing a Trekker to Land Cruiser is not apples to apples. By the time the Trekker came out the FJ40 was already under powered for its US made competition. Trekker was like the T100 introduction to the full time truck. How many V6 Tundras sold compared to V8?

No sure about the tax during the 70s on wheel base but the only two I remember were 62s. Former member owned one. Went to eBay but at the time didn't have the cash or connections to get it here. Only one I've ever seen with early version of soft top with hard doors. It was a 62. Believe I have another picture somewhere with FST bows.

Living in the Past · Nov 29, 2025

Looks the 62 ended in Germany. Post a few years ago said he bought a 62 FJ43 from Australia. Had it ten years and sitting waiting it's turn to be restored. Bull bar gone but color and mirrors arm is the same.