Help Determining What Country My Weirdly-Optioned 80 is From (2 Viewers)

[kw90surf]

Calling all 80 series forensic specialists.

I bought this 80 about a year ago that had been imported from South Africa, and would really like to know more about its history. I’m hoping some of you might recognize certain features and be able to help me pick out where it’s from.

It’s a 1991 FJ80, and running the vin on ToyoDIY gives me “FJ80L-GNPNEA - Europe/North America”

It’s optioned identical to a North American FJ80, except:

• It has “four wheel drive” side mouldings
• It has no 3rd row seat provisions
• It had a single-fold rear seat, with only 3 of the 4 floor brackets used. The 4th hole had an OEM-looking rubber plug and no captured nut
• Solid pane rear quarter windows
• Speedometer in kilometres
• No evidence of port-installed roof rack
• Evidence of a front-side marker light hole having been welded over on one side (but also evidence of paint work on that side - maybe irrelevant?)

Otherwise, it has:

• 3FE with full emissions package (and USA emissions compliance sticker under the hood - did they all get this?)
• Auto
• Full-time 4wd
• Power mirrors/windows/locks
• Slider-type climate controls with AC
• Semi-floater with drums
• Sunroof
• No “VX” or “GXL” badging
• SR5 style alloys
• Amber marker lights

Which all seem consistent with North American spec.

The previous owner stated he thought it was from Dubai and then imported through Botswana. The guy who was looking after it said he thought it was an embassy vehicle. I did some digging and apparently it was registered in South Africa from at least 1997, and had 6 owners. I found no Carfax record of it in Europe, and nothing in USA prior to its import in 2019.

Any ideas???

 

[jjdeneen918]

Antennas on both fenders?

 

[suzuguru]

Whatever the case, it's awful clean to have gone through 6 owners.

 

[LandLocked93]

Missed a couple things:
1 - factory rear swing out
coupled with
2 - fender flares
in a 1991 year model

What you have there I believe is (what ultimately turned out to be) a bonafide Canadian spec mounty.
Kinda like the Canadian import SKS's, which were without the 10-round mag and double-sided bayonet freedom.

Could be wrong tho.

 

[kw90surf]

Antennas on both fenders?

Yeah, that struck me as weird too. That fender also appears to have had a quarter panel indicator hole that was welded in, and there’s some evidence of paint work on that side. It’s a non-op antenna, maybe someone replaced the fender with a JDM/Euro fender and threw an antenna in the hole for appearances sake? Their antennas are on the LH side I think.

 

[kw90surf]

Whatever the case, it's awful clean to have gone through 6 owners.

No kidding! Overall it’s very clean and tidy. I was pretty surprised when I was told that

 

[kw90surf]

Missed a couple things:
1 - factory rear swing out
coupled with
2 - fender flares
in a 1991 year model

What you have there I believe is (what ultimately turned out to be) a bonafide Canadian spec mounty.
Kinda like the Canadian import SKS's, which were without the 10-round mag and double-sided bayonet freedom.

Could be wrong tho.

The tire carrier is actually a Kaymar, interestingly enough. I have an OEM swing out I was gonna put on but the Kaymar is frame mounted and I like it.

Most 1991’s in Europe/NA got fender flares no? I find it weird that it has the flares and the sunroof with the one-piece bench and no 3rd row seats though

It is a perfect spec for Canada though you’re right!

 

[LandLocked93]

The tire carrier is actually a Kaymar, interestingly enough. I have an OEM swing out I was gonna put on but the Kaymar is frame mounted and I like it.

Do tell indeed.
So...whatchya gonna do with the extra swing out?
Have the quarter panel interior plate to go with?

Most 1991’s in Europe/NA got fender flares no?

In NA, not that I'm aware of but could be wrong. Most were fenders only.

I find it weird that it has the flares and the sunroof with the one-piece bench and no 3rd row seats though

Flares AND sunroof?!
You arrogant imperialist!
What's next?
Gonna tell us about the factory winch and powered JDM privacy curtains?
lol jk

Or not?

 

[kw90surf]

Do tell indeed.
So...whatchya gonna do with the extra swing out?
Have the quarter panel interior plate to go with?

In NA, not that I'm aware of but could be wrong. Most were fenders only.

Flares AND sunroof?!
You arrogant imperialist!
What's next?
Gonna tell us about the factory winch and powered JDM privacy curtains?
lol jk

Or not?

The extra swing out is spoken for unfortunately! An aircraft mechanic friend of mine made a set of braces out of titanium and carbon fibre

It doesn’t have either of those! It did have a centre console fridge, but some forensics revealed that it was retro-fitted and non-operational.

 

[suzuguru]

OP, I just noticed your location. I've been reading about Oak Island ever since my grandfather first told me the story when I was about 9 years old, and I am 45 now. Such an interesting story. I was afraid that I would never learn anymore, and then the Lagina Brothers came along with their show on the History Channel. It's a pretty aggravating show, but I've learned a lot of very interesting stuff about that story by watching it over the years. It would be interesting if they found treasure, but I'm more interested in what happened there, and why. Don't mean to de-rail your thread. Just thought I would mention it, since that's up in your neck of the woods.

 

[kw90surf]

OP, I just noticed your location. I've been reading about Oak Island ever since my grandfather first told me the story when I was about 9 years old, and I am 45 now. Such an interesting story. I was afraid that I would never learn anymore, and then the Lagina Brothers came along with their show on the History Channel. It's a pretty aggravating show, but I've learned a lot of very interesting stuff about that story by watching it over the years. It would be interesting if they found treasure, but I'm more interested in what happened there, and why. Don't mean to de-rail your thread. Just thought I would mention it, since that's up in your neck of the woods.

Yessir! I’m actually moving this spring and my new place will be about 15 minutes away from Oak Island.

I was always interested in it as a kid too, and their show re-ignited my interest and I’ve binge watched a lot of it. The re-hashing gets annoying and the “could it be???” has turned into a bit of a meme, but I think it’s all worth it if the show can fund their dig and they can finally find out what went on there.

Cheers

 

[suzuguru]

I agree 100%, especially with the "could it be" part. My wife hates that voice saying that.

Good luck with the move!

 

[kw90surf]

A little more info - A couple South African guys replied to a Facebook post I made in their Land Cruiser group. Apparently if a vehicle with a speedo/odo in miles is imported, it's *not* a requirement for any kind of inspection for it to have a metric cluster installed. So either it came with this cluster, or someone swapped it out because they wanted to. Interesting.