Hey guys. I’ve been able to meet some of you at the last couple TAC events. Wanted to share some updates on our Land Cruisers.
I've been a Toyota guy for a while. I bought a 2015 Tundra 3-4 years ago and started building it into a hunting/overlanding rig. I think it works well for its intended purpose and plan to use this for the next decade or so. It is a dedicated purpose vehicle - we have DDs and this one does not get driven much around town. Most of the time, it lives in the barn behind our home.
I have a longterm interest in the Land Cruiser platforms. Had some experiences with Land Cruisers growing up and have made a couple trips to Africa where we used 70s in the bush on safari. I’ve tracked Land Cruiser auctions on the BringATrailer website and the IH8Mud classifieds for years but never pulled the trigger.
In the late 80s, a high school buddy bought a 77 FJ40. I had never seen anything like it and dreamed about about owning one someday, but no way was I owning one as a high school or college student. Fast forward to earlier this year and I was ready to buy a Side-By-Side ATV and my wife said “You know….you always wanted a 40 and this SXS is about the same price.” So I started reconsidering the SXS plan.
Several years ago, a friend in Columbia MO restored a 68 FJ40. You can see that restoration thread here. I ran into him a year or so ago and asked him how the FJ was and he told me he sold it on BAT to a guy from Pennsylvania. Rats….wish I would have known it was for sale. This June, I get a call out of the blue from Pennsylvania….guy says he owns Peter’s 40 but thinking about selling it.
Ended up agreeing to buy it the 40, but the transaction was held up by some PA title issues. Issues were resolved a week or so ago and this week, this 40 came home to live in KC.
Just after college, my wife worked for a doc in Olathe that bought a new 1992 80. He ended up taking that vehicle to Africa multiple times and I believe still owns it today. His 80 inspired me to own one of my own someday. But I did not plan on buying an 80 anytime soon. I was just waiting on the 40.
However, in August, this 1991 FJ80 popped up here in KC. Although i was not in the market, I looked hard at it and ended up buying it. I have a fair amount of work to do on the rig, but it is a solid platform to start with.
So now we own three Toyotas, including two Land Cruisers. My wife has started telling her friends that I’m a land cruiser collector. I do not think two qualifies as a collection but they are cool rigs.
A bit of a regret is that I’ll be working on two at a time and will not have the time to really get to know one vehicle well. I don’t have a lot of mechanical skills but will figure this out as I go along.
I've been a Toyota guy for a while. I bought a 2015 Tundra 3-4 years ago and started building it into a hunting/overlanding rig. I think it works well for its intended purpose and plan to use this for the next decade or so. It is a dedicated purpose vehicle - we have DDs and this one does not get driven much around town. Most of the time, it lives in the barn behind our home.
I have a longterm interest in the Land Cruiser platforms. Had some experiences with Land Cruisers growing up and have made a couple trips to Africa where we used 70s in the bush on safari. I’ve tracked Land Cruiser auctions on the BringATrailer website and the IH8Mud classifieds for years but never pulled the trigger.
In the late 80s, a high school buddy bought a 77 FJ40. I had never seen anything like it and dreamed about about owning one someday, but no way was I owning one as a high school or college student. Fast forward to earlier this year and I was ready to buy a Side-By-Side ATV and my wife said “You know….you always wanted a 40 and this SXS is about the same price.” So I started reconsidering the SXS plan.
Several years ago, a friend in Columbia MO restored a 68 FJ40. You can see that restoration thread here. I ran into him a year or so ago and asked him how the FJ was and he told me he sold it on BAT to a guy from Pennsylvania. Rats….wish I would have known it was for sale. This June, I get a call out of the blue from Pennsylvania….guy says he owns Peter’s 40 but thinking about selling it.
Ended up agreeing to buy it the 40, but the transaction was held up by some PA title issues. Issues were resolved a week or so ago and this week, this 40 came home to live in KC.
Just after college, my wife worked for a doc in Olathe that bought a new 1992 80. He ended up taking that vehicle to Africa multiple times and I believe still owns it today. His 80 inspired me to own one of my own someday. But I did not plan on buying an 80 anytime soon. I was just waiting on the 40.
However, in August, this 1991 FJ80 popped up here in KC. Although i was not in the market, I looked hard at it and ended up buying it. I have a fair amount of work to do on the rig, but it is a solid platform to start with.
So now we own three Toyotas, including two Land Cruisers. My wife has started telling her friends that I’m a land cruiser collector. I do not think two qualifies as a collection but they are cool rigs.
A bit of a regret is that I’ll be working on two at a time and will not have the time to really get to know one vehicle well. I don’t have a lot of mechanical skills but will figure this out as I go along.
Last edited:
