I'm an expat working in the UAE, and lucky to have tracked two FZJ-80s in excellent shape.
The specs are GCC, and quite different from the vehicles we get in North America.
Presenting,
Elsie, light blue 1994 Land Cruiser VXR fully automatic; and El So, white 1993 same specs but with manual gears.
The trucks perform splendidly in all regards over here and therefore remain mostly stock. In the interior of the UAE, where I live, right on the edge of the Rub al Khali desert, I drive four kinds of terrain: long highway drives at incredibly hot temperatures, harsh washboard dusty tracks, gravel mountain tracks, but mainly soft dune sands.
The FZJ-80 is without any doubt the best-suited vehicle of its age for these conditions – in fact, Land Cruiser is king out here, and the 80 series in particular made Toyota famous. Nissan Patrol is the closest competitor, but the early 90s models were still a bit on the rough side.
Like a VIP 4x4 limo on tarmac, other minor cars make way; tough as old bedouin sandals on hard tracks; and powerful enough on sand to climb even high dunes! The 93 has 230,000km and the 94 has 100k more.
Front and rear factory lockers, factory winch with remote (missing on the 94), dual A/C front and rear, ice-maker cool box, fuel sub-tank, CD-player, sunroof, rear barn doors, 4x4 dash button (for 94), compass, stopwatch, alarm clock, etc., etc., and just plain good-looking all around!
Rear jump seats are really handy, as they fold up and down easily – but no seatbelts! And no cruise control
Rear pintle hook is great for towing out others, and I also have a tow-hook to pull a quad trailer – to this day never got stuck, not even once! Whenever the desert catches me out, the diff locks take control of the situation and I’m out.
1994 automatic gears model
1993 manual gears model
Overall one of the great trucks in history – LC80 owners will know what I mean, and if you don’t I suggest you buy one.
Let me close with a note of appreciation for the IH8MUD forum – you guys are my link to civilization as I know it. Thanks all, keep on posting, ‘coz you are read daily from halfway around the world! Cheers
1994 was originally a dark colour, so had it stripped and re-painted.
Engine after a good wash:
Here's the 94 in action (previous paint) in the dunes.
Check out the other cars I drive as part of my job! (motoring writer 8) http://weekenduae.com
The specs are GCC, and quite different from the vehicles we get in North America.
Presenting,
Elsie, light blue 1994 Land Cruiser VXR fully automatic; and El So, white 1993 same specs but with manual gears.
The trucks perform splendidly in all regards over here and therefore remain mostly stock. In the interior of the UAE, where I live, right on the edge of the Rub al Khali desert, I drive four kinds of terrain: long highway drives at incredibly hot temperatures, harsh washboard dusty tracks, gravel mountain tracks, but mainly soft dune sands.
The FZJ-80 is without any doubt the best-suited vehicle of its age for these conditions – in fact, Land Cruiser is king out here, and the 80 series in particular made Toyota famous. Nissan Patrol is the closest competitor, but the early 90s models were still a bit on the rough side.
Like a VIP 4x4 limo on tarmac, other minor cars make way; tough as old bedouin sandals on hard tracks; and powerful enough on sand to climb even high dunes! The 93 has 230,000km and the 94 has 100k more.
Front and rear factory lockers, factory winch with remote (missing on the 94), dual A/C front and rear, ice-maker cool box, fuel sub-tank, CD-player, sunroof, rear barn doors, 4x4 dash button (for 94), compass, stopwatch, alarm clock, etc., etc., and just plain good-looking all around!
Rear jump seats are really handy, as they fold up and down easily – but no seatbelts! And no cruise control
Rear pintle hook is great for towing out others, and I also have a tow-hook to pull a quad trailer – to this day never got stuck, not even once! Whenever the desert catches me out, the diff locks take control of the situation and I’m out.
1994 automatic gears model
1993 manual gears model
Overall one of the great trucks in history – LC80 owners will know what I mean, and if you don’t I suggest you buy one.
Let me close with a note of appreciation for the IH8MUD forum – you guys are my link to civilization as I know it. Thanks all, keep on posting, ‘coz you are read daily from halfway around the world! Cheers
1994 was originally a dark colour, so had it stripped and re-painted.
Engine after a good wash:
Here's the 94 in action (previous paint) in the dunes.
Check out the other cars I drive as part of my job! (motoring writer 8) http://weekenduae.com
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