Thiess Toyota Australia (1 Viewer)

[JohnnyC]

just re-reading this old thread and decided to give it a bump. page 12 from 2012 is too far away!

JohhnyC - asked before once, know its a long time ago, but wondering still if you have a newspaper reference for your post #42?

sorry it took so long LOL

it was here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...1IRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UZUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2643,2578811

 

[west aussie]

cheers JohnnyC. im having trouble with that link but will look at it further. this is a very interesting shipment. it means there should be 1957 model fj25s in aust; tho none have surfaced on mud yet.

there has been a bit of speculation about the earlies over here lately. landcrusher has mentioned a 'one off' or 'sample' model. tourboy made mention of 4 'prototypes' and a missing prototype.

personally i think there is too much uneccessary mystique placed on theiss and their initial snowy river fleet in the early years. thiess assumed queensland distribution rights in 59 and national distribution rights in 61. it is interesting that tourboys 58 (queensland; and prob sold in 59) has a theiss sticker but seems to me it was B&D motors who were the master of fj25 in aust.

Petr Davis says that by July 1959 B&D had sold 158 toyotas in aust, mostly landcruisers. it is very probable that the initial thiess snowy fleet was simply sourced through B&D. Petr Davis alludes to this also. it is a shame that Petr Davis did not reference his info sources a little more.

an earlier post by fwed, and the restored cars mag article are interesting too. they both say that B&D did not even make the bodies themselves in the early years at least.

there is no doubt that theiss took the reins and really got things moving from the early 60s on. but that they are remembered for the 'initial shipment' etc is simply good marketing on theiss' part.

we all know that the old theiss No 1 tojo is nothing of the sort; simply a 1960 that they had laying about and tarted up in the 70s as a promo vehicle. marketing again.

 

[cult45]

Speaking of #1 maybe not being #1..

She's currently at Tamworth for the festival. I felt bad when I told the bloke he gauge cluster was from a 40.

 

[west aussie]

ahh marketing again. she does look nice with some fresh paint. shame about the black chassis. not so sure about the gauge cluster; 40s have a half round cutout on the bottom edge to allow for the column shifter. looks correct to me.

did you get to tamworth cult? i havent been in over a decade. i need to get out more!

 

[treerootCO]

Here is the picture from the sign

 

[Living in the Past]

I felt bad when I told the bloke he gauge cluster was from a 40.

not so sure about the gauge cluster; 40s have a half round cutout on the bottom edge to allow for the column shifter. looks correct to me.

I agree the FJ40s had a cut out for the column shifter but that bumper is from a 4X series. The 61 FJ40 still had the early FJ2X style bumper so the one on here did not come on any FJ2X series Land Cruiser much less the supposed first one.

 

[cult45]

Nice find treeroot. Love that Aussie outback stuff. LITP and west I thought the 25's had only two gauges in the bottom of the cluster, not four?

Didn't actually get to Tamworth, I 'told' the bloke on Facebook.

 

[west aussie]

would love a peek under the bonnet. so i can geek out over the mast cyls, horns, air cleaner mounting bracket, harmonic, block date code etc etc. all in all its still a very nice resto and im glad theiss decided to save one when they did.

early cruisers up till mid 63 (i think) ran 2 gauges and 2 warning lights along the bottom. hard to tell from those pics. earlier fj25 cluster is different again and very nice. im going to get one of those one day

 

[cult45]

Yeah you're all right of course. I neglected to notice the column shift rod delete in the cluster. And it is two gauges, but two lights too

 

[treerootCO]

April 1979 Overlander Magazine

"COVER
You're unlikely to be offered this Land Cruiser for purchase: it's an FJ25, first in Australia, and Theiss Toyota's pride-and-joy. Our story on buying more redily available Cruisers begins on page 72. Colour by Mike Simmons."

 

[cult45]

more 8
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An ambulance with a hammer and saw? Not sure I'd let that thing get close to me - even if it is a mint FJ28

 

[cult45]

A photo of Rayson Industries transporting the cauldron used for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. This photo is outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Cheers Dobster
View attachment 400744

Those custom taillights are pretty sweet!

 

[Aussie 25]

A bit later model but Thiess Toyota. Not real clear. FJ45.

 

[west aussie]

just giving this thread a little bump to recommend some good old footage posted by dobster in post #39. starts a bit slow but there some great stuff in there. been a bit of other old footage surface recently on the 45 page.

 

[cult45]

 

[fhawk5]

 

[ozcrusier]

The fast landcruiser getting air

 

[cult45]

I love the stats. 85mph and 7 seats. Maybe, but not both at the same time.

 

[ozcrusier]

85 MPH in a long wheel base ute or wagon would be OK but a shorty at those speeds running bias RTM tyres would be a thrilling ride for the faint at hart.

 

[nuclearlemon]

I love the stats. 85mph and 7 seats. Maybe, but not both at the same time.

my speedo shows 80...my gps shows 60