Why the FJ-25?? (1 Viewer)

[LandCruiserSteve]

With the thousands of other vehicles out there that we could've become equally obsessed (and in debt) with, what initially drew YOU to the 25 series??

And, what is it about this particular rare bird that keeps our undying interest??

The rest of the world (normal people) needs to know why!!

 

[3_puppies]

The rest of the world (normal people) needs to know why!!

maybe your the normal one and everyone else is wacked in the head

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

maybe your the normal one and everyone else is wacked in the head

Yep, that's it.

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Why Not?

Sorry, no crazed undying fanaticism story here. ;p

It happened purely by chance. I’d probably be just as happy with something else unusual, but utilitarian. I’ve always had Cruisers………..only because that’s what I started with. This could have gone horribly wrong early on! The 25 fills my need for something a little different. When I bought my first, I really did think I was saving the last one on the planet! These days it seems like a new one shows up every month or so. A pleasant surprise has been using the 25 for it’s original design purpose, without any modifications. A lot of folks have forgotten that the originals were very capable when used within their limits. It also helps that I don’t have a need for extreme thrills, and take no pleasure in pushing things beyond their limits.

The 25 fits my attitude/personality, which is a little harder to explain. I inherited an ethic of using, maintaining, and making do with what you have. Abusing a tool (including a vehicle) was a cardinal sin. I enjoy simple pleasures…….one of which is watching old things perk along just as they did when new. I rebuild stuff that any normal person would discard. My wife collects antiques………but I ensure that they are in working order and actually get used once in a while.

This has been like explaining why most of the firearms I own are chambered in black powder cartridges………………but I laugh at the Cowboy Shooting craze!

 

[cruiserman]

Because everyone and his brother has a 40. I prefer wagons, but I like the look of the 25.

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

......but I laugh at the Cowboy Shooting craze!

Hey, careful now, Bucko . . . you're talking to a CAS here. ;p

However, good answers, Jim & Eric.

(And you may be right, 3_puppies. The rest of the world probably is whacked out. )

 

[Landpimp]

oh you would like the Winchester M1897(take down, vintage 1915) I found for $40 at a garage sale (its in getting a riot barrel installed, keeping the stocker)

Hey, careful now, Bucko . . . you're talking to a CAS here. ;p

However, good answers, Jim & Eric.

(And you may be right, 3_puppies. The rest of the world probably is whacked out. )

 

[Land Cruiser Junky]

Very well said Jim.

I started modifying my 40 from the first day I owned it at age 19. By the time I was old enough to appreciate a stock vehicle, my 40 already a 350 and 4" of lift. Now that I've got the LV I'm keeping it just the way it is. True, Marv Specter had already put a 2F in it, and one day I'll put a 4 speed in it, but that's it. I'm gonna wheel it like it was meant to be wheeled. It's amazing the stuff a Cruiser will crawl over bone stock. As for the FJ35 thing, I just couldn't help myself.

When I first saw a pic of a FJ25 in 1990 I thought it looked so cool I said, "Why the heck did Toyota ever change that." I had not yet been enlightened that one should actually have more than 1 Land Cruiser, so I decided to make the one I had look like the cooler looking one in the picture. One day I'm gonna own the real thing, and not just the body.

Can I still hang here for a little while?

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

oh you would like the Winchester M1897(take down, vintage 1915) I found for $40 at a garage sale

And, of course it's porbably a 12 gauge (rather than 16 that a lot of the take-down 97s were)? $40?? Okay, I hate you!!

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

Can I still hang here for a little while?

If you don't, you might take all your hood emblems and run home.

(I think we should pull out a Land Rover nomenclature and call yours the "FJ-25 Series II." )

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Steve- It's the craze that makes me laugh..........now I turned your post into a CAS thread. Will they let me in with a pre-1900 New Service double action in 44-40?

John- Did you get the take down pieces like I said so you have quick change set?

Eric- I agree.......that's why I sent my last 40 down the road.

Gene- You can hang with us cool guys anytime.

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

Will they let me in with a pre-1900 New Service double action in 44-40?

Nope . . . not now since I just dropped a dime on ya for making fun of us overgrown kids. So, you better just send me that worthless New Service before you put an eye out with it.

 

[Landpimp]

Yup, 12 guage in fine working condition, carried alot, shot little. But the new roit barrel cost me 4x's what the gun did

And, of course it's porbably a 12 gauge (rather than 16 that a lot of the take-down 97s were)? $40?? Okay, I hate you!!

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

But the new roit barrel cost me 4x's what the gun did

Did your smitty find another M97 barrel to cut down, or did you track down an OEM 20" barrel?

 

[Landpimp]

OEM 20"

Did your smitty find another M97 barrel to cut down, or did you track down an OEM 20" barrel?

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

OEM 20"

Now I really hate you!! ;p

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

Now that I've hijacked my own thread out of Model 97 envy , back to the original question . . . . why the FJ25?

Mike? John P.? Phil? Archie (you still with us)?

 

[foxfab]

Sorry guys, been out of town. Remind me to tell you NOT to visit Florida in August.

Anyway, I guess the main reason for my FJ25 purchase was due to maturing? With the birth of my second daughter, I needed to back away from the racing scene for a while so I sold the race truck. With that, I still wanted something to take out on weekend wheeling trips, but not somethign that everyone had. I purchased an FJ45LV with the intent of making a family wheeler out of it. That project is still on the back burnere though as family and business have taken over all of my free time. Then my FJ25 came along via Jim C. It was all timing. I wasn't searching for a 25, it was searching for me. Proof of that is how long it was for sale.

For reference, I've never owned an FJ40. But I've owned almost all other models of US cruisers in one form or another. I think just the fact that we own Cruisers shows that we tend to shy away from the norm. So why not own the first ones to be made.

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

Thanks, Mike.

BTW, what part of Florida were in you?

 

[foxfab]

Sarasota. Yale sent me to a NAFI (National Association of Fire Investigators)training seminar. I spent the day in class while my wife sat in the pool. Life isnt fair.

Thanks, Mike.

BTW, what part of Florida were in you?