Your FJ40's Birthday??? (1 Viewer)

[cims1970fj40]

I apoligize, I looked at your number wrong... you are correct.

Your 40's most likely birthday is Thursday November 2nd, 1973

Thank you so much.

 

[seventysixers]

This is really cool How about mine?
JT3FJ40C2D3362977

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I found these cool assembly line vids on YouTube. It says it's a 1967 model. If you have one from those years... that might be your LC in the video

 

[mesa man]

Your 40 would be really hard to pinpoint a day of birth because by 1983 Toyota was only producing around 350 FJ40s a month. In previous years they were producing more than a thousand a month meaning around 100 a day. They would have most likely had the 40 in production every day of the month whereas by 1983 Toyota probably only had the 40 in production for one week that month, so determining which week that would have been is virtually impossible. That being said, I will see what I can find out.

Congrats on having a late model "rare" FJ40!!

Thanks man! Appreciate the effort you’re putting into all this!

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

I don't know how long you can keep this up! But:
FJ40153362

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I don't know how long you can keep this up! But:
FJ40153362

I am building a spreadsheet with all the data so eventually I should be able to look up a VIN very quickly. I appreciate the encouragement. I have your number in the queue.

 

[FJ404345]

@DirtDauberGarage

Would an original sales invoice from Toyota Nagoya and Customer help you out to collect more info?

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

This is fun.

322628

Your 40's most likely birthday is Tuesday April 22nd 1980

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

@DirtDauberGarage

Would an original sales invoice from Toyota Nagoya and Customer help you out to collect more info?

Yes!

 

[RevISK]

Your 40's most likely birthday is Tuesday April 22nd 1980

Awesome, thanks Dirt!

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

Hey @DirtDauberGarage Here’s ours:
FJ4088644. Thanks.

Your 40's most likely birthday is Friday August 21st, 1970.

One puzzling observation is that Toyota manufactured approximately 450 fewer units of the 40 series during that particular month compared to the preceding and subsequent months. Despite diligent research, no historical events were uncovered that could explain this production fluctuation or suggest disruptions in supply chains at that time.

One thought I had is that Toyota introduced the all-new 1971 Celica in October of 1970. Therefore, it is conceivable that while they were ramping up production for the Celica, they potentially reallocated some Land Cruiser resources such as factory workers and assembly line time to facilitate the launch of the Celica.

A reduction of 450 Land Cruisers equates to basically a week's worth of production, indicating a possible pause in Land Cruiser manufacturing to focus on producing the Celica. Both the Celica and the LC were produced in the same plant in 1970-1971 (Toyota's Takaoka Plant, which was located in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.)

This deviation could impact the accuracy of determining the Birthday of anyone's FJ40 during August 1970 compared to other months.

 

[Green Bean]

Your 40's most likely birthday is Friday August 21st, 1970.

One puzzling observation is that Toyota manufactured approximately 450 fewer units of the 40 series during that particular month compared to the preceding and subsequent months. Despite diligent research, no historical events were uncovered that could explain this production fluctuation or suggest disruptions in supply chains at that time.

One thought I had is that Toyota introduced the all-new 1971 Celica in October of 1970. Therefore, it is conceivable that they were increasing production for the Celica, potentially reallocating some Land Cruiser resources such as factory workers and assembly line time to facilitate the launch of the Celica.

A reduction of 450 Land Cruisers equates to basically a week's worth of production, indicating a possible pause in Land Cruiser manufacturing to focus on producing the Celica. Both the Celica and the LC were produced in the same plant in 1970-1971 (Toyota's Takaoka Plant, which was located in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.)

This deviation could impact the accuracy of determining the Birthday of anyone's FJ40 during August 1970 compared to other months.

Thanks! Oh great, it looks like we have a born on a Friday vehicle. That may explain a few things.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

I came across something very puzzling in my research tonight. Either Toyota adjusted their VIN numbers between the months of August and September 1973 or they produced 7258 FJ40s in August which is about 5x more than any other month on record. Since 160001 seems like a "reset" type number that seems to make the most sense. The question is "Why?".

Anyone have any ideas???

I wonder if it was because 1974 was a pretty big production upgrade/change. Look at all the changes that hit the production line in 9/73 (see below)

Also, the longest production run started 9/73 (see below).

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

My gut says that Toyota decided to round up the VINs and start at 160001 with the September 1973 LC because this was by far the most upgrades made to the FJ40 in one month since its original inception making it the “most improved” FJ40 yet.

When you include the upgrades added in 1974, which Toyota most certainly knew was coming, you could almost make a case that this was a FJ40 2.0 or what could be called a “second generation” FJ40.

Thoughts???

 

[cruiserkev]

Now I am curious, Vin# FJ40223789
This is a May 76 FJ40 that I have owned for nearly 30 years. I did find out it was imported through the port of Tacoma in the Summertime of 76, used as a hunting rig by the original owner and has spent the majority of its existence in Washington state. Thanks!

 

[RevISK]

@DirtDauberGarage
Thanks for telling us our trucks probable birthdays via our Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Curious how you do that based off the VINs?

I’m curious what other info, if any, is available from our Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Thanks again,
Ian

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

@DirtDauberGarage
Thanks for telling us our trucks probable birthdays via our Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Curious how you do that based off the VINs?

I’m curious what other info, if any, is available from our Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Thanks again,
Ian

See an eariler post where I explain my process.

 

[RevISK]

See an eariler post where I explain my process.

Found.
Thanks again.

 

[DirtDauberGarage]

@DirtDauberGarage
Thanks for telling us our trucks probable birthdays via our Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Curious how you do that based off the VINs?

I’m curious what other info, if any, is available from our Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Thanks again,
Ian

The early VIN# really only tells you year and month it was manufactured. The fender or firewall tag will tell you much more (Paint color, transmission info, etc.)

Here are a couple sites that are helpful...

https://landcruiserhm.com/images/pdfs-doc/VIN_Decoder_v1_20200429.pdf

TLC FAQ - 14.0 Decoding your ID plates

Decode ID tag

Anyone know how to decode the bottom two lines on the VIN tag in the engine compartment? Obviously the Model line starts out with FJ60, but what does the LG-KA mean? I know part of the bottom line too, C is color, by searching Mud I found that TR is the interior color, no idea what the A is...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[jblatz]

My gut says that Toyota decided to round up the VINs and start at 160001 with the August 1973 LC because this was by far the most upgrades made to the FJ40 in one month since its original inception making it the “most improved” FJ40 yet.

When you include the upgrades added in 1974, which Toyota most certainly knew was coming, you could almost make a case that this was a FJ40 2.0 or what could be called a “second generation” FJ40.

Thoughts???

This August 1973 FJ40 VIN is still in the 15xxxx series.