The Toyota Land Cruiser is one of those vehicles that has grown beyond its class, to become something bigger than itself, larger than the sum of its parts. It’s an important car, one which, like the series 1 Land Rover, made possible travel and transport to parts of the planet so inhospitable and remote that not even mankind had bothered to ford a path.

The Land Cruiser conquered continents. It brought people and their supplies into previously undiscovered areas, which allowed for discoveries and research that would previously have been impossible. Scientists, archaeologists, researchers, and the like rely on Land Cruisers the same way they would on any other piece of gear: it needs to work as intended, and it needs to do this in any condition. Your favorite travel documentary was probably filmed out of the back of one of these Herculean trucks.

They also have a nasty habit of falling into dangerous hands. It’s their well-known durability that makes these trucks particularly appealing to military groups. Where there is an armed insurgency, there is often a litter of Land Cruiser pickups (technicals, as they're known) armed with machine guns.

As old-fashioned SUVs (to clarify, this means body-on-frame with at least one solid axle) continue to gain value and collectability, Land Cruisers are standout investments. There’s a catalog of models to choose from that stretches back for decades, each with its merits and appeals, but the core principles of the thing remain true throughout. These are serious trucks that can do serious work, and that potential is nearly priceless in itself.

Read on to find out just what it is that makes the Toyota Land Cruiser so special, and as time goes on, a revered classic.

The Promise Of Going Anywhere

Toyota Land cruiser 100 series
via expeditionportal.com

Land Cruisers make excellent expedition vehicles, both for recreational off-roading as well as for research or humanitarian relief. That much should go without saying. The truck's lineage can be traced back to the Korean war when the US military commissioned Japanese manufacturers to come up with a Jeep-like vehicle for service in Asia. Once that conflict ended though, it wouldn't take much time for the Land Cruiser to spread out to all corners of the globe.

In 1951, Toyota revealed the BJ concept which was refined into the first civilian model in 1953. The production truck would be called Land Cruiser in response to Britain's Land Rover. This early model bore little in common with what the Land Cruiser would become, and was a lot more like an early Willys Jeep; it had a removable roof, two doors, and very rugged underpinnings.

Toyota land cruiser 60 series on salt flats
via xoverland.com

Through the decades, the truck would evolve to become more civilian-friendly. The first introduction of a four-door model was the "station wagon" of the late-60s, and then the 60 series in 1980.

From then on, it would be fixed-roof and four-door only, but as the truck grew in size and its road manners improved, Toyota never lost sight of what made the original and each subsequent model so great: mechanically-engineered off-road capability. There were no electronic assistants at first and it's still fairly minimal in current models, and as such, Toyota has been forced to rely on its knowledge of suspension geometry, gearing, and durability to keep the Land Cruiser a serious off-road vehicle even as it grew and demands from customers evolved.

RELATED: Here Are The Best Off-Road SUVs Ever Made

Lifelong Companionship

Toyota Land Cruiser 60 series
via expeditionportal.com

Another huge part of the Land Cruiser's appeal is its legendary longevity. Indeed, Land Cruisers are extremely highly rated in terms of reliability, and makeup one of the top 15 models of car that owners hang onto for the longest. Part of this is down to the engines.

The current Land Cruisers (200 series) have a 5.7l 1UR-FE V8, which has been known for taking tons of mileage in these trucks as well as the Tundra and Sequoia. The previous generation (100 series) had a 4.7l V8 as well as a 4.2l inline-6, which was the last in a long lineage of rock-solid straight-sixes that have graced Land Cruiser engine bays over the decades. There's no more diesel option, at least not in our market, but credit is owed to Toyota's venerable 4.2l "1HD" inline-six diesel engine, which some consider being the best one ever fitted to a Land Cruiser.

Land-Cruiser-200-Series
via whichcar.com.au

But Land Cruiser reliability runs deeper than just the engine. Transmissions are also quite stout. Nowadays your only option is a new Aisin 8-speed automatic, where previously there were 5- and 6-speed automatic 'boxes available depending on your engine and 4WD system (some had full-time 4WD, others had selectable 4WD that could run in rear-drive-only configuration to save fuel, and these transfer cases are said to be the toughest ones). Manual transmissions were available in past models too, though that stopped being an option in most markets with the 100 series in 1998.

Elsewhere, these are body-on-frame trucks like the 4Runners with which they share some components. This makes them rigid (and quite heavy), which helps to minimize potential frame damage from flexing over rough terrain. Until the introduction of the 100 series, all Land Cruisers had solid axles at both ends, which gives better traction in serious terrain, as well as being generally more robust and durable than independent suspension setups. Toyota did offer the 100 series with a solid axle in some regions as the "105" series, but the current 200 series truck is independent front suspension-only with a solid rear axle.

Land Cruisers are built to outlast the average family dog and to be more loyal to you than even the best-trained canines.

RELATED: These Are The Best Toyota Models Ever

They Are Valuable, No Matter Their Age

Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40
via silodrome.com

A nameplate that spans nearly 70 years is bound to have a few models in its range that people will pay big bucks for, but it seems that any Land Cruiser with wheels and an engine is worth an incredible amount, old or new.

Hagerty's vehicle value tool rates 1960s Land Cruisers as being worth $75,000 in "Concours" condition, which is a huge number for what is essentially a Japanese re-engineering of the Jeep.

Toyota Land Cruiser 200
via autoevolution.com

Newer ones are similarly resilient to depreciation. They're hard to find in Canada since Toyota stopped selling them here decades ago and only offered us the Lexus-badged LX 470 and 570 instead, but even in the US where they're plentiful, these are still very valuable trucks. You won't be getting much fancy tech for your money like you would with a comparative German or British SUV around the $90,000 to $100,000 mark, but your money is going where it counts: rock-solid engineering that can take you and your passengers into terrain that lesser trucks could only dream of covering.

It's not the flashiest 4x4, but consistency through the decades has built for it a reputation of such solid capability that anyone with a passing knowledge of SUVs will know what it is and respect it, and you, all the more. They're the Porsche 911s of off-roading, and like old Porsches, they retain a ton of value.

Through all the grueling punishment, the Land Cruiser has emerged as a vehicle uniquely equipped to handle the toughest trials to which humans have ever subjected a car. As such, people who own them privately and who don’t use them for armed combat form connections with them in a profound way that most cars would never allow. You’re excited by a thumping V8 muscle car, but you’re reassured behind the wheel of a Land Cruiser, knowing that you can trust it. That makes it a desirable car and, as it ages, a classic.

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