TOYOTA LAND CRUISER
Rating
★★★★★
Price
from €57,192 (ex. VAT)
Engine
a 2.8 litre turbodiesel with massive torque and 205bhp
The Spec
very much updated and a model of modernity
Verdict
a masterpiece
THROUGHOUT the course of our lives, we will inevitably be surrounded by legends of varying hues — be they world or revolutionary leaders, sporting heroes, literary wizards, artistic demigods, music geniuses, or everyday people capable of extraordinary acts.
These people inspire us daily in many positive ways and bring a richness to the fabric of our lives that points us towards our own vision of ourselves and our capabilities.
There are legends in every form of life and some are not even made of skin and bone; rather, they are the creation of sometimes visionary people or sometimes simply the embodiment of an idea someone had in a pub, or even in the bath.
Mechanical things can and do inspire us. Some we take for granted because they are so ridiculously simple and yet make our daily chores easier to cope with. Others are ridiculously technical and complex but inspire our vision of ourselves as a race and what we can actually achieve.
The other side of humankind is, of course, our penchant for destruction and misery, and our ability to inflict one or the other on our neighbours. We can be pretty awful as human beings, but we can also be inspirational and pretty useful.
I mention all this by way of introduction to a car which has proved its worth to humankind over many generations and which has made it easy for us to traverse places we would otherwise have been unable to venture.
Some might blanche at the thought of vehicular transport being mentioned in such terms — “but what of the consequences for our world” — but the world in which we live is a complex stew of conflicting needs and desires — sometimes driven by greed, but other times by a simple desire to make life less burdensome.
People might laugh when I put the Toyota Land Cruiser in such a lofty, legendary category; but whatever way you look at it, this is a vehicle that has every right to such a label.
It has been with us since 1951 and over 10m of them have been built and sold since then. It has a deserved reputation as a workhorse which will rarely, if ever, let you down. It is the vehicular equivalent of a faithful dog.
There are many other vehicles that will be labelled as ‘legendary’, usually because of high-calibre performance abilities or stunning good looks; the Land Cruiser boasts of neither, yet our appreciation of what it can do — and keep doing it for ridiculously lengthy periods of time — is justification for its being with us in the first place.
Like any legend, it is subject to the vagaries of human’s appreciation — or lack of it. This latest one, what with its retro looks, moves away somewhat from the Land Cruiser’s previously staid and blue-collar character, attracted a variety of comment during my tenure with it — varying from “my God it’s awful looking” to “I’ve got mine ordered”.
This incarnation comes in only one body shape, as the old short wheelbase version — a particular favourite for commercial buyers and farmers — is no more and what’s offered is a five door only, either in seven-seat format or two-seat commercial. This will disappoint some, but that’s how it is.
We got to try the two-seat commercial because, obviously, this is where Toyota Ireland sees its main marketplace and they are anxious to exploit what they see as fertile ground. It appears that it has — just check the numbers of Land Cruisers there are already on the road here and the numbers being prepared for sale in dealers up and down the country.
The commercial markets here and in Britain are unique things that companies in the past have found difficult to exploit fully because of the complicated tax regulations tied to them. Nowadays, in Britain, Toyota uses its Burnaston plant to convert normal Land Cruisers into commercials. Toyota Ireland does something similar here itself.
Basically the back seats are stripped out, a mesh bulkhead and a raised floor are installed and, hey presto, you’ve got a commercial version of your product, ready for any action buyers can throw at it.
Powered by a 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine with some 205bhp — not to mention an incredible 500Nm of torque, its speed performance figures are actually of little importance, but, for the record, it will hit a top speed of 164km/h and the 0-100km/h dash will take 10.9 seconds. Of course, permanent four-wheel-drive is present as is an auto ‘box, which now has eight speeds rather six.
Fuel consumption is not eye-popping either — 10.6 l/100km (26.4mpg), but, again, that’s not the point here; the point is more about what it can do.
Neither is its on-road ability, which is mediocre at best. The ride is unsettled and you have to have your wits about you at all times. Get it off road, though, and… jeez, it will take on anything.
The interior has been ramped up considerably from every point of view and the level of kit has been vastly uprated and all the modern conveniences you expect these days are in place, such as infotainment (easily navigated), safety stuff, and so forth. The two seats too are very comfortable and easily adjusted.
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All told, it represents a big step up over anything which preceded it and while the INEOS we tested recently might be priced to undercut it and will pretty much match its off-road abilities, it is still rough around the edges by comparison.
The manufacturer has added much needed creature comforts to a second-to-none workhorse and that gives it a vital edge over anything else in the class.
Toyota has not become a global automotive powerhouse because it makes shoddy products. It is what it is because of the quality and resilience of what it makes.
Latterly, of course, it has steered a path towards making things which are not only visually interesting, but also up to the standards the company has set itself on the engineering front — see the Yaris, the C-HR and, hell, even the Corolla, all of which are now design stand-outs in their individual segments.
The Land Cruiser was never previously an eye-catcher — other than for the size of some of the versions they’ve made. Despite what some people said to me about their view on its ugliness — a sentiment I disagree with — it is now quite a visually intriguing thing, as well as being a workhorse extraordinaire.
To that end, Toyota has pulled off something of a stroke here and for that they are to be congratulated; especially as it is not an easy trick to pull off. They have managed to do so, however, and that makes this car something of a triumph.
Sure it is not the best road-going vehicle you’ve ever driven, but it is still a class act and one which only truly shows its colours when you get it into the foothills of a large mountain range, or the depths of a rain forest or the Mississippi delta, or any combination of those.
It is an achievement and that’s why it gets a five-star rating.
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