Tag Archives: Land Cruiser

Land of the Rising Fun

Leave a reply

This TLCB Writer would very much like an FJ40 series Toyota Land Cruiser. Because if there’s one classic off-roader cooler than the Land Rover Defenders we see every day around TLCB Towers, Japan’s answer is it.

With LEGO now having a licensing partnership with Toyota (and having released two Land Rover Defender sets), we’re super hopeful that an official Land Cruiser set may be on the cards, but until then the online Lego Community is filling the void admirably.

This is the latest fan-built Land Cruiser found by our Elves, and not only is it an orange FJ40 (an excellent start), it’s also fully remote controlled for maximum fun.

Built by gyenesvi, a suite of Power Functions components deliver motorised drive and steering, plus there’s live-axle suspension, a high/low gearbox, opening doors, hood and tailgate, and a folding windshield.

Building instructions are available and full details and images can be found at both Eurobricks and Bricksafe; click the links above for more classic off-road fun.

Cream Dream

1 Reply

Things this TLCB Writer would like; More sleep, better hair, Jennifer Lawrence’s phone no., and a modified Toyota FJ60-Series Land Cruiser.

Whilst the first three aren’t going to happen any time soon we do have the latter here today, courtesy of regular bloggee 1saac W, whose superb brick-built FJ60 – suitably modified for overland adventures – is an absolute dream car.

Big tyres, a bull-bar, a roof cage, and a snorkel make the already awesome FJ60 even cooler, and you can check out 1saac’s brilliant build on Flickr via the link above.

Lego Land Cruiser

Leave a reply

With Toyota becoming the latest vehicle manufacturer to join LEGO’s growing list of partners, we’re hopeful that the legendary FJ40 Land Cruiser will one day be available in brick form. Until then Flickr’s PalBenglat has fulfilled the brief brilliantly with his lovely Town scale Fj40. Clever building techniques accurately step the width from four to six studs front to rear, there’s room for two mini-figures side-by-side, and LEGO’s classic Town truck wheels have probably never looked more at home. See more at the link above and cross your fingers LEGO have a Land Cruiser of their own in the works…

FJ40

Leave a reply

If there’s one 4×4 cooler than the Land Rover Defender, this is it. The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 is an off-roading icon, and thus – like all things old and Japanese – it’s now worth about a million pounds.

However with the news that Toyota have become the latest auto manufacturer to partner with LEGO, we may one day see an official Land Cruiser set, which will be a far more attainable way to FJ40 ownership for this TLCB Writer, even with immense fame, glory and groupies that working for this site brings…

Until then though, regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott has created a Speed Champions scale Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 so good we doubt LEGO will do any better should they decide to produce one. And it’s yellow.

Glorious attention to detail and ingenious building techniques are in evidence everywhere you look, and there’s more to see of Jonathan’s brilliant FJ40 at his photostream via the link.

Thunder’s Toyota

1 Reply

Indiana Jones, er… we mean ‘Johnny Thunder’ is one of our favourite ever mini-figures. He’s one of 1saac W.‘s too, who has built this gorgeous riverside jungle scene for our plastic hero to explore as an entry into a mini-figure-based competition. Star of the show isn’t Johnny though, rather the fantastic tan Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 which he has used to take him into the jungle. A variety of animals are busy stealing Johnny’s equipment and there’s more to see of him and his FJ on Flickr via the link.

Lego Land Cruiser 76

2 Replies

The Toyota Land Cruiser is the world’s infamous off-roader. Which means in some corners it’s very probably the most infamous vehicle of any kind. This is the 70-Series, produced since 1984 and which is still being manufactured today, specifically the medium-wheelbase ’76’ passenger version, recreated brilliantly in Technic form by previous bloggee Kevin Moo.

Wonderfully accurate on the outside, Kevin’s Land Cruiser is packed with remote control functions too, allowing the model to navigate the wilds of his back garden with ease. A third-party SBrick provides the 76 with programmable bluetooth control, with all-wheel-drive, steering, and LED lights, plus the build includes working suspension, and opening doors, hood and tailgate.

Full details of Kevin’s awesome Toyota Land Cruiser 76 can be found at the Eurobricks forum by Eurbricks discussion forum, where a link to building instructions can also be found so you can build your very own! Click the link above to take a look, or below to see Kevin’s brilliant build in action.

YouTube Video:

Blue Monday*

Leave a reply

We round off today’s creations with one of our very favourite vehicles ever, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40. Created by TLCB Regular Simon Przpiorka (aka SP_LINEUP) this gorgeous 1:24 Lego replica of the legendary 4×4 evolves his previous tan version with the addition of a bright blue paint job, one of the FJ’s most iconic hues, and there’s more to see at his photostream via the link.

*Title song. Naturally.

Double Cream

Leave a reply

Cream is an unusual colour for Lego vehicles. Probably because it’s an unusual colour for real vehicles too, being associated with the German taxis, blandness, and the elderly.

We think cream gets an unfair rep though, because it can look awesome. Toyota’s legendary FJ40 Land Cruiser used the hue extensively, and it’s this colour that Flickr’s SP_LINEUP has chosen for his excellent commissioned 1:24 scale FJ40 model. It’s also the colour chosen by fellow previous bloggee Arian Janssens for his beautifully detailed classic DAF FAS 2600 truck, complete with a brick-built curtain side flatbed and drawbar trailer.

There’s more to see of both creations at each builder’s photostream. Click the links above to head to Flickr and cream yourself.

Forgotten Land Cruiser

Leave a reply

Toyota’s Land Cruiser has been the go-to 4×4 for decades. Sold over multiple generations, bodystyles and configurations, there have been so many derivatives it’s hard to pin down if any are representative of the name. If there is one though, it’s not FJ55, which – despite being on sale for 13 years – is often forgotten in the Land Cruiser’s history.

We love the slightly odd looking FJ55 though, particularly in blue and white two-tone as depicted here by Jonathan Elliott‘s wonderful Lego recreation. Jonathan has captured the 1970s Land Cruiser brilliantly and there’s more to see of his superb FJ55 on Flickr – click the link above to make the jump.

Toyota Land Cruiser 80 | Picture Special

2 Replies

Lego Toyota Land Cruiser 80 RC

The Toyota Land Cruiser. In production since the early 1950s it’s Toyota’s longest running nameplate and it shows no signs of stopping. The best selling body-on-frame 4×4 in most of the world, the Land Cruiser has a reputation for being simply unbreakable, favoured by Australian farmers, the UN, middle eastern families and, er… ISIS.

Lego Technic Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series

However, undeniably good though the latest iteration of the Land Cruiser is, it’s so capable off road thanks to a wealth of electronic wizardry that it doesn’t really need any driver skill at all (in fact we’re guessing the next generation of Land Cruiser will actually be able to drive itself off-road automatously).

We prefer this one then, the iconic 80-Series built from 1990 to 1997. Formidable off-road, but only if you have the skill to match it, the Land Cruiser 80-Series is still found in the world’s harshest environments, unbreakingly reliable some 30 years after it was first produced.

Lego Technic Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series Remote Control

These absolutely superb Technic replicas of the 80-Series come from previous bloggee Madoca 1977 and they feature everything that the real Land Cruiser does that makes it so epic off-road. A four-wheel-drive system is powered by an XL motor, whilst a Servo takes care of the steering. A Medium motor allows the models to switch between high and low range, and it can also lock the centre and rear differentials for serious off-roading, and if that’s not enough there’s a powered winch to get you out of trouble. There are also LED lights front and rear, accurate suspension with mega wheel articulation, and there’s a third-party SBrick installed to allow for remote control via bluetooth devices.

Lego Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series Remote Control

There’s lots more to see of Madoca’s stunning fully-loaded black Land Cruiser 80-Series and his simplified grey version at the Eurobricks discussion forum, including videos of the models in action and detailed chassis build images – Click the link above to head off-road.

Perfect 10

2 Replies

Lego Town Cars

Awarded a meal-token for every find, one of our Elves is about to get very fat. These ten brilliant Town-scale off-road vehicles are the work of just one builder. Pixel Fox owns the mind (and hands) behind them, and he’s done a simply stupendous job of recreating some of the world’s best known off-roaders in mini-figure scale, as well as building a delightful scene for each one to reside within.

Above, clockwise from top left, are a film-set Hummer H1, South African Volkswagen Syncro, beach-bound Jeep Wrangler TJ and a forestry Mercedes-Benz Unimog 406.

Lego Town Cars

Next are two of the world’s most prolific 4x4s, the iconic Land Cruiser J70 (left) complete with an adorable brick-built rhino, and the legendary Land Rover Defender 90 (right).

Lego Town Cars

The final set of instantly recognisable off-road vehicles is made up of a Mercedes G-Wagon, tragically pictured  on red-carpet duty, a superb Range Rover Series 1 going hunting, a lifted Jeep Cherokee XJ, and a Dakar-spec BMW X5.

Each creation is wonderful in its own right, and you can see more of all ten mini-figure builds at Pixel Fox’s Flickr album by clicking here, whilst we begin feeding a very deserving TLCB Elf!

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado – Picture Special

3 Replies

Lego Technic Toyota Land Cruiser Prado RC

The best 4×4 in the world is not a Land Rover. Or a Jeep. Or a Hummer (and if you were thinking of suggesting that last one go back to school). It’s this, Toyota’s ubiquitous Land Cruiser Prado. Now quite a rare beast in TLCB’s home nation, having lost favour to far more efficient – but far less capable – cross-overs, the Land Cruiser is still the 4×4 of choice for most of the world.

Lego Technic Toyota Prado 4x4 Remote Control

This awesome remote control Technic recreation of Toyota’s iconic 4×4 is the work of KevinMoo, and it’s a really trick bit of kit. There’s four-wheel-drive complete with remotely locking differentials, independent front and live axel rear suspension, working steering, gearbox, head and tail lights, and opening doors and tailgate, plus Kevin’s Prado can be operated remotely via a bluetooth device thanks to a third-party SBrick control unit.

There’s a whole lot more to see of this brilliant build at the Eurobricks discussion forum – click the link above to take a trip into the rough stuff.

Lego Remote Control Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 4x4

Cruiser Crawler

2 Replies

Lego Technic Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser Remote Control

Toyota’s FJ40 Land Cruiser is something of an automotive legend, and it’s been well represented by the Lego Community over the years. Regular bloggee Madoca 1977’s latest build expands on one of these previous Land Cruiser creations and takes the classic Japanese 4×4 into the Crawler / Truck Trial arena.

Lego Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser

With 4-wheel-drive powered by a single XL Motor, Servo Motor steering, a remotely operated 2-speed gearbox, working headlights, a powered winch, an on-board rechargeable battery, and SBrick mobile-device control, Madoca’s creation is a throughly capable off-road machine. It also looks – as you can see above – absolutely brilliant.

There are more details and images available at the Eurobricks forum here, plus you can see Madoca’s FJ40 Crawler in action via the video below.

 YouTube Video:

The Best 4x4xFar…

1 Reply

Lego Toyota Land Cruiser 40 Series

…isn’t a Land Rover. When Toyota launched the Land Cruiser into the Australian market, Land Rover’s dominant 90% market share dropped to 5% almost overnight. Toyota is the worldwide 4×4 king because of one vitally important reason: Reliability. Land Cruisers never, ever break. Ever.

This unrivalled quality means that the Land Cruiser is the vehicle of choice for the UN, for NGOs based in the most inhospitable of places, and – unfortunately – for the world’s terrorist scumbags (we’re looking at you ISIS).

Toyota have continually updated the Land Cruiser design, but they also still make many of the previous generations for certain markets. This car pictured here is the 40 Series, and it’s the one that really put the model on the map.

Suggested to us by a reader, Matthew Inman’s exquisite Model Team recreation of the 4×4 icon is currently on the LEGO Ideas creation-sharing platform, with almost 6,000 votes registered – another 4,000 and LEGO will consider this model for an official limited production run.

The model has been featured on Toyota’s own blog as well as variety of car sites from around the world, and Matthew has recently added another variant, designing the pick-up version too.

If you’d like to help Matthew’s Land Cruiser 40 Series model to become an official LEGO set you can do so by voting for it on LEGO Ideas – click here to see more and add your vote!

Lego Toyota Landcruiser

Post-Apocalyota

Leave a reply

Lego Mad Max Toyota FJ40

The Lego Car Blog Summer Building Competition is underway, and we’re starting to receive some excellent entries! This is one of our favourites so far, Senator Chinchilla‘s post-apoc Toyota FJ40. It features everything you could need to fight off marauders and/or zombie hordes, plus working steering, functioning suspension, and side pipes. Because side-pipes are cool.

You can see the full gallery of images on Flickr at the link above, and you can read more about how to enter our Summer Building Challenge here. There are some neat prizes to be won, plus almost unlimited fame and glory!

Screen Shot 2015-07-16 at 00.00.49