Why are small SUVs so popular? I spoke with Kia Planner
We talked with Kia America’s senior product planner Derrick Ty about the popularity of small SUVs.
Toyota has been sending trucks and SUVs overseas for the same length of time that it has cars, but some may argue that these task-centric machines gave the brand the first toe in North America. There are also attractive, and sometimes affordable Toyota trucks that have made a big impression on collectors, as name plates like Land Cruiser and 4runner lead the price.
It shows that Toyota trucks are the hottest product among people who want to drive a classic that is different from the Ford, Chevrolet, or Dodge parked in their neighbor’s garage.
1960-1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40
That’s not a typo. The prototype Toyota SUV enjoyed one of the longest production runs in automotive history. The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 generation was the brand’s global coming out party. The vehicle was given a lesson learned after World War II by building similarly sized truck-based sports utility vehicles and combining them with incredible durability, producing two-door off-road machines that can throw away the top and starve 4×4 options in the market that mimics the American open-air jeep.
Over the long lifespan, the FJ40 was given a long list of drivetrains and upgrades, but most models wobbled between the poles of an inline six-cylinder engine and a four-cylinder diesel. The low-power but robust Land Cruiser acquired disc brakes, air conditioning and power steering by the time it blew the strings in the early 1980s. The FJ40 left the US in 1983 (only 300 trucks are imported), but stayed in Canada in another year, and continued trucks were built in Brazil until 2001.
Today, the FJ40 is a highly sought after classic Toyota truck, whose value floats just above the $90,000 mark for the initial Mint Condition model. Hundreds of thousands of people have been built around the world, but it is difficult to find a clean example as it has been strictly mandated for decades in some of the roughest conditions imaginable. This may leave the commonly present Toyota FJ40 values strong.
1973-1978 Toyota Pickup
It was sold as a Hilux almost everywhere else, but Toyota’s second effort to attract the attention of American truck buyers was known simply as a US showroom pickup.
Cargo beds were shipped across the sea to the cargo bed to install chicken taxes at ports that effectively banned small trucks assembled abroad. To be easy to pilot, comfortable to drive, have plenty of power from a four-cylinder engine and improve its transport potential, the pickup provided a real replacement for its current status. In fact, it was so successful that by the end of the decade, Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet had imported and Riverd their own small trucks.
Though not as adventurous as the FJ40, the pickup was initially two-wheel drive, these models were historically not handled with child gloves by their original owners. Japanese vehicles in the 1970s also had to deal with extreme trends towards rust when exposed to damper climates and salt. Attrition keeps survivors priced in the $13,500-$20,000 range, and that number could rise as they acquire prices from the full-size classic truck market.
1980-1992 Toyota FJ60/FJ62
The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 expanded the awareness of NAMEPLATE among American SUV buyers in the 1980s due to the practicality and plus size dimensions of the four-door. Here was the movement of four-wheel-drive people who were far more comfortable driving every day than their predecessor had sacrificed almost anything when it came to off-road insights.
It is an exaggeration to say that the FJ60 Landcruiser had a massive appeal in the US, and that is heading towards SUV domination, which still applies today. Still, the Inline 6 provided a decent motivation for the long-wheel base truck, featuring three rows of seats for up to seven passengers. As long as two of these riders are OK with a bench mounted on the folding side of the Targo Bay.
When the FJ62 arrived in the 1988 model year, they replaced the round headlights with round headlights, but mostly retained the same shape and styling as their previous SUV. For more important upgrades, fuel injection, automatic transmission and power accessories helped keep the drivers down even further.
The FJ60 and FJ62 are highly praised by collectors who use trucks for long distance adventures. This is because the space inside and mechanical simplicity makes it a great off-road buddy that can easily repair anything if something snaps on the trail. Additionally, the driver quality edition is over $25,000, but it’s cheaper to buy and easier to find than the FJ40.
1981-1983 Toyota Draw
If you’re looking for the rarest Toyota trucks, the Trekker is your holy grail. In the early 1980s, a small batch of pickups (around 1,500 or so) was altered by Winnebago with a contract with Toyota, covering the cargo floor with a fiberglass top and adding a second seat in the back.
If the concept sounds familiar, that’s because the trekker is essentially the direct ancestor of the Toyota 4runner.
Trekkers are extremely difficult to find, and prices range from $10,000 to $50,000 depending on the mileage, condition and how optimistic the seller is. This is an important part of Toyota’s history that influenced one of the automaker’s most popular models just a few years after the SUV concept proved to be viable for Toyota outside the Land Cruiser family.
photograph: mecum auction
1984-1988 Toyota Pickup
Speaking to certain types of movie nerds, “1985 TOYOTA SR5 XTRA CAB,” it could potentially make them go back to the future. Adorned with roll bars, lift kits and off-road lights, this black Toyota pickup made stars from the company’s humble trucks and gave them promotional blitz that made money not available to buy outside the silver screen.
Hollywood’s screams helped, but this pickup era has also made Toyota a hit in the trucking mainstream with its own merit. Competing with recent compact entries from Detroit like the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet S-10, the pickup enjoyed a good reputation for toughness and reliability, and it was nearly impossible to kill its basic four-cylinder motor (which added fuel injection to the mix in 1985). He also graduated from the later edition to V-6 Power.
Also outside the 4×4 scene, these Toyota pickups were popular with mini truck fans, creating the neon underglow street machine that took over Southern California the following decade.
The price for the Marty McFly Specials is above expected, but it has a cluster of average ASKs around the $20,000 mark.
1984-1988 Toyota 4runner
When Toyota officially joined the small SUV game, it made a 4Runner and a big splash. Like The Trekker, 4Runner borrowed machines and platforms from the pickup. In fact, the majority of the first generation 4runners (known in other markets as Hilux Surf) were nothing more than pickups with removable fiberglass bedspreads and body-on-frame sheet metal when rolled from the boat to the dock.
Another victim of the chicken tax, Toyota relied primarily on dealers to work on seats and seat belts within the 4runner freight area. The power came from the four-cylinder, turbocharged four-cylinder, and the V-6 engine that roughly matches what the pickups offer towards the end of the run. The independent front suspension has also arrived on later models.
The second generation 4runner could be something with a greater appeal (certainly reflected in the number of sales) as it added an additional set of doors and a fully completed passenger compartment. That makes the original 4runner one of the most collectible Toyota trucks, but it has a more unusual personality than what you’re used to in modern SUVs. For good terms examples, try to pay in the $30,000 range.
1990-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ80
The classic Toyota Land Cruiser is a little bit of a two-person. Not only did this full-size four-door arrived in the US under the Toyota Banner, it also donated the platform and much of it to the Lexus LX450, the first off-road SUV built by the automaker’s new luxury brand.
Toyota pushed the sides of the FJ80 into modern times, adding coil springs instead of the front and rear leaf designs, but it also celebrated its legacy with a robust, unsleek six-cylinder engine for production for the first few years (with a twin-cam unit that arrives mid-boy).
The FJ80 is a vehicle sandwiched between its sturdy past and a future that leaps far more towards the Lexus side of the spectrum. Also, over the past few years its popularity among collectors has exploded. The example directs six numbers and a person who is less than his period, under conditions of about half the amount. Its status as the final analog grand cruiser is undoubtedly playing a role in its surged value.
I love old Toyota trucks and SUV collectors
- 1960-1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40
- 1973-1978 Toyota Pickup
- 1980-1992 Toyota FJ60/FJ62
- 1981-1983 Toyota Draw
- 1984-1988 Toyota Pickup
- 1984-1988 Toyota 4runner
- 1990-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ80
Photos by Motortrend staff and manufacturers
