2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Look: The Return of An Icon
The iconic Land Cruiser rides again in the U.S.
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00:00 After a long three-year hiatus, the unkillable is back.
00:04 Meet the all-new 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser
00:07 in all its boxy and retro glory.
00:09 Are you stoked it's back?
00:10 'Cause I'm stoked it's back.
00:12 (upbeat music)
00:14 But first, a little story time.
00:23 A long time ago, the first Land Cruiser touched down
00:26 in the US market in 1958.
00:28 The subsequent generation, the 40 Series,
00:30 was an instant hit and became the best-selling Toyota
00:33 in the US between 1961 and 1965.
00:37 You'll instantly recognize it for its boxy design
00:39 and round headlights.
00:40 Fast forward all the way to 2008,
00:43 where the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series debuted
00:45 as the last generation to be sold here in the US.
00:48 Until now, obviously.
00:50 This one was a pretty big departure
00:51 from the original Land Cruiser idea.
00:53 It was upscale, luxurious, decidedly un-boxy.
00:56 It was posh, it was posh.
00:59 And it was posh enough to start competing with Lexus,
01:02 which is a big corporate no-no.
01:04 It was a good truck, but was it a real Land Cruiser?
01:07 Eh.
01:08 But now there's reason to celebrate
01:09 because the new Land Cruiser seems to go right back
01:11 to those old 40 Series roots.
01:13 Actually, it looks like how the 40 Series would today
01:16 if it were still alive.
01:17 This body-on-frame truck has a ton of right angles,
01:20 a high vantage point, and is actually slightly smaller
01:22 and narrower than the 200 Series.
01:25 When was the last time the new version of a car
01:26 got smaller than the one it replaces?
01:28 All versions of the new Land Cruiser will be powered
01:30 by Toyota's 2.4 liter turbocharged
01:32 four-cylinder hybrid i-Force Maxx engine.
01:35 Oh, it's a mouthful.
01:36 They'll make a respectable 326 horsepower
01:39 and 465 pound-feet of torque.
01:42 The trucks will use an eight-speed automatic
01:44 and have full-time four-wheel drive,
01:45 at least 8.7 inches of ground clearance
01:48 and up to 6,000 pounds of towing capacity.
01:51 At launch, there will be three trims.
01:53 The first is the Land Cruiser 1958,
01:55 which is your base trim.
01:56 It'll have the smaller eight-inch infotainment screen,
01:59 fabric trimmed in manually adjusted seats,
02:01 and round headlights.
02:03 This is the good one, the honest one.
02:05 This is the way a Land Cruiser should be, you know?
02:07 Humble and simple, but certainly not any less premium.
02:11 Then there's the Land Cruiser trim,
02:12 which gets the bigger 12.3-inch infotainment screen
02:15 and multi-terrain select adjustable off-road drive settings.
02:19 You'll be able to tell it's a Land Cruiser trim
02:21 from the outside because of the horizontal headlights
02:23 instead of the rounded ones.
02:25 Finally, the Land Cruiser First Edition
02:27 is limited to 5,000 examples for North America.
02:30 On it, you get a roof rack, rock rails,
02:32 a front skid plate, mud flaps,
02:34 and exclusive interior touches.
02:36 The First Edition also gets rounded headlights.
02:39 So that retro trend seems like it's already
02:41 in high gear these days,
02:42 especially with the off-road SUVs
02:44 like the Land Rover Defender and Ford Bronco.
02:46 You may now add the Toyota Land Cruiser to that list.
02:50 However, it is not a replacement for the 4Runner
02:53 in case you were nervous.
02:55 Toyota says the Land Cruiser is for a more mature buyer,
02:58 while the 4Runner is meant for a younger buyer.
03:01 Regardless of how it's positioned, though,
03:02 it's pretty incredible Toyota is bringing this thing back.
03:05 It's also like way cooler than the J300 series
03:08 they get in other parts of the world, so suck it.
03:10 As for the biggest question of all, the price.
03:13 Toyota didn't get specific, but did say
03:16 the new Land Cruiser will start in the mid $50,000 range.
03:19 So you can use your imagination from now
03:21 until it gets closer to being on sale.
03:23 Being the rebirth of an icon and all that,
03:25 the new Land Cruiser's got big shoes to fill.
03:28 So we'll see how all that shakes out.
03:30 (upbeat music)
03:33 (upbeat music)