Personal fav: ’83 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
We absolutely respect a good FJ-60 for many reasons. It is so much more practical than an FJ-40 (don’t write us please) and more reliable than a Land Rover (same warning applies). The styling is early Japanese funk although that isn’t what they were going for back then. But you have to know how hard it is to keep one in this condition and be lucky enough to find someone who’ll part with it. We had a ’87 for years and he came from Tarzana, California. After our first few days of off-road exploration, we named him Tarzan – King of the Litchfield Hills. Ours was red and this one is in Middle Eastern, rifle toting Sahara Beige. You’ve seen endless news reports with like 20 amped-up militants hanging out of the windows shaking their rifles at some unknown assailant like Coyotes howling at the moon. At least they are smart about their choice of vehicle. You can tell a family owned Cruiser from a bushwacker by the front seats. If the seats are toast, it has had a hard life. It doesn’t rule one out but it makes you cautious. This one has original cloth seats in fine condition. Truly a rarity. This FJ is actually pretty extraordinary because it is wearing original paint and the vulnerable cloth seats have held up really well. The listing tells us that almost everything has been attended to therefore there is a possibility this is a turn-key driver. We don’t need the huge tires so our choice would be something in moderation that won’t follow every rut in the road. The asking price is $12,950 and we think it sounds fair for one in this condition. Click here for the listing.