Fj Cruiser Rock Rails

We drive Toyota's retro FJ Cruiser

Six decades ago the world was recovering from a devastating war, and everybody was building four-wheel drive vehicles, from the American Jeep to the British Land Rover and Mercedes' extraordinary Unimog - and Toyota built the FJ40.

Fast-forward 60 years and Toyota has climbed on to the retro bandwagon with the FJ Cruiser, an unashamed tribute to that first off-roader, but with enough 21st-century attitude to give it some character of its own.

The FJ Cruiser, released in South Africa this week, borrows its straight mesh grille, single round headlights and straight cut, high-mounted bumper from its forebear.

The white roof pays tribute to the canvas canopies on early FJs, as do the high-mounted air intake and upright windscreen - but the latter has no less than three short-throw windscreen wipers for when the going gets muddy.

Access, however, is unashamedly new-century, with large front doors concealing the handles for two rear-opening 'suicide doors' creating a huge opening in the side of the FJ for loading family and their playtoys, complete with integrated side steps and lots of grab handles.

Motivation is provided by a four-litre V6 petrol engine with variable valve timing, for which Toyota quotes 200kW at 5600rpm and 380Nm at 4400rpm, while burning 11.4 litres per 100km and emitting 267g/km of CO2.

That's delivered to the rear wheels - or all four - via a five-speed 'intelligent' autobox with flexible lock-up, which measures road conditions, power requirements and driver inputs to adjust gear selection and gear changes, and a transfer case offering 4x2, 4x4 high and 4x4 low ranges.

Suspension is by double wishbones in front and a four-link set-up with lateral rods at the back, with anti-roll bars at both ends and 17-inch rims, providing 245mm of ground clearance - which Toyota says is the best in the Land Cruiser range.

Short overhangs allow for an approach angle of 34 degrees, a break-over angle of 29 degrees and a departure angle of 30 degrees, and there are two heavy-duty hooks on the front bumper and one at the rear.

Our launch correspondent, Jesse Adams, was generally impressed with its off-road ability: “I tackled some seriously rocky climbs at the FJ's Gauteng launch this week, and couldn't manage to scrape its undercarriage as I passed over buttock clinching-sized boulders no matter how hard I tried.

Trail-Gear Rock Sliders (Painted Satin Black) - SoCal FJ Cruiser ...

"These heavy duty Rock Sliders are fully welded and ready to bolt on to your new Cruiser using the factory mounting holes. Sliders are made from 1 3/4" X .120" wall 1035 DOM tubing. Sliders are 58" in length. Includes 4 legs on each slider with super beefy gussets on each leg. Fits all 2006-2011 FJ Cruisers. Mounting hardware is included.