Lakeside LandCruiser.

As promised in the previous post; here's the first of those "closer looks" at one of the daily finds from a two-week run around Japan earlier this month. 

The Lake Biwa '60series.

Sitting in a nondescript carpark not far from Otsu's clearly-freshwater Lake Biwa, and brutally conspicuous amongst the plastic; it was worth the detour.
Not as though it's a minter or anything, but a 30-year-old LandCruiser is far from the norm.. and hell, awesome's awesome.
This particular example actually scored a bucket-load of bonus points (redeemable nowhere) just for being the first 60series I'd seen in Japan that actually looked used. In a country where spotless classic 4WD's are a currently-very-trendy 'thing', even among its fellow '60s (so often sporting a backdated utilitarian look) it manages to be different.

SO, as usual, "what is it?"
Well what you're looking at is a late, top-tier, HJ61 Toyota Landcruiser VX. Possibly an '88 or '89 build (yeah, 'late', as-in the 1989/90 '80series was nipping at its heels) and powered by Toyota's four-litre 12H-T  turbo-diesel straight six.
And how 'top' is this 'tier'?
In VX trim (VX > GX > STD) the HJ61 (diesel) and FJ62 (petrol) LandCruisers were right up there price-wise with Toyota's 7MGTE-powered Soarer and Supra!

Fun.

Continuing on...

There's a mild lift (these are solid-axle leaf-sprung F/R), and beefy alloys wrapped in Yokohama Geolander M/T's replacing the original styled steel wheels..

..and plenty of stickers in those rear windows, making up for the patina-riffic wear-and-tear on those tremendous factory side-stripes.

'turbo' VX 4WD.

I have to mention again at this point just how rarely I see tow-bars in Japan. Coming from a country where even the most worryingly-small cars are set up with a hook on their bum; their absence in Japan is noticeable.

..around to the left side to prove that yep, there is one; and we're done.

Want one of these for your very own? Well curious about just how much something similar would currently set you back in Japan, I went browsing...

Ooh.

Stock-as-a-rock from tape-deck to steelies, and seemingly tidy; this 303,000km (188,000mi) '89 HJ61 is currently at a dealer in Fukuoka for a whisker under 1million yen.
If it's genuinely as rust-free as it looks, I could absolutely go for that.

..not mint enough though? Well going a little further...

2.5million yen at FLEX (a dealer network that specializes in older LandCruisers) in Okayama, will get you an '89 HJ61 with 163,000km (101,000mi)...

...while at another dealer in Hokaido; the same 2.5million yen will get you a '89 HJ61 with only 128,000km (80,000mi) on the clock..

...and in Miyagi? Amazingly, again, 128,000km (80,000mi) on this HJ61 (an '88 this time) for the same 2.5million.

Decisions, decisions...


Now to wind this post up with some period promotional shots, just to make your wallet really sweat..

Lower-spec barn-door FJ62.. (I actually did a post on a now-seemingly-rare FJ62 in the high-spec VX trim in the past, here)

..and boom(!) 'photoshop' magic from a time when the process probably involved a little more arts&crafts. Never trust a brochure image! 

I really should do a post on that one day....

..but for now?
Nope, we're done. Enjoy.