Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Will Soldier On, Even After Four Decades

In case you weren’t aware, Toyota still produces the Land Cruiser 70 today. In fact, the venerable 4x4 off-roader will soon mark 40 years of continued production and existence since it first rolled off the line in 1984.

And, given recent reports coming out of Australia, Toyota won’t stop making the Land Cruiser 70 anytime soon. There’s even talks about electrifying the model with a hybrid powertrain.

As quoted by CarSales, Sean Hanley, Toyota’s VP of sales and marketing in Australia, said “there's no departure of our product plan on the 70 Series." Furthermore, the exec didn't rule out a downsized powertrain, saying customers would accept it, as they did with the Land Cruiser 300 and its lack of V8 engines.

One possible option to potentially replace the Land Cruiser 70’s existing 4.5-litre V8 turbo-diesel is a smaller-sized 4-cyl hybrid drivetrain. This was hinted by Hanley who cited the automaker’s desire to go greener.

“The key to anything that Toyota does and first and foremost in our thinking is fit for purpose in the market you operate in while still getting to that carbon-neutral position because that's now high on the agenda," explained Hanley.

Whilst this remains to be seen, Toyota’s Australian arm still has the issue of resolving deliveries of back-logged orders for the vintage 4x4 SUV. The automaker has temporarily halted accepting new orders for it in Australia due to strong demand, despite the 2023 model year version experiencing a price hike of AUS$1,600 – approx. RM4,850.

Known down under as the Land Cruiser LC70, said model is offered in both SUV and pick-up – or Ute, as the Aussies termed it – body choices, plus the addition of a factory-fitted A-pillar snorkel. The oil-burning V8 mentioned earlier serves up a respectable 202 HP and 430 NM, both managed by a 5-speed manual box on-top of a full-blown 4x4 driveline setup.

Over the years, Toyota have updated the Land Cruiser 70 from time to time. The latest of which furnishes the 4x4 SUV with a rather modern 6.1-inch touchscreen infotainment unit, dual airbags, air conditioning, as well as both traction and stability control suites too. These, in turn, keep this workhorse of sorts aligned with modern needs and current car trends.

What say you, folks? Will electrification, albeit a mild one, keep the Land Cruiser 70 going for a while more? Hit the comments below with your thoughts…