Exploring the Old-School Luxury of the Toyota Land Cruiser
In a world where cars are becoming increasingly electrified, connected, and autonomous, the Toyota Land Cruiser stands out as a true anachronism. This off-road icon has been around since 1951 and has sold more than 10 million units worldwide. It’s a popular choice in Africa, Australia, South America, and the Middle East, where its off-road capabilities are highly valued.
But what about in Europe? Here, we get the Land Cruiser Prado, which is smaller than the J300 released in 2021. The Prado has been in its J150 generation since 2009, with a second facelift in 2017. It’s not as popular as its larger counterparts, but it’s still a formidable off-roader that’s worth exploring.
We recently had the opportunity to test drive the Toyota Land Cruiser 2.8 D4-D Invincible specification, and we were impressed by the old-school luxury it offered. The Invincible spec sits above only Active trim and brings everything any countryside dweller could need.
In terms of old-school luxuries, we had a fridge, electric seat adjustment, a parking camera, parking sensors, automatic headlights, tri-zone air conditioning, powered mirrors, a heated and electrically adjustable steering wheel, and comfy chairs with ventilation and heating upholstered in Ortaka Ivory leather (the same color as the carpet).
As for off-road features, we had Multi-Terrain Select (five off-road driving modes), cameras looking underneath the car, crawl control (a kind of off-road cruise control), a body angle display, a steering angle display, off-road turning assistance, a rear Torsen differential, a locking center differential, and Toyota’s fascinating Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System.
Among the modern technology, we had a 9.0in infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and sat-nav, a punchy 14-speaker JBL stereo, adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert, traffic sign recognition, automatic high beam, automatic wipers, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and blindspot monitoring.
Driving the Land Cruiser was a unique experience. Its ladder-frame construction and 23in all-terrain tires made it feel like a true off-roader. The steering inputs were more approximations than directions, but that only added to the charm of the car. We loved finding a new way to drive and seeing controls and features that were totally unfamiliar.
The Land Cruiser’s 2.8-liter four-pot engine was powerful enough to get us where we needed to go, but it wasn’t the most fuel-efficient. We got just 29mpg on diesel, which isn’t great at £1.70 per liter.
Overall, we were impressed by the Toyota Land Cruiser’s old-school luxury and off-road capabilities. It’s not a car for everyone, but for those who value off-road performance and unique driving experiences, it’s definitely worth considering.