Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ75 Pickup
Photo by Andy Shaffer
In the course of over three decades of expedition travel I’ve been lucky enough to gain experience in a wide range of vehicles, from Series II and III Land Rovers and 40-Series Land Cruisers, to Defenders and 70-Series Land Cruisers. Along the way I also drove Toyota Hiluxes and Nissan Navaras, Mercedes G-Wagens, a Lada Niva, a Unimog, and probably a few I’m forgetting.
Each had its strengths and weaknesses; some inclined more toward the former, some the latter. But one brand rises to the top in terms of reliability—the inarguable single most critical requirement in a vehicle to which one might be trusting one’s life. A couple brands come close to Toyota—the mighty but expensive Mercedes G-Wagen, the unassumingly competent Nissans—but for marque-wide reputation and ubiquitous deployment in places and situations where dependability and durability are paramount, the Hilux and Land Cruiser reign supreme. That of course includes not just “legitimate” uses such as my own, but those of thousands of insurgents and counter-insurgents. In fact they had an entire war named after them; you can look it up.
I appreciate the handiness and economy of the Hilux and its various four-cylinder turbodiesel engines. But for my needs, the Land Cruiser was always the right choice. Roseann and I own a very nice 1993 HZJ75 Troop Carrier, modified with a pop-top camper, interior cabinetry, and other options that enhance it as a long-distance exploration vehicle.
Why this era? First, it’s legal to import such a vehicle to the U.S. as long as it is over 25 years old. This is a rather stupid rule if you think about it. Why wouldn’t the government restrict personal imports to vehicles newer than 25 years, with better emission controls and safety features? Clearly new-vehicle manufacturers lobbied for the older exemption. Were they really afraid of a flood of people importing their own new vehicles rather than buying them off a lot?
Be that as it may—the other reason for the 90s model rather than a late 80s is that in 1990 Toyota replaced its reliable but seriously anemic 2H six-cylinder diesel engine with the overhead-cam, seven-main-bearing 1HZ six, an engine so perfectly conceived that you can still buy a new 70 Series Land Cruiser in Africa with this powerplant, 30 years later. (In other markets Toyota now installs a sophisticated but complex turbodiesel V8.)
In Trail of the Jaguar, a 70-Series pickup powered by the 1HZ served Clayton faithfully for several years in Africa and then in the U.S., but after an unfortunate incident involving a couple of bullet holes through the block he replaced the engine with a 1HD-T, which is essentially a 1HZ modified with direct injection and strengthened to accept a turbo, lending it more power as well as better fuel economy and high-elevation performance.
Owners of the HZJ75 pickup’s main competitor, the Land Rover 110 pickup or its heavier-duty brother the Hi-Cap, rightfully scoff at the Toyota’s 19th-century leaf springs, which indeed are bruising in comparison to the all-coil setup on the Land Rover (even the current 70-Series pickups only have coils on the front axle). Clayton installed Old Man Emu springs in the book; these help close the gap, but not by much. He and I are willing to accept the trade-off for the Land Cruiser’s unmatched trustworthiness.
