Rare (And Illegal) In The U.S. Toyota Land Cruisers Turn Heads On Wyoming’s I-80

Ryan Martinez was traveling to Laramie for a wedding when he saw something on Interstate 80 that likely turned many heads besides his own: two rare Toyota Land Cruisers with four-door cabs on a flatbed trailer.

“I was westbound heading down into Laramie when I saw them,” Martinez told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s not something you see every day in the U.S.”

That’s because you can’t buy these 79 Series Land Cruisers in the United States, something fans of the vehicles have been clamoring for.

When Martinez posted a photo of the Land Cruisers in the Facebook group Colorado Cars and Coffee, it exploded. Hundreds of people reacted, posting photos of similar Land Cruisers they’ve seen in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Everybody seemed to want a Land Cruiser, Martinez included.

“Hell yeah, I want one,” he said. “I'm not a superfan, but I appreciate them and like them. I'm disappointed we can't get that version of them here in the U.S.”

Legally Importing An Illegal Vehicle

Modern Toyota Land Cruisers are available in the U.S., but the vehicles Martinez saw on I-80 are models that aren’t, and have never been, sold here.

Jeremiah Proffitt, owner of Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers in Orchard City, Colorado, identified them as 79 series Land Cruiser trucks. He believed they were HZJ79s, likely imported from Saudi Arabia.

“The letter on the front of every model is the engine designation,” he said. “All the Land Cruisers sold in the United States through 1997 were FJ something, and ‘F’ means six-cylinder gas engine. HJ had a six-cylinder diesel engine, and diesel Land Cruisers were never sold in the U.S.”                              

The Land Cruisers’ white color made Proffitt assume they came from Saudi Arabia. Land Cruisers used in that nation’s military are typically white or tan.

“That’s why I think those are Middle East spec,” he said. “Central and South American Land Cruisers had many different colors and many stripes all over. White isn’t as popular anywhere else.”

Proffitt knows enough about Land Cruiser to understand what these two were doing on I-80. A military contractor most likely imported the vehicles to be “dissected.”

“If you look at footage of any Middle Eastern country at war, you'll see 70 Series trucks with rocket launchers, machine guns, missiles, and all kinds of stuff on the back,” he said. “Companies exist that sell Toyota 70 series directly to Al-Qaeda, so the U.S. military has an interest in knowing how these technicals maneuver and work.”

According to Proffitt, that’s the only explanation for how these two Land Cruisers ended up in the U.S. They can’t be legally imported otherwise.

“They’re in the country temporarily, just like citizens from a different country with a visa,” he said. “People have snuck them into the country one way or the other, but it's not recommended because you could get them taken away and crushed. That actually happened about ten years ago.  The government confiscated Land Rovers and destroyed them.”

The Market That Never Was

Toyota started making 70 Series Land Cruisers in 1984. Production continues uninterrupted to this day, making them among the most popular vehicles in the world.

“Toyota has been manufacturing the 70 Series Land Cruiser at capacity since 1984, selling every model they could possibly build,” Proffitt said. “If you're an Australian citizen and want to buy a new Land Cruiser, you’re on a two-year waiting list.”

Proffitt described the 70 Series as “the workhorse of the third-world country.”

These incredibly durable off-road vehicles are common throughout Africa and Central and South America.

The enduring demand for 70 Series Land Cruisers worldwide is a major reason why they have never been sold in the U.S. Proffitt said Toyota decided the traditional Land Cruiser wouldn’t have widespread appeal to Americans.

“They thought America is more interested in cup holders than for than off-road ability,” he said.

Beyond that, the U.S. also has higher safety standards that the 70 Series couldn’t clear. Proffitt said changing the 70 Series to meet U.S. safety standards probably wouldn’t be worth the time and expense for Toyota when they already have thriving markets elsewhere.

“They'd almost have to make a separate 70 Series to pass all of the U.S.’s safety, transportation, and EPA requirements,” he said. “Adding the U.S. market, and spending a bunch of money to do so, is probably not the smartest thing to do economically, and that's why Toyota isn't doing it. They don’t need this market.”

If They Want It, They Want It

Wyomingites might scoff at the notion that Land Cruisers sold in the U.S. were designed for luxury over utility, but Toyota’s assessment has been borne out over the years. There is a demand for luxurious Land Cruisers for city status rather than rural ruggedness.

“I suspect that most of the people who want a Land Cruiser want to own a Land Cruiser, but they’re not going to use it,” said automotive writer Aaron Turpen. “They're still extremely useful if you want to use one, but most people want to own and be seen in it.”

Turpen said Land Cruisers are aspirational vehicles in the U.S., similar to high-end sportscars. People who buy them don’t want to risk taking them into the environment where the bare-bones 70s Series are the go-to vehicles to traverse the Southern Hemisphere.

“The current generation of Land Cruisers can sell for around $60,000 in North America, and I can almost guarantee that less than 10% of those will do any actual off-roading. The owners aren’t going to crawl up and down Vedauwoo with their new car. Most of them will stay on the pavement for their entire life.”

Turpen agreed with Proffitt’s assessment that market analysis drives the automobile industry worldwide, another reason 70 Series Land Cruisers have no history or future in the U.S.

“It's all market differences,” he said. “A lot of people get paid to sit around and look at markets and decide, ‘If we sell it here, how many are we going to sell?’ Then, figure out those numbers and whether or not it's worth the money. It’s the same reason nobody makes small, two-door pickup trucks. Nobody wants to buy them, so it’d be a waste of time to make them.”

The Market That Is

Even if Series 70 Land Cruisers aren’t legally sold in the U.S., there’s still an intense demand for them in many capacities. Proffitt, whose entire business is high-end restorations and modifications of Land Cruisers, expects to see more 70 Series on American roads in the future.

“The U.S. has a 25-year rule when it comes to importing foreign-made vehicles,” he said. “Since the first 70 series were made in 1984, it’s possible to import some of those from Japan and Australia.”

In 2008, Proffitt worked with a company out of Dubai to turn 70 series chassis into armored personnel carriers in a Mexican factory. As part of their agreement, Proffitt was able to purchase and import 55 bodies of 2008 79 Series Land Cruiser trucks.

“They were buying brand new trucks from Toyota, taking the bodies off, and building a fully ballistic steel-plated troop carrier,” he said. “I built replicas of the 70 Series trucks for clients by using those bodies on domestic chassis, so they were custom 79 Series trucks that looked like ones you could buy in other counties but could be legally titled and registered in the U.S.”

Nearly 17 years later, Proffitt has only one of those 55 bodies left. They’ve been highly desirable purchases for people with the money to do it.

“You can buy one of those trucks in Central America, brand new, for $35,000,” he said. “Building a custom 70 series truck can cost up to $200,000. Most people wouldn’t spend that much on one truck, but enough people did. We built around 30 over the year, including one that we took the Special Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in 2018 and won the Battle of the Builders competition.”

Attaining The Unattainable

The 79 Series Land Cruisers spotted on I-80 didn’t start production until 1999, so they just breached the 25-year prohibition. That means more 70 Series could be legally imported to the U.S. in the future.

Profitt estimated that working on 70 Series accounts for five to ten percent of his business. Most of his work is on FJ 40s and 60s, which were legally sold in the U.S. Nevertheless, he said the 70 Series is “a passion of mine.”

“We always want what we can’t have,” he said.

Turpen agreed with that assessment. Land Cruisers are big business in the automotive industry, and that’s unlikely to change.

“Land Cruisers are hugely collectible,” he said. “Most collectors are over 50, and most of them are retired, but everybody wants one now. I would love to have one.”

Proffitt employs 17 technicians at Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers. He also had a 36-month backlog of clients waiting for their high-priced but high-quality restorations.

Acquiring a 70 Series that is older than 25 years can be somewhat affordable. A bare-bones truck with manual transmission roll-up windows could theoretically be purchased and shipped to the U.S. for under $15,000, and some importers are selling imported older models for between $25,000 and $30,000. 

Americans who want a modern 70 Series Land Cruiser, brand-new or custom-made, might not want to wait two decades to acquire it. To that end, Proffitt knows of another way someone could get one sooner, but he wouldn’t recommend it.

“If someone wanted to, they could get on a plane to Nicaragua, buy one of those Land Cruisers at a dealership, and drive it back to Wyoming,” he said. “You couldn’t legally import or get U.S. plates for it, but if you wanted to take the risk of driving it all the way through Central America and cross the U.S. border, you could do it. It has happened.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.