1996 Toyota Land Cruiser

The Land Cruiser Prado started as a more street-oriented, comfortable adaptation of the standard 70 series Land Cruiser. If you are looking at this Prado and think it looks familiar, that might be because this is the beginning of the Lexus GX, itself a minor divergence from what the rest of the world gets as the Prado.

Forest Green paint with a silver lower panels set up a very 90s look right off the bat. This truck has a tall, athletic stance with excellent ground clearance. JDM rain guards over every window, front-mounted fog lights (with TOYOTA proudly emblazoned across each light)  attached to an inboard bullbar with the corner-mounted mirror bleed even more distinctive vibes. Radical Toyota-original 6 spoke wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich KO2s white letters out complete the look. Top it off with great side rails able to handle rooftop tents, ski racks, luggage carriers, and/or more, and you have yourself a fantastically capable, excellent daily driver that can handle what you want to tackle. 

You're getting the top end trim this car was fit with, with two tone grey, blues, and reds dotting the door panels and seats. As such, the seats themselves are comfortable fabric affairs, with great bolstering. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer. Standard instrument cluster up front, amazing visibility all around and a functioning sunroof above your head. Above the center stack is the ‘Field Monitor’, a sort of digital information pod that includes an inclinometer, pitch/roll indicator and a digital compass. In addition it can display temperature, elevation, barometric pressure, digital speedometer (in kilometers of course) and a timer. Below this is arguably the star of the show, a 4 speed automatic transmission along with a low-range selector and locking center differential. The glorious JDM headunit was replaced with a great modern USDM headunit that allows you any CarPlay of your choice. Automatic climate control and a little drawer, along with an analog clock are here as well. You also get dual front airbags and ABS which is a far cry from the “not at all” available in the last generation. Center console can swallow all sorts of things under its lid, including four drinks in its various cupholders. Backseats are clean and comfortable, with rear climate control (IN 1996!) with a smaller set of third row seats (fold out "Trooper" seats) in the very back. The cargo area is large on its own but can be made significantly larger if you fold the rear seats forward.

The KZJ90 series of Land Cruiser Prados are excellent, incredibly engineered vehicles. Fast enough to comfortably sit on the highway at 70 miles per hour all day, absolutely capable to trudge through whatever offroad hell you send its way, and overbuilt to last decades into hard use. This one is a clean, fantastic to ride in, and will leave you constantly wondering "why didn't Toyota sell this HERE?!". Everything works, it needs nothing and is ready to g