Like it or not, old Toyota Land Cruisers are no longer cheap. This is great if you happen to own one; less so if you’re on the market for one. This particular truck appears to belong to a caretaker who simply used it like any old truck, teaching his kids how to drive stick and otherwise using it as a “summer runner”, as he describes it. This has been the lift of these trucks as of late, as their values have shot high enough that it’s difficult to allow them to be used as cheap dailies any longer. This FJ60 does have the preferred manual gearbox and looks sharp on 80-series wheels. Find it here on eBay with an $18,000 Buy-It-Now.

The FJ60 and later FJ62 have slowly become more sought after as the collector car scene began snatching up square body trucks of every kind. First it was the K5 Blazer and the Bronco, and then the FJ40-series Land Cruiser got white-hot. It seems that truck opened up the eyes of frequent auction bidders that Toyota made a pretty solid rig and one that could still be maintained with a basic set of tools. Of course, many of them were used for off-road duty and subsequently beaten up by rocks and ruts; the rest were done in by rust that tore at the chassis and the body panels. Finding a good one is fairly straightforward in the western states but far trickier in the rust and snow belts.

The seller’s truck is an honest example with no apparent modifications and a bone-stock appearance inside and out. The tan bucket seats feature original, OEM upholstery in seemingly excellent condition, especially for a truck with over 224,000 miles on it. But that’s the thing about the Land Cruiser: it’s timeless and seemingly ageless. Aside from gutting the cabin for use as a total off-road brute, they seem to still be presentable all these years later even with huge mileage racked up. My 1995 FJ80 has 250,000 miles on the clock, but the interior looks like it has far less (and my interior isn’t that nice.) Put all these qualities together and it’s not surprising to see how popular they’ve become.

Of course, the other reason these trucks hold so much appeal is that you can rack up huge mileage and still have a very reliable truck underneath a faded exterior with pitted chrome bumpers. The engines and transmissions are very durable and the inline-six mill won’t burn much oil even at the higher odometer readings. 300K without cracking it open is quite common, and there’s a good reason why you still see the 80-series and later trucks being used as dailies in the parts of the country where they won’t rust away. This one may not be the cheapest one out there, but with great colors and a manual gearbox, it’s quite appealing.