Disclosure: This site may receive compensation when you click on some links and make purchases.

Rare Six-Cylinder Diesel: 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser

This is a rare Japanese-market 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser, part of the FJ62 family but equipped with a diesel powertrain never sold stateside. Even more unusual, it has the manual gearbox, which almost never appears on JDM vehicles given the three-pedal option wasn’t exactly popular in Japan. This Land Cruiser’s body is in excellent shape, and it’s been upgraded slightly with some desirable aftermarket modifications. The Toyota looks harp riding on oversized tires and wheels, and the front bumper – removed here – is included with the seller. Find the Land Cruisr here on eBay with bids to $15,500.

You’ll note the Land Cruiser is also the elusive “high roof” version. The JDM truck market is one I’ve increasingly been paying attention to, as I want a specific make and model of a well-preserved vintage 4×4 and there’s a gorgeous example coming up for auction next week. Plenty of importers have sprung up in recent years, so many that you don’t even need to look too hard to find one, but the trick is finding an importer you trust who can bring in a vehicle of sufficient quality. This becomes imperative once you see a horror story of two of someone forking over big bucks for a dream car like the Nissan Skyline, only to find out it had been wrecked and loosely glued back together before heading to the U.S. That doesn’t appear to be a problem with this Land Cruiser.

The Japanese market trucks are usually low mileage specimens, but this Land Cruiser has still racked up an impressive 155,975 miles. This may not be much for this engine and transmission combination, but the rest of the truck presents surprisingly well for one that has apparently been used. The interior features cloth upholstery, an H55F five-speed manual gearbox, and the high-top Safari roof with a power sunroof. The cloth looks virtually perfect with no obvious signs of tears or soiling, and the seller has made a few upgrades on the inside: new leather Corbeau sets; a Nardi steering wheel; upgraded stereo with Apple Carplay; and more.

The engine is the extremely robust four liter, 2H diesel six-cylinder that the seller claims runs very well and doesn’t burn any oil. The driveshaft is new and the tires are said to still be quite fresh. The engine bay presents well, but it isn’t overly detailed. The seller has already processed all the paperwork needed to drive this JDM-import legally on U.S. roads, which is a major source of headaches removed from the process for the next owner. As long as you can get used to right-hand-steering, there’s always the potential of nabbing a Japanese classic for reasonable money with low miles and lots of desirable equipment – as this Land Cruiser goes to show.

Comments

  1. Avatar Jason

    Looks nice but I’m wondering why the front bumper has been removed. Would someone actually drive it on public roads like that?

    Like 1
    • Avatar Eamon

      It looks like the original bumper is included in the sale but not mounted. I’m not sure about other States, but bumpers aren’t required under Oregon or Washington laws.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Howie Mueler

    That wood steering wheel looks out of place on this.

    Like 2
  3. Avatar Ryan J

    “wrecked and loosely glued back together doesnt appear to be the case” well OK….but it clearly used to be blue its got a fresh lift and no bumper….plus this is way past the “25 year” rule. Personally i think this came to the US in pieces, sat in pieces for ten years and now thats its worth something its put back together to sell. I can never tell if these people who run this site are blind, ignorant, or just “like cars” not “car guys”. they are the guys that go up to a maverick at car show and say “i havent seen a vega in years!”

    Like 1
  4. Avatar Gerry Member

    Seller says it wears a wrap and the pictures of it in blue look just fine not sure why one would wrap it.
    The Manual transmission is actually very common in Japan for the 60 series the Automatics didn’t start to outnumber them until the 80 series came out.

    Like 2
    • Avatar douglas hunt

      yea, over here the fj60 [round headlights were 4 speeds] the fj62 was automatic only.
      i just love this body style, but not a fan of the right hand drive

      Like 1
  5. Avatar Rob

    Probably a HJ60.. normally aspirated Diesel . FJ means gas powered.

    In Australia were I am manual diesels 60 series were probably the most common 60 series model sold…

    FJ60 – FJ62 – HJ60 – HJ61 – Years 1981 – 1989
    Engine: 2H (naturally-aspirated, diesel) – 12HT (turbo diesel) – 2F (petrol 4.2) – 3FE (petrol 3.9)

    Still for sale here.. but going up in price as sadly most have rusted away …

    https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/?&q=(And.Service.CARSALES._.(C.Make.Toyota._.(C.Model.Landcruiser._.(Or.Series.FJ60._.Series.HJ60._.Series.HJ60RG._.Series.HJ60RV._.Series.HJ61RG.))))

    Like 0

Leave a Reply to douglas hunt Cancel reply

RULES: No profanity, politics, or personal attacks.

Become a member to add images to your comments.

*

Get new comment updates via email. Or subscribe without commenting.