Thursday, November 23, 2006

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER









The Toyota Land Cruiser is a series of popular four wheel drive automobiles from the Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan. Originally, they were strictly utility vehicles, but they now are available as SUVs. The Land Cruiser is widely used around the world in areas which require durability, reliability and off road performance. The Land Cruiser along with the Hilux pickup truck is symbolic of Toyota's legendary toughness and both trucks are used around the world in grueling terrains and climates with poor roads for many many years before they are no longer usable.
Its widespread use as the transport of choice for units and irregular forces in developing countries has served as a testament to their reliability and toughness.
The U.S. market Land Cruiser is sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon.
Created as a competitor to other off-road vehicles such as the Land Rover and the Jeep, in many places the Land Cruiser is ubiquitous and has almost eliminated other all wheel drive vehicles from the market.
Design of the Land Cruiser began in 1950, and production began in 1953. The Land Cruiser has been produced in a number of different versions, including successful flat bed pickup trucks predominantly used as technicals.
In many places, the term Land Cruiser has almost become a generic term for an off-road vehicle.
Toyota designer Kazuo Morohoshi interviewed in the South African Car magazine explained the background to the birth of the Land Cruiser. "Growing up after the war, I was really impressed by the US Army personnel's Jeeps... and how they could climb up and over obstacles. We have many classic shrines with stairs leading up to them, and these cars simply climbed up those steps. I decided that one day I would make a similar kind of 'mobile', something more like an animal or insect than a car, which could do even better".
In 1996, a smaller version of the Land Cruiser was released, called the Land Cruiser Prado. This vehicle shares many components with the Toyota 4Runner and is considered to be just as capable off-road as its bigger sibling. A version of the Prado, with added luxurious features is sold in North America as the Lexus GX. The Prado name was used prior to this on a version of the light-duty Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.

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