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The Toyota Land Cruiser
started out in January 1951 as the Toyota
Jeep BJ. In September of 1955, the 20-series was
created. There were ten variations available between
the FJ20 to the FJ29. The FJ25
was the primary model sold to North America.
It was the FJ25
that evolved into the FJ40
model we see today. The FJ40
and other models were built by Arakawa Bankin Kogyo,
now ARACO Co., Ltd.
In 1956 a van body known
as the FJ28v
was introduced and the wheelbase was extended from
2,285mm (90.0in) to 2,430mm (95.8in). Toyota started
the wagon series with a 2-door
and a 4-door
configuration, both were known as the FJ28va/FJ28lva.
Between 1956 and 1960, 1,250 FJ28va and lva were produced.
They were never exported to the North American market.
We know there was at least one in South America because
of this
picture. The only other know picture of the FJ28v
is this
one.
It was in 1954 when Gifu
Body Co., Ltd. started working with Toyota
motor sales. In 1960, Gifu Body produced the bodies
for the wagons instead of Arakawa Bankin Kogyo. Gifu
was responsible for the FJ45lv
and possibly the FJ45v and earlier models starting
in 1960. Manufacture of the wagon bodies by Gifu
ended in 1967 when the FJ55
was taken over by ARACO. Gifu
is still producing truck bodies today including the
Mega
Cruiser.
In September of 1960 the
FJ35v
and FJ35lv were created. This model looked a lot
like the FJ45
wagons we know today but with one major exception.
The front bib was exactly like the FJ25.
Production of the FJ35
stopped in November of 1960 with only 60 produced.
On a side note, if you see what looks like an FJ35lv
in California, it might be Gene's psuedo
fj35lv he created from an FJ45lv.
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