| The mighty Toyota Land Cruiser has a legendary | | | | Australia. Despite the relatively small proportion of |
| reputation as a formidable off road vehicle. It was | | | | Toyota sales in Australia, it has the most loyal |
| introduced to Australia in 1958, when Leslie Theiss | | | | following of all Toyota models, highlighted by the |
| (now Sir Leslie Theiss) imported 13 FJ25 Landcruisers | | | | number of repeat purchases Landcruiser owners |
| to be used on the Snow Mountains Hydro Electric | | | | make. |
| Scheme. Sir Les had been impressed by some | | | | The success of the Landcruiser in Australia is certainly |
| privately owned Landcruisers that were already | | | | a part of Toyota's proud history. When the |
| working in the area. With a clever mix of a powerful | | | | Landcruiser was first imported here, the company |
| engine and rugged drive train, the Landcruiser | | | | was still somewhat in its infancy and the response to |
| performed well in the rugged conditions and was also | | | | the vehicle by the public saw some of Toyotas best |
| quite adept on the highways, making it a very | | | | export sales at that time. It also established Toyota's |
| versatile vehicle. | | | | footing in this country by building an incredible |
| In the early years, Toyota sent engineers from | | | | reputation in a very short amount of time. |
| Japan to study and rectify problems that these early | | | | Today Australia still plays an important role in the |
| Landcruisers were experiencing in Australia. Failed | | | | development of the Landcruiser as the tough |
| parts were examined and sent back to Japan in what | | | | landscape makes it an ideal testing ground. Thousands |
| was a key part of the R&D program Toyota | | | | and thousands of kilometres are driven over harsh |
| conducted to develop the Landcruiser in to a market | | | | terrain and in hot conditions, providing valuable |
| leading player. Not only did it allow Toyota to build its | | | | research data to ensure each new Toyota Land |
| reputation, this level of support was impressive | | | | Cruiser model will uphold the reputation of its name. |
| enough for Sir Leslie Theiss to secure the rights to | | | | Although new car sales of the mighty Toyota Land |
| import the Landcruiser in to the country full time. | | | | Cruiser continue to fall, at the mercy of increasing |
| Toyota Land Cruisers became used extensively by | | | | fuel prices and the ever growing demand for smaller |
| resource companies and in the bush and today they | | | | urban SUV's, it will always remain in the hearts of |
| have a huge standing in the outback. In the Northern | | | | many Australians. The tale is far from over though, |
| Territory alone, they almost account for 60% of the | | | | with used Toyota Landcruiser activity rolling on, with |
| total SUV sales up there. The Landcruisers incredible | | | | older models up for restoration and recreational four |
| off road capabilities, huge towing capacity and | | | | wheel drivers and caravan and boat owners still very |
| legendary Toyota reliability make it a market leader in | | | | much interested in the whole spectrum of models. |