Toyota Land Cruiser 2010 News

The local story began back in the 1950s when construction magnate Sir Leslie Thiess imported a handful of the original Cruisers for work on the the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme. The LandCruiser, in many guises, went on to become a popular series of work, and then play, trucks.Toyota Australia's sales and marketing director says LandCruiser has demonstrated its competitiveness and dependability since the first prototype was delivered in January 1951."LandCruiser underpinned Toyota's development in Australia and, in many regional and remote areas, remains the vehicle of choice in tough conditions where quality, durability and reliability are paramount."The Cruiser park includes 280,000 wagons, including the current 200 Series; 310,000 'military' versions as seen in the 70 Series line-up; plus 160,000 LandCruiser Prados. Next year the range grows again with the retro-inspired, short wheelbase FJ Cruiser.And in this 60th year of the Japanese four-wheel drive Toyota Australia has released a limited edition anniversary model. Based on a 200 Series GXL, the special adds leather interior trim, satellite navigation and the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System to the package.

Toyota says the limited edition of about 2000 units has more than $5000 of extra equipment compared with the 200-Series GXL on which it's based.Dealers have strong interest in the edition because previous Anniversary models are highly-prized on the used-car lot. Many orders are from owners of 40th and 50th Anniversary specials.Added features include leather cabin trim, bluetooth-compatible touch-screen satellite navigation with a four-CD changer, leather-trim steering wheel and gearshift lever, silver roof rails and 60th anniversary badges.The V8 bi-turbo diesel model goes up in price by $76 because it also gets the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS), which is normally a $3250 option. All V8 petrol Land Cruisers have KDSS as standard.Prices for the 60th Anniversary petrol model start at $79,990 and the turbo-diesel is $90,990. The ratio of diesel to petrol versions to go on sale is as much as seven-to-one because Toyota sees diesel buyers as the primary market.Paint colours feature the new Shimmer Blue which is unique to the special-edition model. Also available is Crystal Pearl - previously only on the Sahara model - or Graphite.All new Land Cruisers, including the 60th Anniversary edition, are covered by Toyota Service Advantage, which caps the price for a standard scheduled service at $210 during the first three years or 60,000km.

A Mustang is a wild brumby in the USA but also one of the all-time best muscle cars; the LandCruiser does just what the name says, even if the land is the worst of the Australian outback; and the Enzo is a tribute to the man who founded the world's best-know supercar company, Ferrari.But the name game can go badly wrong.  The Nissan Cedric was never going to be a hit in Australia with a name that creates a picture of an aging uncle Arthur in a cardigan, Taurus is tough in the USA but was always going to flop against the Falcon, and the Skoda Roomster has just been dumped after failing to find a home down under.Holden was careful to avoid the VD in its Commodore line, but why did it start with the VB and not the VA? And what about the Statesman, which went well as the WB but was never updated into the WC?  Just this week I was following a Citroen Jumpy delivery fan in Portugal, and wondering if the name was a reflection of the driver's behaviour or the way it runs on the road.The craziness goes on and on, like the Citroen Picasso people mover which is anything but an oil painting.  Today's showrooms also have cars whose names have more numbers and letters than a cryptic crossword, with just as much meaning. Who really knows the difference between an A7 and a C350?But head back in history and there are some absolute clangers.  Henry Ford named the 1950s Edsel after his son, but is now recorded as one of the biggest flops in blue-oval history.  Japan has given us everything from the Daihatsu Rocky and Rugger to the Honda Ascot and Acty Crawler and on through the Isuzu Big Horn to the Subaru Justy.Nissan created the Tiida name from nothing, even though it claims it has something to do with waves breaking on a beach, and Lexus is even a made-up brand name, in contrast to Mercedes which was named after an early Daimler customer's daughter.  Over in America, the AMC Gremlin was a flop, the Dodge Neon never went up in lights, Plymouth Reliant never lived up to its promise, and the Lincoln Town Car was so big it needed its own postcode.Even some of the names which have worked create more questions than answers about their creation.  The Kia Mentor is more likely to need one, the Honda Jazz is not much of a music machine and the Suzuki Cappucino was too frothy to sell in Australia.Some names also paint a picture because of their history.  Mention Celica and lots of people in Australia think hairdresser.  Ask about the Nissan GT-R and you'll hear about Godzilla.Camry is shorthand for fridge-on-wheels, Kingswood is classic sixties kitsch, and then there is the Goggomobil.  So, what's causing a Rukus today? The Toyota Rukus, for a start.We could also get the Nissan Cube, which is as boxy as its name, although Nissan Australia is also pushing for a return of the Pulsar badge which worked so well before the silly switch to Tiida.  Right now we have the Skoda Superb in Australian showrooms. If that's not a name which creates a serious expectation then we don't know our Falcodores.When Toyota was looking for a new name for a mid-sized car alongside the Camry it thought it had the ideal choice. It settled on Centaur - the mythical man-horse - because it sounded tough.  But no-one at Toyota Australia had taken into account a nasty incident in World War II during the battle for the Pacific.A hospital ship called the Centaur was sailing towards Brisbane when it was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. The idea of a Toyota Centaur sunk even faster.  The Centaur badges were crushed, all the paperwork was changed and so was the advertising. The Centaur quickly became the Avalon for Australia.  How do we know? Carsguide made the call to Toyota to warn about the problem. Japanese cars have always led the way in the silly-names race.  How about the Mazda Bongy Brawny? No, not the name for an off-road tough SUV, it was the badge on the back of a city delivery van with a 1.3-litre engine.Everyone has heard the story about the Mitsubishi Starion, and whether the company's sales team actually meant to call the turbo coupe the Stallion.  And then there is the Pajero. It's called the Montero in Spain, because Pajero is the word for something usually done alone in private.

The Brisbane truck and bus driver now owns four historic race cars and has run out of room in his shed. "I live in the past, my wife (Joanne) tells me," he says. Moore, 58, only started racing karts about 20 years ago having got his thrills as a youth playing rugby league for Valleys in the 1970s."I only had a few first grade games, broke a few things and never took it seriously," he says. "After that I suppose I was looking for some new form of excitement. Racing is a completely different type of adrenalin." So after his daughters grew up and he had more disposable income, he started disposing of it on cars."I've always had cars. I could have been retired by now if I hadn't had that many cars," he says. "I've had a big Dodge Phoenix, Chevies and other cruisers, plus XT and XW Falcon GTs at one stage."The cars I've bought and sold over the years, you have no idea."But they had to go when Moore started collecting race cars in 2000. His first was a 1964 EH Holden race car he bought for $6000."It had a bit of race history with it," he says. "It was raced in Sydney around the old tracks there and on the Central Coast. I'm doing a full resto on that. I've taken it back to the bare metal and painting it up in the original colours and I'll continue to race it."The EH was followed by a 1953 FX Holden he bought in 2004 for $12,000."The first time I saw the Humpy I had taken the EH to Oran Park to race a long time ago and I approached (the owner) and said if you ever want to sell that I'll buy it. I had my cheque book ready in my pocket. Then a few years later I was unloading the EH at Eastern Creek and he came over and said, `Get your cheque book out'. I still had the XW GT in the shed and came home and told my wife and she said I had to sell a car to buy it. The first bloke that saw the XW bought it. Three months later the price doubled and another three months later it doubled again."He ran the Humpy in the inaugural Cootha Classic last year and may give it another run this year. It was followed by a 1968 two-door Mark II Cortina belonging to a sick friend."He rang me asking me to buy it and named a price that I said was too cheap," he says. "When I rang him later to buy it at that price he said, 'No because you told me it was worth more'. "I ended up paying $7500 but it's a beauty with the original 1500cc four-cylinder engine running Webbers and hotted up."His final purchase was a 1957 FE Holden he recently bought for $2000.With his shed full of race cars plus his 1984 diesel LandCruiser and new Nissan Navara which are his daily drivers he has the FE "hidden in a mate's shed"."It's stock standard at the moment. We're going to cut the rust out, do the suspension, put a roll cage in it, then do the brakes and engine and go racing. I've always been a budget racer doing the stuff at home with a few mates. Brakes are the big problems with these cars. I used to get two or three laps in and then have no brakes. But I got some new drums cast in Sydney with heavier materials and some new brake linings - I tried carbon and kevlar but that was just too expansive - and I've finally got the package right."He races circuits up and down the east coast."I go ok. We have a lot of fun. There are races within races," he says. "There are the blokes up front with Falcon GTs, Camaros and Mustangs. Blokes like Jim Richards, Bo Seton and Andrew Miedecke but we don't play with those fellows. We're down the back in our own little battle group. There is a huge interest in these historic meetings now. I'd rather hang over the fence and watch the historics than watch the V8 Supercars go round. They're like slot cars."Moore prefers the rush he gets from making old cars go fast and keeping them running."I'll keep racing as long as I can afford it. I still hope I'll be doing it when I'm 80," he says. "I also have a huge desire to get a Vincent (motorcycle) sidecar like they used to race at the Ekka speedway. I'd love to get one, put my leg over it and go for a few laps. I'd put one of my mates I don't like on the side as the swinger."The Cootha Classic will be held on May 29-30 featuring more than 250 cars and about 50 motorcycles from the 1920s to today in timed sprints around a 1450m track up and down Sir Samuel Griffith Drive with seven corners and chicanes. Racing starts at 8.30am. Entry is $20 a day, $15 for concession, $30 for a two-day pass and $5 for parking in the J.C. Slaughter Falls carpark.