having brought back the supra — and closely replicated its iconic badging — toyota is now trying to liven up another fan favorite in its lineup, the land cruiser. the first land cruisers were imported to the u.s. in the late 1950s, with the legendary fj-40 hitting our shores in 1960. the current form of the full-size suv has existed since 2016, and aside from some updates, has been around since 2007.
in honor of that 60th-ish anniversary, toyota will be building 1,200 heritage edition land cruisers. fittingly for such a rarely refreshed vehicle, the updates are cosmetic — but at least they're cool.
heritage edition models get retro land cruiser badging and will come in either blizzard pearl or midnight black metallic paint, with black accents on the grille and bronze 18-inch bbs wheels. chrome accents on the foglight surrounds and side mirrors join darker headlight housings to give the land cruiser a more modern and slightly menacing look. chrome cladding and side steps have been removed to give it a sleeker look and improve its off-road capabilities.
inside, there's no third row; heritage edition models are two-row-only to maximize cargo space. all models get black leather interiors with bronze contrast stitching and standard all-weather floormats. cabin features include a 9-inch touchscreen with navigation and a 14-speaker stereo system. toyota's safety sense p suite of safety features is also standard.
related: which cars fit three car seats?
nothing has changed under the hood — there's still the tried-and-true 5.7-liter v-8 making 381 horsepower and 401 pounds-feet of torque — and the off-road equipment that makes the land cruiser so capable is all there. that includes full-time four-wheel drive with a locking differential and two-speed transfer case with low range, as well as tech such as toyota's crawl control and multiterrain select system.
pricing for the heritage edition will be available closer to its on-sale date in late summer. stay tuned for its public debut at the 2019 chicago auto show in february, where 's team of automotive journalists will be reporting on all the new-model debuts straight from the exhibit floor.
's editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. in line with 's long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don't accept gifts or free trips from automakers. the editorial department is independent of 's advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.