Toyota's 40 Series Land Cruisers come back to the States q

[Suarez™]

If Japanese collector cars in the U.S. have a mascot, it is the venerable Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. The classic 40 Series trucks were one of the most po[CENSORED]r exports for the automaker worldwide; they enjoyed strong sales on our side of the Pacific as well, with Toyota shipping the 4x4 to the United States through the early 1980s.

Even as these basic trucks were supplanted by powerful luxury SUVs, enthusiasts still carried a torch for the classic FJ—which is why, if you’ve thumbed through catalogs of major U.S. auctions in the last 10 years, you’ve noticed that they are obligated by federal law to offer a classic 40 Series Land Cruiser (legislation recently reinforced by the “No FJ40 Left Unrestored” mandate).

Miami-based restoration specialist The FJ Co. is a part of the thriving cottage industry catering to the powerful nostalgia for these old Toyotas. It has been in business for just four short years, and as its name suggests, Land Cruisers are all it does.

It isn’t the only company churning out minty FJ40s. ICON 4x4 in Los Angeles specializes in modified—wholly redesigned, even—40 Series trucks with modern gas and diesel engines, as well as updated creature comforts. In essence, the Land Cruiser Industrial Complex now provides those nostalgic for the 4x4s of yesteryear a greater variety of Land Cruisers than Toyota dealers had sitting in their lots.