Cruising in the right direction
TWO OF MY favourite cars from the last 12 months are the Suzuki Jimny and the Jeep Wrangler.they are both 4x4s but there’s another reason why I like them so much. It’s because they’re basic, unpretentious and uncomplicated cars. Honest, if you like.
And they’re a rare breed these days when cars have to be loaded with electric everything and, perish the thought, systems that attempt to do some of the driving for you.
I’ve found another vehicle to add to this list. One that is certainly functional and very honest. It’s the Toyota Land Cruiser Commercial Utility; a vehicle name that verges on tautology.toyota will sell you a Land Cruiser creaking with chrome, wood and leather and it will sell you this one – for considerably less money.
We’re testing the short wheelbase version because it’s cooler and cheaper but you can get a full five-door LWB version.
By cheap I mean £27,556.You’ll have to addvat to that because it really is a commercial vehicle.
Where there would normally be side windows at the back there are painted panels. I seem to remember that in
Ireland in the early Eighties there was a dodge by which hot hatchbacks such as
Golf GTIS were sold as commercial vehicles simply because they had blankedout rear side windows.
There are no flash alloy wheels on this
I£27,556
(plus VAT)
Diesel – 2.8 175bhp 0 to 62mph in 12.1 seconds, 108mph top speed
machine. Old-fashioned steel wheels that are cheap to replace and can withstand a bash or two against rocks or high kerbs in town. I greatly enjoyed not having to fret over alloy wheels in the week that I had this Toyota.
There are only two seats, separated from the luggage bay in the back by a meaty mesh bulkhead that would keep Hannibal Lecter from nicking your Snickers or worse.
N THE BACK there’s a flat load bay that could transport pigs or sheep
– it’s that type of vehicle.the luggage area has a capacity of 1,574 litres and can take a payload of 488kg.the aforementioned bulkhead is solid metal until halfway where the mesh starts. The latter is hinged between driver and passenger so you can swing it out of the way and load longer items if you’ve not got a passenger.
Gone are the Land Cruiser’s normal soft furnishings and in their place are hard plastics that will be easy to clean.
Behind the front grille, which doesn’t have any chrome embellishments, sits a four-cylinder 2.8-litre turbo diesel engine that produces 175bhp. Fast it isn’t, with a top speed of 108mph and 0-62mph in 12.1sec.
Fuel consumption is 37.6mpg, which isn’t horrendous.
Toyota might have swapped out the fancy interior but the really important mechanical bits remain, like the permanent four-wheel drive system that includes a high/low gear range and a limited slip differential at the rear, hill descent control and hill start assist.
Oh, there’s also an old-fashioned, rugged six-speed manual gearbox. Plenty of safety kit, too, from airbags in all the right places to stability and traction control.
I didn’t try the Land Cruiser Ute-com but I’ve been off-roading in the flasher models and their ability is formidable, perhaps not quite up to the off-road abilities of a Land Rover Discovery but the Toyota has a rock-solid reputation for reliability which unfortunately Land Rover products do not.you can trust a Land Cruiser with your life.
Not surprisingly comfort levels are not car-like but this Land Cruiser rides better than most pick-up trucks because it has a lower payload – meaning it doesn’t have such stiff springing. Pick-ups are the only direct rival that this vehicle has.
Toyota make a more practical noncommercial version of this car. It’s still called the Utility and is virtually the same but has the seats fitted back in and glass side windows.and like this one, it is also available in LWB.
You’d like to think that Land Rover’s new Defender, to be revealed in a few months, will be available in a very basic spec but I don’t hold out too much hope. Certainly not for a Defender at this price.
37.6mpg 197g/km Jeep Wrangler, Ford Ranger pick-up 8/10