70 SERIES LANDCRUISER

The 70 Series replaced the long-running 40 (and 20) Series in Australia in January 1985.

Again, its main role was to satiate the ever-present demand for heavy-duty vehicles, but the exploding recreational vehicle (RV) market also had to be addressed.

So while a ladder frame chassis with rigid leaf springs was retained and the body plates were thickened by 1mm, improved interiors, more comfort and better safety features like curved glass were introduced.

As with the 40, two body types were introduced – the short BJ/FJ70 (soft- top and van) and the middle BJ/FJ73 (Fibre-Reinforced Plastic – FRP – hardtop), as well as the long-wheelbase FJ/HJ75 models.

The ‘70’ Bundera was aimed straight at the RV market with a 74kW 2.4-litre 22R four-cylinder petrol engine and coil spring suspension.

Other engines included the 66kW 3.4-litre 2H four-cylinder diesel unit, the 110kW 4.0-litre OHV 3F six-cylinder unit and the 76kW 4.0-litre 2H six-cylinder diesel motor.

In early ’86 a 63kW 2.4-litre 2L-T and 71kW 3.5-litre 13B-T four-cylinder turbo-diesel engines were announced in some models, including Bundera.

The 70-series had a makeover in March 1990, with minor trim and model adjustments.

The big news was saved for the engine room. The all-new 72kW 3.5-litre SOHC 1PZ five-cylinder and 94kW/271Nm 4.2-litre SOHC 1HZ six-cylinder diesel engines were of a modular design, and usurped the old 3.4 and 4.0 litre diesel units, although the former was short-lived in this country.

Meanwhile, the Bundera’s 2.4 turbo-diesel and 2.4 petrol units now produced 64kW of power and 215Nm of torque (up from 188Nm) and 81kW and 190Nm respectively.

In late ’92 Toyota introduced another round of revisions to the now nine-model 70 Series, and finally junked the old 4.0-litre OHV 3F petrol engines for an all-new 4.5-litre 24-valve DOHC 1FZ-FE six-cylinder engine that delivered 158kW of power (up 40 per cent) and 373Nm of torque (up 30 per cent).

The only other engine now on offer was the 4.2 1HZ six-cylinder diesel unit.

A more creature comfort-orientated six-seater Troop Carrier RV model was introduced, while there was also new instrumentation and trim and an upgrade in safety.

The Bundera vanished, leaving the three-body cab/chassis, utility and Troopcarrier models.

In late 1999 yet another minor facelift saw the 4.2 diesel and 4.5 petrol engine’s outputs rise to 96kW/285Nm and 165kW/387Nm respectively.

In late 2001 a 4.2 turbo-diesel unit pumped out 122kW of power and 380Nm of torque.