Three-Door Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Keeps Kicking After Almost 40 Years
A few markets in Asia will get the renewed 70 Series, but only UAE customers can buy the three-door model.
The 70 Series Land Cruiser is immortal, apparently. With four facelifts since its introduction in 1984, the 70 Series is like Toyota’s secret Mercedes G-Class. Unlike the G, unfortunately, most of the world doesn’t get the 70 Series; only Japan, Australia, and the Middle East enjoy the privilege of buying the massaged and carefully updated old Land Cruiser. But even fewer get to buy the ultra-cool three-door short-wheelbase variant announced with the 2024 facelift.
Yes, this is just a dream for those of us in the U.S. According to Carscoops, only folks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will get to order the short-wheelbase 70 Series, at least according to Toyota’s UAE website. Historically, the three-door variants have been available wherever the 70 Series was sold, but with recent crash and emissions regulations, the market has narrowed considerably.
That’s not to say Toyota won’t expand the domain of the three-door Land Cruiser. The automaker has made considerable effort to keep the 70 Series alive despite all manner of regulatory roadblocks. In 2015, Toyota stopped selling the truck in Japan due to crash regulations, while emissions laws have globally tightened. With this facelift, the truck returns to Japan thanks to improved crash safety. There’s also a new powertrain option, in the form of a 2.8-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder that outperforms the old 4.5-liter turbodiesel V8, though the V8 is still available for most of the range.
For the UAE, the short-wheelbase truck will be available with a 4.0-liter gasoline V6 and six-speed automatic transmission. There aren’t many options besides four matter-of-factly named colors (white, silver metallic, gray metallic, and beige), and just a single interior color option. It’s no frills, as a Land Cruiser should be. We’ll just have to enjoy the 70 Series’ retro-nouveau aesthetic from afar. At least the one we're getting next year, mechanically worlds apart though it may be, borrows inspiration from the proper place.
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