Fabled off-roader is rejuvenated with a cool retro design and mechanical updates targeting better on-road manners
ILLYA VERPRAET
TESTED 23.3.24, ABERDEENSHIRE ON SALE JULY PRICE £55,000 (EST)
There can’t be many vehicle manufacturers with a wider breadth of model range than Toyota. Sure, one could haul a Mercedes hatchback in a Mercedes artic, but they don’t live next to each other in showrooms, whereas you could drive away from a Toyota dealer in anything from a 65mpg hybrid supermini to a straight-six manual sports car – or an off-roader with a ladder chassis, a live rear axle and a 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel.
The Land Cruiser helped build the Japanese brand’s reputation for solid engineering, and although it has become a bit of a niche thing in Europe, elsewhere it’s still massive.
You can take that literally: in some markets, Land Cruiser is its own model range, including the 4.6-metre-long 300 Series and the ultra-old-school 70 Series. That comes with a 4.5-litre V8 diesel and a manual ’box. I’d love to try one.
Over here, we get just the 250 Series, also known as Prado, and it’s entering a new generation for 2024. It’s not electric, it’s not even a hybrid (not over here, anyway) and the mechanical specification hasn’t radically altered from the old one.
But although the new J250 Land Cruiser isn’t a radical departure from the J150 of before, there’s still plenty to talk about.
First, just look at it. The design seems universally liked, being quite retro-inspired but still modern. A square-edged form just makes a lot of sense for an off-roader anyway.
What’s quite unusual is that you can choose from two entirely different headlight designs. I’m partial to the square ones, because the 1980s are more my era for car design, but evidently our picture editor disagreed and went for a car with the more 1970s round ones.
It’s not all about style, though: there’s plenty of functionality in the design. A number of body panels are made to be deformable so that they can stand up to being bashed about, and if the bumper does need replacing, it can be done in sections (as on the new GR Yaris hot hatch).
The edges of the bonnet have been raised to make the car easier to place and the windscreen is more upright than before. The latter thing isn’t great for aerodynamics, but it also benefits visibility (and helps with the retro look).
The side window line is also 30mm lower than before.
At the
