(Toyota)
The Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series truck has a reputation for being indestructible, but it looks like it may be immortal, too.
Despite being in production since 1984, the model’s chief engineer says that Toyota has no plans to discontinue the line of pickups and SUVs.
“As long as there are customers that need the car, I think we will also produce the 70 Series,” Sadayoshi Koyari told Cars Guide at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.
The truck is currently offered as a single-cab or double-cab chassis, and two-door or four-door SUV and can be had with a V8 diesel engine.
It’s not sold in the United States, Europe or in Japan due to the latest safety requirements, although it was offered in its home country for the first time in 11 years in 2015 to help celebrate Toyota’s 70th anniversary. But just for one year before new standards went into effect.
A favorite vehicle choice of international organizations operating in remote regions of Africa and Asia, the Series 70 does remain a mainstay of many parts of the world, including the Outback. The Australian version has recently been updated with a stability control system and a stronger chassis for better crash test performance and sales are up 18 percent there so far this year.
(© Mercedes-Benz)
You can buy an even older and very rugged, if much more luxurious, truck here in the U.S., however. The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, which is available in versions that cost upward of $500,000, has been on the road since 1979 and still has a couple of more years in her. A replacement isn’t expected before 2019, and even then Mercedes-Benz could decide to keep the old one in production for years to come.
