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As usual some of our favorite vehicles came from The FJ Company. Their “new” Land Cruisers might look just like your father's 4×4, but many of them pack a modern punch with their classic durability.  

As for the interior, this is where things are very different to the original. There’s a set of leather-clad Recaro bucket seats in the front, with custom pedals, door handles, window winders, and shifter. There’s also an iPad mounted in the centre console with tunes pumped through a Signature Sound audio system. But there are plenty of traditional elements, such as no carpet and a peel-back fabric roof.  

Even cooler is that under the hood, it's not some LS or a Cummins diesel, but a brand new Toyota 1GR-FE engine swapped from current Land Cruisers. The 4.0 V6 is good for 240 hp, sending its power through a manual gearbox. With the power comes an equally modern four-wheel disc brake system from a 2017 Toyota 4Runner, as well as Fox shocks with Old Man Emu leaf springs.  

It's certainly telling that specialists like The FJ Company are now restoring these, and frequently have a few at a time that they're working on. When we spoke to Nelson Calle of the Miami-based FJ Company a year ago, he sounded skeptical about the prospects of the 70-Series trucks, which were never sold here, but cautioned that 60-Series TLCs were starting to see greater interest.

Last year was FJ Company’s first year at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. This year, they’ve knocked it clear out of the park with a fantastic show presence. Given their momentum and quality of product, it won’t be the last time we see them in the desert.  

Under the hood, there’s a new Toyota 1GR-FE 4.0-liter V-6 that offers 240 hp, the same engine used in the 4Runner and formerly found in the Tacoma and FJ Cruiser. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Stopping power has been updated with Toyota 4Runner four-wheel disc brakes. A performance-tuned suspension system adds Fox shocks and Old Man Emu leaf springs.  

The FJ Company has just taken the wraps off their most modernized FJ40 yet, a 1981 FJ43 that's been tastefully updated for the 21st century without losing the charm of the 1960s original.  

Browse The FJ Company website but try to limit yourself to a fixed amount of time. The work they do on FJ20, FJ40, and FJ60 series Land Cruisers is rather amazing. Design choices are almost endless, allowing the potential buyer to choose from a very classic look to a modernized one. While the vehicles start off as original Land Cruisers, they end up as basically brand new vehicles.  

Take a classic Toyota FJ (FJ43 year models from 1976-1983 to be exact)…Let the car artisans at the FJ Company completely rebuild it…And you’ve got one dream of an overlander!  

When it comes to classic Toyota trucks, The FJ Company has the first and last word. And it's brought a new restomod job to SEMA this year.