The debut of another crossoverish luxochildbarge's elicited thousands of words of copy from those happy to be invited to be the "first" to tell you about it. It makes us nostalgic for simple, honest utes. What's your favorite classic SUV?
There's a great fallacy in the automotive world and it goes like this: SUVs are awful and emissions-spewing and what's wrong with everything so we had to refine them, make them more efficient, and softer.
Wrong. The SUV used to serve a purpose for people who needed a vehicle capable of wagoning around a group of children or a large amount of gear in places not appropriate for a Vista Cruiser. It's when marketers smartly decided Americans would fall head-over-crocks for giant bloatmobiles they don't need that the SUV became something to look down upon. It was persuasion. The cars offered safety even if they weren't safe. Off road prowess even if they were too big and too expensive to take off road.
But there was a time this wasn't the case, and it wasn't that long ago. The Toyota FJ60 Landcruiser from the '80s embodies all that was possible with a great classic SUV. It's big, surely, and a touch more luxurious than other sport utes of the era, but it manages to be a go anywhere/take anyone (or take anyone hostage) vehicle and it does so with an inline-six putting out 135 hp/210-lb ft of torque through a four-speed manual.
It's everything you need in a vehicle and, crap, off to Craigslist...
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