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Hagerty recently chartered a series with Chip Foose to reinvent automotive classics. Despite the unorthodox outlook he sketched out, you seemed to really enjoy the earlier installments of his work. As such, the latest installment in the series shows Foose taking over the iconic Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser.
Discerning readers will know the Japanese off-roader is an icon, but we’d be remiss not to say how important it really is. With production starting in 1951, the Land Cruiser is one of the oldest nameplates in the automaker’s lineup. Originally built for the Americans who occupied Korea during the war, Toyota was commissioned to build a vehicle that could offer the same capabilities as in the Willys jeep – yes, big shoes to fill.
13 Pictures
Regardless of its usefulness, Foose is only there to look at the aesthetic. After sketching a brief line drawing, he was surprisingly lacking in ideas when it came to altercations. The biggest tweaks were to move the front lights and massage the fenders while adding round mirrors, a new front badge, and flared rear fenders.
Thanks to his talents, the end result is still basically a Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. We won’t call anyone, but too often designers have the best intentions but go too far. That’s not the case here, but just like the original, the end result is far greater than the sum of its parts – needless to say, it’s definitely a breath of fresh air.
Fans of Foose’s Day One will likely remember his show titled Revision ‘ where it gives muscle cars a crisp refresh; We know the Land Cruiser was obviously never part of the series, but we’d love to see what the redesign would look like in real life. Either way, Chip ends the episode with his design philosophy of keep it extremely simple and have fun. And we think that says it all.
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