1973 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

1973 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

For consignment, a 1973 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 showing 21,635 miles, but the true miles are unknown. As Jalopnik once wrote, Toyota FJ40s are basically U.S. Army Jeeps squeezed through another design process . Vintage utility vehicles are still a hot category in the market, and it doesnt matter whether they are barn/farm finds, or fully finished resto-UVs (RUVs?).

Exterior
Pueblo Brown covers this rig with a distinctive Cygnus White roof, there to reflect light and heat when trekking the Serengeti, or the Trader Joes parking lot in summer. Meanwhile, Pueblo Brown refers to the sun dried mud bricks of the southwest adobe. The white is picked up characteristically on the grille surround that takes in the round headlights, giving the FJ a familiar and recognizable face. White is also picked up by the 15-inch wheels that are 6 lug steelies with some earned patina. In profile, the FJ is wonderfully slab sided with articulated front fenders that bends at angles rather than circle over the wheel opening. Rear quarter windows wrap around the corners while the barn door type access doors under a rear hatch hold a spare over a trailer hitch mounted on the frame. Round tail lights are found on the same plane and protected by bumpers that leave circles at the end so the lights are visible and protected from boulders or bighorn sheep. Beginning in the drip rails, cracking paint is noted and on other parts of the truck we find cracking Bondo, panels and running boards that have rusted through, rusty hardware, and significant amounts of bubbling. If patina tells a story, this truck portrays a 12 part mini series.

Interior
Not as rough as a stucco bathtub, but still replete with patina on the inside. Door panels have vinyl inserts and not much else, leading in to find bucket seats with vinyl and cloth in black and gray coverage under dirty seat covers, and the drivers seat is raised with a wood box. In back, gray vinyl benches face inwards, fun for kids and kids at heart, and they can wear dirty boots because the vinyl mat on the floor wont suffer from a little more wear. Behind the black plastic steering wheel is a dash that definitely looks ex military and a tachometer has been added to the column in front of a modest speedometer and other gauges. To the right, knobs with age to them take their place on the brown dash panel along with an AM/FM radio. The glovebox wears an engraved shifting diagram revealing the operation of the floor mounted sticks. Theres vinyl flooring up here as well along with Toyota branded rubber mats. Pedals are wrapped in black electrical tape, were guessing to keep the rubber pads on. A perforated headliner is still in place, weathered but mostly intact.

Drivetrain
Under the hood is the driver quality 3.9 liter inline six, fueled by a 2-barrel carburetor and rated at 125 horsepower. A 3-speed manual puts the rig in motion and splits drive between 4.10 gears at each axle. Power drum brakes are at all four wheels, but as well learn, theyre currently ineffective.

Undercarriage
As expected, surface rust, oil, layers of caked on sooty grease, and areas of substantial invasive rust exist underneath. The single exhaust is intact and flows through a stock style muffler before sending out an exhaust pipe. Leaf spring suspension is utilized front and rear.

Drive-Ability
Due to inoperable brakes, we were not able to take the truck around the loop. But we did start the vehicle and test operations, finding that the tail lights do not work but all other functional items did! While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase.

This ones going to be a project, but that doesnt make the vintage FJ40 any more undesirable. Looking over our inventory history, the truth is they dont come for sale that often and if fully restored, fetch some pretty good greenbacks. Heres one open to your own interpretation and skills!

Classic Auto Mall is home to more than 1,000 classic and collectible vehicles for sale via consignment in a climate controlled 336,000-square foot showroom (thats more than 8 acres!). The largest single location consignment dealer of classic and collectible vehicles in the country is located in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, just 1-hour west of Philadelphia off Exit 298 of the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. For more information visit www.classicautomall.com or call us at (888) 227-0914. Contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person. There is no guarantee of mileage. A $299 Dealer Administrative fee is not included in the advertised price.

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