Here’s a fun fact for you: The Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series is nearly 40 years old. First released in 1984, the 70 Series was a replacement for the iconic 40 Series and paved the way for the Prado. But even after five new generations of Land Cruiser, Toyota still won’t let the 70 Series head off to retirement. That’s fine, because the LC70 is a legend because of that.
But, as it turns out, Toyota has even more plans for the venerable SUV. According to Sean Hanley, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Toyota Australia, the future product plans for the 70 Series are forging ahead. His exact words to Australian motoring publication Carsales were, “there’s no departure of our product plan on 70 Series.”
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So, what lies ahead for the one of the longest (if not, the longest) running single-generation SUV in the planet? Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but there is a possibility of it getting a hybrid powertrain down the line. If so, this near-40-year-old SUV will be aligned with Toyota’s possible hybridization plans for the Land Cruiser 300 and next-gen models of the Hilux and Prado.
“In a generation of any car we change engines, that can happen. The key to anything that Toyota does and first and foremost in our thinking is fit for purpose in the market you operate in while still getting to that carbon-neutral position because that’s now high on the agenda,” said Hanley to Carsales.
Of course, the 70 Series is no stranger to getting new powertrains over the years. Besides, the SUV went through almost 40 years of production, so it was bound to get new engines at some point. The original 70 Series from the ’80s had a either a 2.4-liter straight-four, a 4.0-liter in-line-six, or a 3.6-liter six-pot diesel. These days, it comes with either a 4.0-liter V6 or a 4.5-liter V8 twin-turbo diesel.
Should Toyota push through with its plans to add an electrified option, it’s possible that we could see an arrangement similar to the Sequoia with its 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid. The diesels will likely live on in other markets that demand it.
