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HomeFeatured VehiclesJay Leno inspects a trio of 1980s-era Toyota Land Cruisers

Jay Leno inspects a trio of 1980s-era Toyota Land Cruisers

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These well-aged machines have timeless style, the ability to go anywhere and bring your family along, and usually don’t cost too much. That last trait is changing quickly, though. Jay Leno welcomes a man profiting from this SUV boom, and he’s brought along a trio of his favorite Toyota Land Cruisers.

Brian Corsetti owns Corsetti Cruisers, a company that aims to keep 1980s-era Land Cruisers chugging down the road. Corsetti’s love of the FJ60 generation stems from a childhood spent riding in the back of one. He’s turned that love into a business and an addiction. That extends to the 12 Land Cruisers that Corsetti currently owns.

His oldest one that he’s brought to Leno’s famous garage is a 1987 model. This one is carbureted and wears just 95,000 original miles. Corsetti is only the second owner of the SUV.

Leno and Corsetti moved on to the other trucks, which included a fuel-injected FJ60 from 1988 and a later FJ62 from 1989. With the FJ62, Toyota introduced a larger 4.0-liter inline-6 and this allowed the automaker to sell the Land Cruiser as a passenger vehicle in its home country. Corsetti has upgraded this particular FJ62 with some suspension tweaks without going over the top.

Leno was certainly happy to hear that Corsetti is not a “restomod guy.” He restores the trucks in a manner that would be done from the period. Modern tires are applied, but that just makes good sense while also setting off a proper stance for the trucks. The trucks are cleaned up but patina is maintained and the vision originally born from Toyota is still extremely inherent in a finished Corsetti Land Cruiser restoration.

The pair took the FJ62 out for a spin and Corsetti had a good observation about modern cars: They all feel much the same inside. When he’s in a Land Cruiser though, he knows exactly what he’s driving. That’s a major part of the appeal of any classic machine.

And there’s plenty of appeal to be found on an old Land Cruiser.

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