Just opening up a thread to a.) Show what we did, and B.) to hear what you might have done. I know there's a lot of nice safari/hunter style vehicles out there, but very few in America. I'd love to see Rovers, Yotas, and anything else that you might be driving.
It all started with my fascination regarding the reliability of the African Land Cruiser Pickup. Those vehicles were never sold in the USA and fully tricked out they are a fortune, $80k-$100k new. Of course you can't import a new one, but I think you can bring in a 25 year old one which would be bastardized into a 4 door cab at best case since they didn't make them like that in the 1900s.
What I realized is the CLOSEST thing we have in America to Africa is the Toyota FJ Cruiser that was sold here from 2007 to 2014. (worldwide production ended in 2023) These things are bulletproof and have a slang name of "jeep recovery vehicles". They really can do things typically associated with Jeeps, but they can do it without having to drop $100k into a whole new drive train thanks to their bulletproof engine and gearbox.
So we set about getting a few FJs, perfect for places that require daily 4wd. This is when we learned about their legendary 500,000 mile reliability, that they have the highest resale price in America of any car, and that their frames rust out so you have to be mighty selective.
Our two FJs are daily drivers: a 2014 last model year, all options, highest HP engine, loaded vehicle with 60,000 miles. (it's in Sandstorm, roughly the same tan as the Toyotas in Africa. Our second is a rare bird, a 2008 Trail Teams Edition (classic white like many of the landcruisers) with 125,000 miles on it. We've done some restoration on these vehicles, particularly getting the frames absolutely perfect and doing custom interiors, updated infotainment, backup cameras, bluetooth, apple carplay, etc.
What we love about them is what I loved about the African bakkies, they are so ridiculously simple. Every knob is simple. Every part is easy to install. Every service activity is something I can teach a kid to do themselves.
The best part is sort of the worst part, cost. A good one sells today for more than its original MSRP 15 years ago. The good news is that those kept in good condition are free to own as your depreciation from use rarely outpaces appreciation of their value.
What are you all driving? FJ40s? Range Rovers? Land Rovers? 4runners? Old Landcruiser SUVs?
It all started with my fascination regarding the reliability of the African Land Cruiser Pickup. Those vehicles were never sold in the USA and fully tricked out they are a fortune, $80k-$100k new. Of course you can't import a new one, but I think you can bring in a 25 year old one which would be bastardized into a 4 door cab at best case since they didn't make them like that in the 1900s.
What I realized is the CLOSEST thing we have in America to Africa is the Toyota FJ Cruiser that was sold here from 2007 to 2014. (worldwide production ended in 2023) These things are bulletproof and have a slang name of "jeep recovery vehicles". They really can do things typically associated with Jeeps, but they can do it without having to drop $100k into a whole new drive train thanks to their bulletproof engine and gearbox.
So we set about getting a few FJs, perfect for places that require daily 4wd. This is when we learned about their legendary 500,000 mile reliability, that they have the highest resale price in America of any car, and that their frames rust out so you have to be mighty selective.
Our two FJs are daily drivers: a 2014 last model year, all options, highest HP engine, loaded vehicle with 60,000 miles. (it's in Sandstorm, roughly the same tan as the Toyotas in Africa. Our second is a rare bird, a 2008 Trail Teams Edition (classic white like many of the landcruisers) with 125,000 miles on it. We've done some restoration on these vehicles, particularly getting the frames absolutely perfect and doing custom interiors, updated infotainment, backup cameras, bluetooth, apple carplay, etc.
What we love about them is what I loved about the African bakkies, they are so ridiculously simple. Every knob is simple. Every part is easy to install. Every service activity is something I can teach a kid to do themselves.
The best part is sort of the worst part, cost. A good one sells today for more than its original MSRP 15 years ago. The good news is that those kept in good condition are free to own as your depreciation from use rarely outpaces appreciation of their value.
What are you all driving? FJ40s? Range Rovers? Land Rovers? 4runners? Old Landcruiser SUVs?
