Japanese Car Auction Finds: LHD Toyota FJ Cruiser

It was not until December of last year that Toyota made their FJ Cruiser available in Japan. Whatever you may think of the styling, there is something cheeky and fun about it. I mean, compare it with Toyota’s more serious offroaders of the past (the Landcruiser model springs to mind), and you will see what I mean.

It really does not take a lot of imagination to picture an FJ Cruiser driving through the California sunshine with a couple of surfboards on the roof. Which is interesting, as the US has been the FJ Cruiser’s playground for a while now. That does not mean that no one in Japan wanted one of these quirky vehicles. In fact, I wonder if Toyota keeps an eye on gray imports to see what Japanese consumers are willing to expend a considerable amount of time and resources in bringing into Japan from the US?

After all, until a few months ago, the only way you could get an FJ Cruiser in Japan was to import it from the US – and then you ended up with an LHD one like the one below, rather than a RHD version that would be easier to drive on Japan’s roads. The California dream obviously rubbed off enough that quite a few people took the leap and got one from the US, like this 2007 model below:

LHD versions of cars made by the Japanese manufacturers are not as popular as LHD cars from other non-Japanese makers, such as Mercedes, BMW or Porsche, but for niche models, like this FJ Cruiser, there is some demand, resulting in a steady trickle of LHD Japanese cars in the car auctions here.