Future classic: Toyota Land Cruiser

By Charlie Calderwood

| 29 May 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Toyota Land Cruiser

Not since 1990’s J80 generation have we had a Land Cruiser that looks as cool as this.

It is perhaps the first time Toyota’s mud-plugger has ever been considered the looker of the segment, but here it is in all its boxy, slightly retro goodness.

You might think such things shouldn’t matter in a Land Cruiser, but the noise around the release of this J250 knocks that idea into the mud-strewn long grass.

The Toyota Land Cruiser’s cabin is stylish, but functional where it matters

There have been some negative rumblings from the States, but we shouldn’t pay too much attention to that in the UK.

We not only get a different powertrain – a 2.8 diesel ‘four’ rather than a boot-space-eating petrol hybrid – but the smaller, more agile, medium-duty Prado platform also makes more sense in the UK.

This Land Cruiser remains a separate-chassis car, now riding on the GA-F structure it shares with the larger J300 Land Cruiser, Tacoma, 4Runner and a bunch of other Toyotas.

That means coil springs working independent double wishbones at the front and a solid back axle.

The Toyota Land Cruiser J250 has gone retro, with a boxy profile that’s a nod to off-roaders of old

On the road, it rolls and there are many SUVs that ride better, but you can make brisk progress and it’s comfortable on the motorway.

Off-road, it is outstanding. On a bumpy dirt track I didn’t once need to come out of ‘auto’, and the car later pulled itself up the steep, damp bank of a stream without needing its low-range ’box.

That ability in the rough has always been true of Land Cruisers, but it’s more luxurious and effortless now.

The interior isn’t as swish as that of its nemesis, the Land Rover Defender, but no excuses need be made for it.

UK-bound Toyota Land Cruisers have a 2.8-litre turbodiesel ‘four’ that makes 202bhp at 3000rpm

The climate system is controlled by proper buttons, as are functions such as the diff locks and the decoupling anti-roll bars.

There are some modern annoyances, however: the speed-limit detection system makes too many mistakes, as does the driver-monitoring set-up.

Toyota isn’t alone in struggling to get these to work well, but turning them off isn’t simple.

That 2.8-litre diesel comes straight from the outgoing Land Cruiser. It’s slightly noisy, but suits the car and is more than powerful enough.

The new Toyota Land Cruiser is more stylish than its forebears, but it has not lost its rugged edge

A 0-62mph time of 10.9 secs sounds sluggish, but in-gear acceleration is much stronger than that figure suggests.

A Defender 110 offers a smoother ‘six’ at a lower starting price, but that’s just a reflection of the desirability of the Toyota – a quick look at the residuals should comfort any Land Cruiser buyer that they will come out better in the long run.

Land Cruiser is a synonym for ‘durable’, but with the J250 iteration this is no longer the segment’s slightly boring, appliance-like option; you can choose with your heart as well as head.

Toyota’s stellar 2020s continue with another car we wish it could make more of.

Images: Jack Harrison