Above: George Tsoukas' Toyota LandCruiser during an off-road event organised to raise money for disadvantaged children: My Toyota 80-Series Landcruiser has been fitted with 13"x33" TSL Super Swampers for off road use. It has Old Man Emu (OME) shockers and springs which gave it about 50mm lift. It has a TJM alloy bar and Warn 9000lb winch fitted. The spot lights are IPF super rallys (170 watt each). Under the bonnet, the engine is standard. I have an ARB air compressor fitted with an outlet mounted on the bull bar. I have installed a Pirahna dual battery system. Inside is pretty standard, except for the sound system upgrade which includes four Polk speakers and a Kicker subwoofer in the back. Great for those long trips in the outback. I also have a Garmin GPS, and two CBs (UHF and AM).
The Cruiser has been across the Simpson Desert
[e.g.],
into the Victorian high country and all over the beaches in Robe
[e.g.],
South Australia (among many other places).
- George Tsoukas
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Above: Two Toyota LandCruiser 80-Series station wagons. The one on the left is in the Victorian high plains. The one on the right[*] is crossing a sand dune on the French Line in the Simpson Desert, Australia.
![]() An Australian Rail Track Corporation's 'cruiser with guide wheels that can be lowered hydraulically for driving on rail tracks. It is used between Kalgoorlie and Broken Hill which includes the world's longest straight stretch of rail - at 478km. |
The 80-Series arrived in Australia in 1990. It was Toyota's first LandCruiser to be fitted with coil springing, excepting the SWB LandCruiser Bundera which was not a huge success.
The 80-Series initially came with the old 4.2 litre petrol engine
which was replaced c1992 with a 4.5 litre dohc engine.
Two diesels were offered:
the 4.2 litre sohc 1HZ and
the 4.2 litre sohc turbo-charged 1HDT.
The latter is an unusual, perhaps unique diesel,
in having
The top of the range was Toyota's answer to the Range Rover coil springs, constant 4WD, and a similar price tag. The basic models are popular with public utilities and the top of the range GLX models, rival the Range Rover in price and equipment.
[*] Desert photo - George Couyant