Travel to the furthest corners of the Earth and you will probably find a Toyota Land Cruiser or a Hilux sitting there. These Japanese trucks are legendary for their reliability and endurance and whether you are delivering urgent supplies in the jungles of Asia or simply photographing lions in Africa, there are few better vehicles to choose than these two. Or is there?In the mid-'90s Toyota decided that it needed an even beefier off-roader – one that could compete with the Hummer H1 for unstoppability whatever the terrain.This was a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger was using military-spec Humvees to get his groceries, helping to popularize the war truck and create the badass civilian Hummer H1. The Hummer then spawned a string of different versions, before the company was shut down in 2010, when the economic crisis had left people less interested in giant gas-guzzling military-inspired vehicles.But rewind to 1996 and Toyota wanted a piece of the action, launching a 'Cruiser' that would make the company's other off-roaders look like Matchbox Cars. In the same way that Toyota took on the muscle car genre, the company set about refining, tweaking, and adding tech to an American idea, with the aim of making it even better. The Toyota Mega Cruiser Was A Japanese Take On The Hummer ToyotaJust the name 'Mega Cruiser' says it all. If the Land Cruiser is a Godzilla-style monster, the Mega Cruiser would surely be the sequel where he meets his match with a much scarier and more intimidating creature. The Mega Cruiser was Toyota’s answer to the Hummer H1 and was the largest and most heavy-duty Cruiser derivative to date.Just like the Hummer, the Mega Cruiser had its roots in the military, originally developed as an infantry transport vehicle for the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force. The Mega Cruiser was revealed to the public at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show as a ‘multi-venture cruiser’ with the capability to tackle extremely rough terrain, with an eye for use by emergency rescue and ambulance services in undeveloped areas.Toyota later decided that its Gifu Auto Body subsidiary would make a small selection of civilian models from January 1996 to August 2001. Gifu knows a thing or two about Land Cruisers, having been given the task in 1960 of hand-making the bespoke bodywork for the iconic Land Cruiser FJ45LV. Meanwhile, Toyota also developed the Corona and Crown passenger cars. The Toyota Mega Cruiser Would Struggle To Fit Into A Tokyo Parking Space Cars and BidsThe Mega Cruiser is a formidable beast. It's hard to escape the resemblance of the boxy design to the Hummer, although the Mega Cruiser has slightly more rounded edges and slightly less of a utilitarian aesthetic. Like the legendary Hummer H1, it is absolutely massive.To get an idea of the size, look at another popular Japanese auto segment: the kei car. These are cars limited in hp, displacement, and size, resulting in cheaper tax and easier parking. The maximum length of kei cars is just over 11 feet, with a width limited to 58 inches, whereas the Mega Cruiser is a massive 200 inches long, 85.4 inches wide, and almost 82 inches tall (5090x2170x2075 mm).The Mega Cruiser also weighs a massive 6,283 lbs, can fit six people, and can carry 1653 lbs of cargo. Inside, the driver sat in their own space, surrounded by vents and controls and separated from other passengers by vertical consoles. The style is spartan, without being skimpy. Standard Mega Cruisers had cloth seats, power locks and windows, and air conditioning, along with the lashings of plastic you would expect from a '90s-era Toyota. Those who have driven them say the Toyota Mega Cruiser is more refined than a Hummer H1. A Closer Look At The Mega Cruiser - And Its Power May Come As A Surprise Toyota mega cruiser 6 cars and bidsLurking under the hood is a 4.1-liter direct injection turbo-diesel inline-four. It may come as some surprise, especially considering these days SUVs like the Aston Martin DBX707 have close to 700 horsepower, while the Mega Cruiser made do with just 153 horsepower. But huge power wasn't what this vehicle was all about. The Mega Cruiser did have a handy 282 pound-feet of torque, but the real tricks up its sleeve are the tech and design. The Toyota Mega Cruiser Was Low On Power But Heavy On Hardware Cars and BidsThe Mega Toyota rides on go-anywhere 37-inch tires with 16.5 inches of ground clearance, helped by a hub reduction axle that raises the drive shafts above the center of the wheels. Full-time four-wheel drive was linked to a Land Cruiser-based four-speed automatic transmission with torque converter lock-up control and a sub-transmission with a two-speed center differential lock.The front and rear axles were fitted with Torsen limited-slip differentials. Reversed-phase four-wheel steering was fitted to make this giant off-roader more nimble over rough terrain. The complex suspension was made up of combined double wishbones on all four corners, each fitted with a torsion bar connected back to the chassis. Braking was supplied by in-board ventilated discs. The JDM Mega Cruiser Is An Incredibly Rare Toyota Toyoa Mega Cruiser cas and bids 8The military Mega Cruisers could be had in a number of body styles, from vans to drop-tops, but if you wanted a civilian version, it was always a hard top. The vehicle was only made for the Japanese market and production took place between 1995 and 2001, with the last civilian model being sold in 2002.The price in the late '90s for this truck was the equivalent of roughly $94,000 - a Range Rover 4.0 SE Sport in 1996 for the record was around $55,000. Toyota doesn't have exact figures of the number produced, but says that 'only a little over 100 civilian models were ever produced'. Naturally, as this was JDM only, every Mega Cruiser to leave the factory was in right-hand drive—but they didn't all stay that way. Buying A Mega Cruiser Today toyota mega cruiser militaryIt will come as no surprise that Mega Cruisers don't pop up for sale very often. When they do reach the market in America, the Mega Cruisers tend to have been converted to LHD and they command big bucks. This 56,000-mile Mega Cruiser sold in 2022 on Carsandbids.com for a whopping $310,000. You could possibly get a bargain with this 49,900-mile Mega Cruiser on Cars and Bids, which has bidding currently at $55,000. This Mega Cruiser is also converted to LHD and features an eye-catching paint scheme, lighting modifications, and various electronics upgrades.If you are happy to go a little more rugged than the civilian Mega Cruiser, the military versions can be had for a lot less. This 1996 Toyota Mega Cruiser pick-up is extremely cool and sold for just $36,000 in 2023, with just 16,100 miles on the clock and army-style green paintwork.
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