Toyota Land Cruiser Namib For Serious 4×4 Use

This is the 4×4 that Land Rover should have built!

Based on the J70 platform and celebrating its 35th year in production this is a rather special Land Cruiser and only for South Africa right now. The Land Cruiser 70-Series is probably the closest thing you will get to the classic Land Rover Defender in terms of looks, durability and function. However, this Toyota will not have a leaking cabin or a vague steering and gearshift.

It is clear that Toyota engineers fashioned the 70-Series to rival the Defender back in the day and they succeeded in getting it right in all ways. 

Now with the new Defender looking rather ‘soft’ around the edges and the die hard enthusiast not accepting the new Defender look and function, Toyota South Africa has this Land Cruiser 79 in their showrooms taking inspiration from the Namib Desert in Southern Africa which is one of the oldest and largest deserts in the world.

The Land Cruiser Namib has been fitted with an upgraded off-road suspension (manufactured by a respected local off-road suspension expert for Toyota), whilst maintaining the existing payload and towing capacity. The tyres have been upgraded to larger 265/75/R16 Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx versions, complete with white lettering, affixed to durable 16-inch alloy wheels.

Inside you get a cabin very much like the Hilux with all the necessary modern amenities and the ‘Namib’ is available in two colours only, Ivory White and Sand Beige.

Toyota has installed a 4.5-litre engine good for 202hp mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The engine delivers an impressive 317lb ft of torque, which arrives from a low 1,200rpm. Forget about emissions and fuel efficiency as this is a workhorse and we are sure if UMW Toyota worked a deal with its South African counterparts, this Land Cruiser could arrive here and have timber and plantation tycoons in East Malaysia eager to get units in their work fleet.  

Priced in South Africa with local taxes and delivery cost it is about RM254,000. For Malaysia, we can only guess a price of between RM250,000 and RM280,000 as it carries a 4.5L engine and will be imported in with high added taxes.