Death of the FJC

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 07/31/2019 at 12:18 • Filed to: None

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What do you think of this analysis?

Personally I never really liked what CALTY did with the body and I’m in the camp that believes that the novelty of the vehicle wasn’t lasting. I think if Toyota had stuck to a more conservative body shape and design that the FJC might still be with us today.

The next gen prado is just around the corner, a new FJC might be a thing, hopefully before the next recession.

Given the market has moved decidedly to 4 doors maybe they just thing the 4runner is enough...and it might be. If Toyota made a 4runner with 3 changes and sold it as an FJ cruiser replacement it would sell lik e mad.

Simplified shapes - nothing convoluted and pandering, but something aesthetically pleasing and iconic. Jeep knows how to do this really well. I ts not like Toyota doesn’t have a healthy history to plunder. The FJC was a caricature of the FJ40...don’t do that. It could like like a straight 70 series if you wanted.

This, with a removable top, would be perfect for the 2 door, though the 4 door is what would actually sell.

damn thats an iconic, no nonsense shape. all business.

Removable roof - This is a really really big appeal to the success of the wrangler. It’ s not an easy undertaking but it’ s appealing and probably worth exploring. taking the roof of the 76 above wouldn’t even be too hard and would look much like the 4 door wrangler does now.

Full press off-road - They should pull out all the stops on their top trim off-road model. Front and rear lockers, skids, room for a 35 inch tire, etc. They don’t all have to be that way and most wont, but you need something to aspire to . Frankly I think putting a solid front axle in alone would win you lots of cred but I understand why thats getting harder and harder to pull off and probably not worth the effort.

Basically I want the 70 series and I don’t think it would be hard to imagine a large customer base for something iconic looking and rugged in this market.  

vicali > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 12:23

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Basically I want the 70 series.

HammerheadFistpunch > vicali 07/31/2019 at 12:29

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There have been so many meetings like this at cruiserfest with Toyota engineers. soooo many.

facw > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 12:31

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FJ Cruiser sales figures always look interesting to me, good initial demand before quickly settling in to a low-sale niche:

Honestly probably about what you’d expect. I am amazed though that the auto industry can tolerate swings in demand like that though, it feels like with production so heavily automated, once you have a line set up, you really should just be cranking out cars at a pretty uniform rate, it can’t be efficient to suddenly have to drop production 75%.

HammerheadFistpunch > facw 07/31/2019 at 12:36

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That’ s what they were hoping for, a steady niche supply of ~40,000 annually. What they got was a white hot flash in the pan. It’ s hard to predict the future it turns out, though honestly I blame nostalgic design decisions as much as blame gas prices for the decline of the FJC.

RallyWrench > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 12:41

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Can’t watch the video at the moment , but I sort of like the FJ, monstrous blind spots notwithstanding. They just make me smile in a way that modern 4Runners don’t.  The old-looking new vehicle craze is fortunately behind us though, no surprise it’s gone the way of the Beetle, PT Cruiser, T-Bird, SSR, et al . I agree that a more timeless design would likely do well, and Mercedes-Benz has proven it with the G-wagen. Toyota could probably sell a better truck (the 70 or 76) for half the money.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > facw 07/31/2019 at 12:48

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FS, 2018 FJ Cruiser, 1 of 1 I know what I got

HammerheadFistpunch > RallyWrench 07/31/2019 at 12:48

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Lexus could easily take a 70 series and lux it up to g-class levels and sell it. Hell just fabricate a 76 body on a 200 series chassis, give it the supercharged 5.7, quilt the hell out of some leather and call it a day.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 12:49

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Demand for trucky SUVs will always be limited.

i86hotdogs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 12:56

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Those are my initials, and you had me very worried that I again died without me knowing.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 12:56

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The rear door was just way too small and claustrophobic for anyone sitting back there. 

Wacko > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 13:12

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the fact that the design inspiration was a portapotty doesn’t help

HammerheadFistpunch > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/31/2019 at 13:18

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They should have ditched the rear door and made it topless. Solve the ugl y door problem and the access/vis problem.

HammerheadFistpunch > Wacko 07/31/2019 at 13:23

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So the design was actually the result of a student design contest. It’ s the boaty mcboatface of design.

RPM esq. > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 13:31

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I sort of liked them in principle, albeit mostly because I’d love a manual option on a modern 4Runner, until I test drove one. It is such an idiotic design—tons of wasted space, terrible ergonomics, near-useless back seat, hideous interior, the worst blind spots outside a tank.

Nothing > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 13:37

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Back when I had a coupe with convoluted rear doors (RX8) I test drove an FJ. Probably around ‘09 or so. There were enough little things that I didn’t like about it that a swap wasn’t in the cards.

A no-nonsense, straightforward current version of a 40, without the need to look and feel retro, would be fine by me. I’d rock that 2 door 70 series in a heartbeat.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 13:39

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2008 crash doesn’t help

HammerheadFistpunch > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/31/2019 at 13:40

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yes. I blame them in equal parts.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 21:27

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I think they should have converged the design with the 4 runner more while keeping the fj as the harcore offroader.

the original design lik the hummer was only going to work so long before it just looked stretched and goofy.  

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > HammerheadFistpunch 07/31/2019 at 21:58

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I wonder if Toyota could actually try harder with the Fortuner/Hilux and bring them to the US market to sit under 4Runner/Tacoma...the only issue is price which would probably be too close to avoid the inevitable upscale.

Same problem with the 75 and 76 Series...more expensive than 4Runner/Tacoma but no bigger and much less refined on road . Still a hard sell regardless of capability... exacerbated by Japan only manufacturing and adding US assembly would be very hard to justify. Especially when the only 75 Series engineered to modern 5 star EU and AUNZ   crash safety standards is the single cab chassis. And Toyota have explicitly stated it will be the only version to do so.

The FJ Cruiser was (in some respects) just a locally palatable way of marketing the Prado platform of the time in the US. Volumes made it viable in the beginning but not enough volume going forward to justify a platform update and death was inevitable.