To mark the beginning of our 20th year of marriage, Mrs DougD, the D kids and I returned to Costa Rica, the scene of our honeymoon. Amidst all the surfing, zip lining, eating and swimming I kept an eye out for curbside classics.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Land Cruisers since imprinting on my uncle’s FJ40 as a kid, and back in 1997 I was surprised and delighted to see that Land Cruisers were everywhere.
This time I found that the vehicular landscape has changed quite a bit, the only Land Cruiser I saw for days was this sad example. We would walk by it several times a day on our way to and from the beach.
Behind that punched up face is either a very tired F series six cylinder gas engine, or a 3B four cylinder diesel. Is that spot on the lower right of the grille where the Diesel script once hung?
Can anyone tell what year this one is? FJ40s changed so little during their 24 year run that I can’t really tell. The rounded grille surround (or at least the rounded place where it used to be) points at pre-1979. The steering wheel and seats look more modern than than this 65 that Paul wrote up here. So I’ll guess 1975.
When I shot these pictures I was thinking that this was the worst non-rusty FJ40 I’d ever seen. So much of the truck is just…gone, and what’s left is beaten to within an inch of it’s life. A newly installed brake line still has the store barcode tag on it so I think this one is still alive, or at least being worked on. That being said I never saw it move during the week we were there.
Here’s a much better and more complete example I found parked along the road by the beach, so all is not lost. Mrs DougD looks dressed for the part of beach FJ40 driver.
This is a later model FJ40, definitely diesel powered. Again I’m not sure what year, square grille surround equals 1979 or later. Most FJs in Costa Rica seemed to be driven either by older Ticos (native Costa Ricans), or younger expats. Given that this one was at the beach it came as no surprise to see it later being driven by a blonde surfer-type dude. What a life 🙂
During one of our roadtrips I saw about 10 FJ’s, which is a lot more than I normally see in a day but still far fewer than I saw in 1997.
So is time the only reason for the attrition? Well first off although Costa Rica has made some improvement in the amount of paved roads, minor roads remain dirt, and they are unfailingly punishing. Vehicles get beaten into scrap, the only functional old vehicles I saw of any kind were either Land Cruisers or Land Rovers, and I saw several junkyards full of 1980’s Sentras and the like.
Second, the legendary status of the FJ40 has resulted in them being exported out of the country for restoration and resale. Here’s the website of one such company I found:
If you want a Costa Rican Land Cruiser of your own all it takes is money (about $30k-$40k).
Unlike the FJ40, I saw this BJ60 Land Cruiser being driven every day. In fact it took a few days for me to catch it standing still in the bright noonday sun.
This one is used as a real estate/concierge vehicle and normally has magnetic signs on the sides for advertising these services.
It’s been repainted flat black over the original white, which seems like an unfortunate choice in a country with scorching sun and 35+ degree heat. I don’t think anyone has done a proper CC article on the BJ60, but this one won’t get the full treatment from me. Really the only thing I know about them is that they were made from 1980-1989, and have similar mechanicals to the FJ series. They are built for more space and comfort, but of course this diminishes the off-road capabilities as compared to the FJ.
Interestingly, I saw almost as many Land Rovers as I did Land Cruisers. I hadn’t expected that, since I don’t remember seeing any in 97, and the Land Cruiser is well known as the vehicle that wrested bush supremacy from the Land Rover. The surf shop we visited had a non-functional example out front as advertising. This also looks 1975-ish.
It seems to have fared better that the lead Land Cruiser, not sure if that’s because the aluminum body is more resistant to ocean salt spray, or simply because the mechanical bits expired earlier. Sitting out front of a surf shop is easier on the sheet metal than bouncing down a washboard dirt road. Nonetheless I was glad to see this LR, it got a big grin from me, and from virtually everyone I saw walk past it.
That’s it for Costa Rican Curbside Classics, although you may have noticed the complete lack of curbs in the photos. In the next installment we’ll have a look at the current crop of 4X4s in the country.
What’s the difference between an FJ60 and a BJ60. Call me naive, but I’ve never seen either a BJ Land Cruiser or an HJ Land Cruiser. So I don’t know what the letters refer to.
It refers to the type of engine. The first letter is the engine code, the second the chassis/model code and the last two numbers are the series. So an FJ40 has an F series engines, a J body type (what we currently call an SUV) and series 40 style.
The B are diesel engined J style landcruisers.
The toyota F series engine is a 4 liter straight six that was produced for many, many years and is essentially a metricized chevrolet stove bolt six. The last ones in a landcruiser were the 80 series 4 door wagons, which have been covered on curbside classics several times.
My understanding is that the F engines are still being used in forklifts and related heavy equipment.
The numbers are a model code that has a correlation to the wheelbase generally, but also updates, it seems a bit murky. There isn’t an “FJ” diesel though. Eg they changed from HJ45 (pickup or troop carrier) to HJ47 when the 2H engine plus other changes were introduced, but there were lots of running changes. More complicated than Mercedes Benz chassis codes?
In Australia I would assume the 60-series was a HJ (4.0 diesel) but I could easily believe it was the B 3.4L 4-cyl.
I will have to do a post on the 40-series Cruisers and Land Rovers I saw in Far North Queensland.
Please do. I had no end of trouble trying to figure out the Toyota coding for my Range Rover piece.
We had our honeymoon at Isla Nublar. Saw mainly Wranglers and Explorers. Sorry, this is what I associate with Costa Rica.
We went to CR in about 2000. Was very impressed with the vehicles I saw and agree that old Toyotas were plentiful. I have become an old Toyota fan and despite a recurring urge to partake of new bells and whistles, the old Toyota 4Runner continues to occupy my driveway. Surprised CR has changed in that regard.
Yep thats where the diesel badge goes could have been a 3.4 four or 4.2 six both were offered in this model both non turbo, both will run mostly forever providing the cooling system is kept clean. Prefer the Landrover meself but you knew that.
Very nice !
Here’s the 4-cylinder 3.0 liter diesel engine from a 1977 BJ40, 85 hp.
And the 6-cylinder 4.2 liter gasoline engine from a 1977 FJ40, 135 hp.
Been wanting to go to CR for years. I’ve been missing the the tropics. And that red LC looks like it has a future, despite being stripped down. And why not, in the tropics?
Nice finds and congratulations on the twenty-year anniversary!
It’s hard to keep a goof truck down .
-Nate
Hey, I love that Toyota Turismo in the back ground. I guess that indicates the van has the performance package.
Tourist vans have Turismo stickers on them, but lots of vans also say Servicios Especiales too. This made us wonder, what exactly are these special services, or maybe it’s some government agency??
But I think that was just public transportation for locals. No Secret Service or anything..
Saw a contractor with a 1977 or 1978 Datsun 4 door pickup with a diesel engine, across the street from my father in laws house, January 2013 in Santa Ana , CR. Would like to have one here!
I spent a few weeks touring the western half of the country in 1995. Land Rovers were quite common sights at the time. They stood out because they were the slowest vehicles on the road. My rented Samarai with its 68 mph top speed that I touched once, buses, trucks; we all cued up in lines behind chugging Land Rover 88s at least once a day. It cured me of my urge to have a Land Rover.
Looks like a fun trip; congrats on 20 years! I never knew until today that the diesel variants had the BJ prefix rather than FJ. Don’t know if we got those in the States or not.