Toyota FJ40 - World Of Classic Cars - Rank 87

Toyota FJ40 1978

The Toyota J40 is the model designation for a Toyota Land Cruiser 40 series made from 1960 until 1984 (in Brazil, where it was known as the Toyota Bandeirante, it was made from 1958 until 2001). Most 40 series Land Cruisers were built as two-door vehicles with slightly larger dimensions than a Jeep CJ.
The model was available as the FJ40 series (with F engines) and also BJ40/41/42 (short wheelbase), BJ43/44/46 (middle wheelbase) or HJ45/47 (long wheelbase) designation where it had a Diesel engine. The Land Cruisers built in Brazil from 1958 to 1962 received the series code FJ25 (topless) and FJ25L (soft top) but are often referred to as FJ-251, and in 1961 thanks to a new motor called 2F - not to be confounded with the later 2F engine from 1975 - there still came out some few units with the series code FJ-151L (soft top). With the model name changed to Bandeirante after 1961, those built from 1962 to 1993 - with Mercedes-Benz engines - received OJ50/55 series and those built from 1994 to 2001 - with Toyota engines - BJ50/55 series model codes.

Toyota FJ40 1977

References to the series in this article will be to the J40 series unless referring to one of the petrol (FJ40/42 – 2WD) or diesel (BJ4#/HJ4#) models specifically.

For the history of the J series from the original 1951 Toyota Jeep BJ through the J20 series see Land Cruiser History from 1950 to 1955:

1960: J40 series launched (wheelbase 2,285 mm (90 in)/2,430 mm (96 in)/2,650 mm (104 in)).
1963: Longer wheelbase (2,950 mm (116 in)), FJ45-B, pickup and cab-chassis were added).
1967: End of four-door FJ45V (I) (w/b 2,650 mm (104 in)) production, replaced by FJ55 Station wagon).
2-door FJ45-B renamed FJ45 (II) (w/b 2,950 mm (116 in)).1973?: HJ45 launched with the H, 3.6-litre inline 6-cylinder diesel engine.
1974: BJ40/43 launched with the B, 3.0-litre inline 4-cylinder diesel engine. A factory-fitted roll bar becomes standard in the United States.
1975: Rear ambulance doors are added to US model FJ40s. The lift gate remains available as an option in other countries.

Toyota FJ40 1966

1976: Disc brakes on the front axle.
1977: Front door vent windows, removed, vent windows on the hard top in the United States
1979: Power steering (only F models) and air conditioning added to the options, gear ratios modified from 4:10 to 3:70 in the United States to be more freeway friendly
1980: HJ47 launched with a 4.0-liter six-cylinder diesel engine. End of HJ45 production.
BJ42/46 and BJ45 launched with a 3.4-liter four-cylinder diesel engine.1981: Power steering added on the BJ models to the options, disk brakes added in Australia.
1984: End of J40 series production (replaced by J70 series).
1993: Five-speed transmission becomes available for the Toyota Bandeirante.
1994: In Brazil, the Mercedes-Benz OM-364 engine is replaced by the Toyota 14B unit.
2001: End of Bandeirante production.

Models

Toyota FJ40 1970

The J40/41/42 was a two-door short wheelbase four-wheel-drive vehicle, with either a soft or a hardtop (V). It was available with various petrol or diesel (from 1974) engines over its lifetime. It was replaced on most markets from 1984 by the J70 series (70/71).

The FJ42 is 4X2 model, for only The Middle East.

The J43/J44/46 was an extremely rare two-door medium wheelbase four-wheel-drive vehicle, with either a soft or a hard-top (V). It was replaced on most markets from 1984 by the J70 series (73/74).

The J45/47 was a long-wheelbase four-wheel-drive vehicle, available in two-door hardtop, three-door hardtop, four-door station wagon and two-door pickup models. The four-door station wagon model (FJ45V-I) was the shortest-lived of the J40 series, as it was replaced by the FJ55G/V in 1967.

Toyota FJ40 1978

The Bandeirante TB25/TB41/TB51 Series are J2 series built in Brazil by Toyota do Brasil Ltda from 1962 to 1966/68. In 1966 they were replaced by the OJ32 (soft top) and OJ31 (hard top) for the TB25, and the TB81 for the TB51; for an unknown reason the TB41 would keep its J2 code until 1968 when Toyota do Brasil switched from the J2 to the J3 series in 1966.

The Bandeirante OJ40/OJ45 Series (1968 to 1973), OJ50/OJ55 Series (1973 to 1994) and BJ50/BJ55 Series (1994 to 2001) are J4 series built in Brazil by Toyota do Brasil Ltda from 1968 to 2001. Identical to the BJ40 in almost every respect, it had a few stylistic modifications to the grille (models produced from 1989 on featured square headlights, instead of the round ones used before) and used Mercedes-Benz OM-314/OM-324/OM-364 diesel engines (replaced by Toyota 14B inline 4 direct injection Diesel engine in 1994) for much of its production life; another visible mayor characteristic are the entire hind doors (like at Land Rover) rather than the traditional Toyota two-wing hind doors at the Bandeirante's hard top models.