2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser 4x4 6-speed
Cool Blue

The newest retro vehicle is just not for soccer moms, but for the coolest moms. Take it from a six-year-old.

Text: ©2006 Isaac Hernandez
Photos: IH and Jason Simpson

Driving around in this one-of-a-kind car (there are only 12 of them in the world, actually, as this is a pre-production vehicle), was completely fun. A few people did a neck-bending double-take, mouth open, following it down the road, devouring it with their eyes. Many didn’t even notice me (or pretended not to). But my wife and editor, Nancy, was much more successful in getting attention. No matter where she went, she always had people around her, men and women alike, stopping her in parking lots and at traffic lights, asking her about “her” totally hip car. The best comment came from Shane, a six-year-old friend, who whispered to of our son, Quique, in the backseat, “You have the coolest mom in the whole world!”

What can I say? I’m not as cute as my wife, maybe; so she got more attention than me. It had been a long time since she been so enthusiastic about any SUV; and she drives them all. She loves the looks, the ride, the responsive 6-speed automatic transmission…. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

According to legend, when Toyota unveiled the FJ Cruiser concept at the 2003 Detroit auto show, they were not planning to bring it into production. But due to popular demand, the largest car manufacturer decided to make their dream car a reality. It was too cool to let slip away.

The production model is very true to the concept, designed by Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, California. From the outside it looks almost the same. Only the ornate designs on the bumper are gone, and the door handles are more robust than in the concept. The roof-rack is more solid, and the glass surface on the ceiling is gone. Also, due to the rear deck space being filled by the huge 32” spare tire, the rear door handle has been moved to the lower right. Now there are three windshield wipers! And while the tires are real off-road tires, not at all like the silly concept ones, the wheels look almost the same as in the car we saw at Detroit.

From the outside, the FJ Cruiser looks larger than life; and larger than it is. It’s actually built on a shortened 4Runner chassis, and only measures 4.7 meters long, and 1.9 wide. The angular wheel arches are edged by flexible fender flares to resist damage.

The inspiration for this car comes from the FJ40, and even its color palette has been chosen to match. When I went to pick up the FJ at Toyota in Torrance, California, two women were in the sun, staring at six different samples of body paint and at a photo of a brick-colored FJ40 to try to match a new FJ color to the original. To my untrained eye, all the samples looked the same, but they were supposedly all different. All FJ Cruisers are topped by a white roof cap, just like the original FJ40.

(Excerpt from full story. Contact us to license text and photos)