(Stated in 2001) Former Chief Engineer of the Land Cruiser 70 Product Planning Div. Vehicle Development Center III TOYOTA Motor Corporation Mr. Osamu Shinoda

< A Devoted Friend Who Will Never Let You Down >

The Land Cruiser 70 is the elder son, which contains as they say, all of the threads of history. We are very grateful to the people around the world who have loved and supported the L/C 70. The Land Cruiser has really undergone only 3 major changes in the last 50 years. The 70-series in particular has resisted change, holding firmly to the tradition of unchanging reliability and durability. The front suspension was changed from rigid leaf springs to rigid coil springs, but not until 1999, at the end of the 20th century. This change was an adventurous one for the L/C 70, because for years it had enjoyed proven success as a balanced product with a high-degree of perfection. Every effort was made to ensure that this change did not upset that hard-won balance.
Looking at the 70, what was particularly impressive was what I saw in a fishing village in the Middle East (see related article in this edition). Here Land Cruiser 70s are used exclusively, where they support the lives of the villagers who use them to haul their daily catch, a moving sight indeed. We don't try to look farther in the L/C 70s future than 10 years ahead, but no doubt as a time passes a new generation of users with different needs and different circumstances will naturally come to expect new things.
The Land Cruiser 70 will evolve accordingly, and promises only to remain an old and reliable friend that will never let you down. In this sense we are confident that the 70 will always remain a 70.