Earlier today, we witnessed the debut of the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, with the SUV having been absent from the carmaker’s US showrooms since the 2021 model year. The new J250 Land Cruiser mixes the status-defining presence of its more recent predecessors with the -uber-practical and rugged nature of the older LCs. And thanks to these renderings, we can visualize a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser J250 3-door with a removable top, a form that’s missing in the official form.
When Toyota was still busy designing the new Land Cruiser, many dreamed this would become a modern version of the iconic FJ40 introduced back in 1960. Now that the vehicle is here, there are many aspects that link it to the FJ40, such as a few retro styling cues, the smaller (read: easier to handle) size, and the lower price.
There’s no FJ40-style removable roof, so a digital artist nicknamed Theottle decided to portray this for us. His work showcases a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser J250 3-door as Toyota would’ve done it, which means a shortened wheelbase and a hardtop.
Sure, losing the rear doors doesn’t seem so practical. But we’ll remind you that two of the new Land Cruiser’s main competitors, the Jeep Wrangler and the Ford Bronco, can be configured in this form, so this rendering makes all the sense in the world.
Main specs of the 2024 Land Cruiser
Unlike the Lexus GX and the J300 Land Cruiser, which can be hand with a twin-turbo 3.4-liter V6, the US-sped J250 Land Cruiser is offered with an I-Force Max turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder. However, thanks to the 48 hp electric motor fitted inside the 8-speed automatic gearbox, this hybrid powertrain produces a meaty 326 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque.
All J250 Land Cruisers come with full-time four-wheel drive as standard, which means an automatic limited-slip center differential, a locking read diff, and a selectable two-speed transfer case. It’s also worth noting that 2024 Land Cruiser offered 8.7 inches of ground clearance.
How Toyota positioned the J250 Land Cruiser
The new J250 Toyota Land Cruiser, sold as the Land Cruiser Prado J250 overseas, shares its TNGA-F platform with the third-generation Lexus GX and the J300-Series Land Cruiser the carmaker doesn’t offer in the US. However, the new Land Cruiser is considerably more affordable than the former and comes in a smaller package than the latter.
Pricing for the new model starts in the mid-$50,000 range for the base Land Cruiser 1958 trim. As for the mid-spec Land Cruiser and Land Cruiser First Edition top dog, we’ll receive their prices later this year when the J250 hits dealers. Interestingly, the 1958 and First Edition get classic-shaped round headlights, which the artist used here, while the Land Cruiser features rectangular light clusters up front.
J250 Land Cruiser vs. 4Runner
As stated above, if you’re a US customer, you can choose between the Land Cruiser J250 and the Lexus GX, but you can’t pick between the Land Cruiser J300 and its (fourth-generation) Lexus LX sibling, as only the latter is offered in North America. Sure, the LX used to outsell the Land Cruiser, but it still looks like Toyota chose to protect the Lexus brand by this move.
So, where does this leave the situation in Toyota’s own dealerships, where the J250 Land Cruiser is about the same size as the 4Runner?
For offroading, the J250 LC beats the 4Runner only in terms of the breakover angle (25 vs. 20 degrees), but loses the battle for the approach and departure angles (31 vs. 33 degrees and 22 vs. 26 degrees, respectively).
However, we expect most customers to choose between the two based on factors like features/refinement and pricing. On the one hand, a fully loaded 4Runner TRD Pro will set you back around $55,000 and for that kind of money, you can only buy a basic Land Cruiser 1958.
On the other hand, the current fifth-generation 4Runner has been in production since 2009, and, even with multiple facelifts, its interior feels less refined than that of the brand-new Land Cruiser—still, the cabin of the J250 is not quite the lavish environment the J200 used to offer. And while nobody is getting behind the wheel of the J250 until this fall, we expect the 2024 Land Cruiser to also deliver a more premium driving experience compared to the 4Runner.