1984 60 Series LandCruiser

Engine - 4.0L 2H
Transmission - 5 Speed Manual
Suspension - Stock
Tyres - 235/85/R16 Maxxis
Equipped For - Cruising

The vehicle was delivered in July of 1984 here in Perth and for its entire 39 years it has been kept completely original apart from the decal which was added earlier this year. The original owners (an elderly couple) from the Perth riverside suburb of Como had the car until late last year when the name on the purchase papers sadly passed. She was clearly a fastidious owner of the then luxury, state of the art LandCruiser by looking at the current condition of the interior and exterior alike.

The interior boasts its classic deluxe model cloth trim in near perfect condition, the original and highly sought after Toyota Cassette Deck and AM/FM radio all in working order (my favourite part of the whole car). As well as an icey-cold aircon that any 2023 soccer mum would be stoked with and a split tail-gate that looks as if it has never been sat on.

The exterior has its original paint and some barely noticeable bumps and bruises that come with nearly 40 years of life. The original front/rear bumpers are intact, factory chrome wheels and un-tinted glass are all there leaving the nostalgic yet painfully glaring fishbowl effect! Wouldn’t have it any other way.

In the glovebox and under the passenger bench-seat, it has all of the factory candy, including the Toyota tool-bag, original owners manual, purchase/delivery papers, service history and even the rare roadside emergency halogen work-light. This beauty plugs in to a socket underneath the dash and probably produces barely enough energy to light up a matchbox!

Under the bonnet is the original bulletproof and incredibly slow 2H diesel engine which carved Toyota’s reliability into the history books as we all know it today. With only 270,000kms un-opened and un-turboed, the 60 is barely run in and drives as if it just left the showroom floor.

Everything works as it should, from the ‘fancy’ rear heater under the driver seat, to the questionably purposed Inclinometer in the cab. Gotta love those crazy and ahead of their time Japanese engineers of the 1980s. 

Reading through the old logbook, it appears the cruiser was purchased and immediately taken across the Nullabor back in 84’ for a family holiday with stamped services carried out every 5,000kms in SA, VIC and NSW. The car returned to Perth after this and was continually maintained as such with all servicing from then on carried out here. On average, the car has driven just 6,000kms per year since built.

I have always dreamed of owning a tidy old 60 Series but had kind of given up hope due to their rarity in WA. On the day of purchase, I was on my way to inspect and most likely buy a 1HZ 80 Series with high mileage. I saw the ad for the 60 Series pop-up on Marketplace and immediately messaged the seller to hold it for me as I stated to him that “I would purchase it today if all was in order”.

When I got to the house I learned pretty quickly that I was not alone with multiple people waiting on my decision and hundreds of messages pinging the seller’s phone from people all over the country claiming to be ready to purchase “sight-unseen” and ship over to the eastern states.

The seller honoured my prompt message and agreed to hold it for me until I inspected and made a decision. It was love at first sight and as soon as I shifted the first gear when test driving it, I knew I was in deep trouble.

After some brief thoughts and conversations, I knew it had to be and I pulled the trigger.

The first week of ownership was spent walking out of the house to check on it every 20 minutes, drooling and learning about all the prehistoric features like quarter-windows, the choke and the jesus-bar to name a few. It took a while to sink in that I was owning a piece of iconic Australian culture/history and since then it has been the weekend routine of heads turned, conversations at fuel stations, finding notes in the windshield with inflated offers to sell, thumbs up from fellow 60 owners and bumpy leaf-sprung trips down the highway.

Photos by Sunday Garage

Words by Josh Hatch