New (old) Land Cruiser revealed

Even Toyota can't kill the old Land Cruiser as old-school 70 series returns to Japanese market

If you're looking elsewhere on t'interweb you'll probably notice that details of a new school-run friendly SUV have been released today. Some sort of Volvo, apparently.

You can almost smell the grey plastic from here

But we're far more interested in news from Japan that the Land Cruiser 70 Series - a model that officially retired there 10 years ago - is being brought back into limited production. The '70 is still sold in utilitarian spec in other parts of the world - Australia has a V8 diesel version - but the more luxurious Japanese versions look like they've come straight from 1984.

To say the '70 is considered an icon in many parts of the world would be a woeful understatement. In its heyday it had some of the rougher parts of Africa and Australia pretty much to itself, and a large part of Toyota's reputation for mechanical durability rests on its proven ability to take abuse (and to knock out damage to its ladder-frame chassis with a big hammer.)

Even press shots look straight from mid 80s

The relaunched model will be sold in Japan for a year in both five-door estate and pick-up variants. Toyota expects around 200 orders a month. It's powered by a 228bhp 4.0-litre V6 with an old-fashioned switchable four-wheel drive system and an optional electronic differential lock. A five-speed manual gearbox is the only transmission option and, yes, the rear axle does still ride on cart springs. It will cost 3.6-million Yen in five-door form, or a bargain £20,900 at current exchange rates.

Sadly, and predictably, it won't be coming here.

"It's a Japan-only thing I'm afraid," a Toyota spokesman told us, "there are no plans to bring it to the UK or Europe."

Anybody interested will therefore need to wait eight years to bring one in as a grey import.

A quick vid here