If ever a car were being given a brand-appropriate Irish debut, it’s the new Toyota Land Cruiser. The new Land Cruiser is getting its first Irish appearance at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratbeniska, Co. Laois.
Climbing Mount Fuji
This is the latest edition of the Land Cruiser, the J250 model, and it’s the latest in a long line of predecessors, stretching all the way back to 1951 when a prototype model made a gruelling ascent to the sixth staging point of Mount Fuji—higher than any other vehicle had climbed at that point. The Land Cruiser’s legend was born that day.
Since then, it’s gone on to become an acme for rugged off-road performance and—above all—reliability. It spent most of the 1970s and 1980s replacing the older Land Rover models in harsh environments such as Australia and Africa, where breaking down had a life-threatening edge to it.
Retro looks
This new J250 Land Cruiser marks a sharp turn from the previous model, as it’s more overtly fashionable and aiming at the retro-design marks of the current Land Rover Defender. The new Land Cruiser can be had with either square or round headlights, depending on how classic a look you want to go for, while the interior is far more stylish and luxurious than has recently been the case.
Under the bonnet is the same 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel engine you’d find in the current Hilux pickup - sharing that engine with the Hilux was apparently a customer demand from existing Land Cruiser buyers. As standard, there’s now an eight-speed automatic gearbox and of course there’s still four-wheel drive and low-ratio gears for when the going gets seriously tough.
Toyota has also been showering the new Land Cruiser with high-tech additions, including the Toyota Safety Sense electronic driver aids package, electric power steering, and adaptive cruise control.
Hybrid and mild-hybrid power are also on the way for the Land Cruiser, but frustratingly we still have to wait for a final price tag - Toyota Ireland remains tight-lipped on that subject for now.
New Corolla Professional
However, Toyota Ireland has given us the price for another vehicle making its debut at the National Ploughing Championships - the new Toyota Corolla Professional Hybrid. It’s a van based on the current Corolla Hybrid, and Toyota claims that it’s “a vehicle tailor-made for business professionals looking to reduce their carbon footprint. The only hybrid in its commercial category, Corolla Professional is the ideal fleet choice for architects, surveyors, site managers, and salespeople, who will benefit from the low eight per cent BIK, reduced emissions, and better fuel efficiency compared to a conventional vehicle.”
The price tag? €28,9378 excluding VAT. The Corolla Professional Hybrid comes with a standard eight-inch multimedia display with DAB and Bluetooth, smartphone integration including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone automatic air conditioning, and heated, height-adjustable seats with driver lumbar support.
Want to see more? Head along to the Toyota stand - on block 5, row 17 - at the National Ploughing Championships.