Utah Museum has One of Every Toyota Land Cruiser Ever Made
A Toyota Land Cruiser museum exists, and you don’t have to travel to Japan, or even leave your home, to explore it.
First released in 1951, the Toyota Land Cruiser is the company’s longest running product, and it’s actually one of the longest-running models in the world. In fact, only the Chevy Suburban, Ford F-Series, and Volkswagen Transporter have been around longer than this venerable off-roader. So given the venerable off-roader’s importance to the brand, it might strike you as strange that Toyota doesn’t have an official Land Cruiser museum, though it does feature many of them at it museum in Nagoya, Japan.
Fortunately, if you’re looking to explore the history of the Toyota Land Cruiser, a dedicated museum does exist, and you don’t have to travel to the Land of the Rising Sun to explore it. Because Land Cruiser fanatic Greg Miller has assembled a stunning collection — dubbed the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum — right here in the United States. To experience it in person, you’ll only have to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah. And hey, if you can’t make it to the Beehive State, have no fear, as the museum is also available to experience virtually, via a virtual tour.
Assembling this collection, which includes one of every Land Cruiser model ever produced, has been a labor of love for Miller, who moved into the current space back in 2015. Along with examples of the Blizzard, PX-10, and Mega Cruiser, there are over 100 flavors of Land Cruiser, in condition which ranges from pretty rough — like the 1953 BJT Jeep at the top of this post — to perfectly patinaed examples like the 1960 FJ28 , to factory-fresh rigs like the lovely mint-colored 1964 FJ45 in the gallery above.
For any Toyota fan, this museum is a must visit, and next time I happen to be in Salt Lake, I’m definitely going to swing through there. Of course, getting to examine all this historic hardware up close would be cool, but it would also be neat to chat to Miller himself. Because along with building this impressive fleet from scratch, he’s also taken his personal 78 Land Cruisers to all of the world’s seven continents, so you know he’s got to have some awesome stories about those incredible journeys.
Photos: Land Cruiser Heritage Museum