The timing didn’t work this year for us to have a Toyota Land Cruiser in our 2014 4×4 Of The Year test. This is the first time the model has been ‘missing’ for many a year. The reason was simply that the new model had yet to arrive in the UK. Details have now been released to confirm that it will be on sale on 1st December at a starting price of only £34,995 – making it something of a bargain in the Premium class. Some subtle exterior changes have been made, and the new Land Cruiser will have the Toyota Touch 2 touchscreen multimedia system available for the first time, featuring Google Street View, which the company claims is a UK industry first for Toyota. The models will be available in Active, Icon and Invincible specification. We detailed Toyota’s off-road systems in our December issue, and the new Land Cruiser takes a lot of this one step further with the Icon grade having all the off-road driver assistance technology available as standard. This includes, crawl control, multi-terrain select, trailer stability control, multi terrain monitor, lane change assist with blind spot monitor system and rear cross traffic alert, rear electrical diff lock and fuel tank protector. Even at £52,495 for the top of the range Land Cruiser Invincible, this does represent a lot of 4×4 for the money. New Range Rover or matching his and her Land Cruisers, anyone?
