Toyota LC76 Land Cruiser GXL 70 Series wagon 2017 review

At $64,990, you might expect the GXL Wagon to be swimming in comfort and technology features, but it ain’t. In fact, even air-conditioning is a cost option, and one that will set you back an extra $2761.

But it's built for a purpose, and that purpose is working. It weighs around 2.5 tonnes, but it can tow 3.5 tonnes, and has a huge 130 litre tank. It’s got a heavy-duty 4WD system with low range, auto-locking front hubs and a diff lock. It can cross rivers, climb mountains... you name it. 

What is can’t do, however, is just about anything invented in the past 10 years. The old-school radio is Bluetooth-enabled, the windows are power operated and, in this top-tier model, there’s a central-locking system controlled via an annoyingly large and separate key fob. But that’s about it. 

You’ll also get 17-inch alloys instead of the 16-inch rims on the lower-spec model, cruise control and a host of new traction systems including stability and traction control and Toyota’s 'Active Traction Control', which is designed for off-roading.

Time-tested and largely unchanged, the GXL Wagon is still the familiar boxy shape that’s been prowling the Australian outback for decades.

If your morning commute includes disposing of rings into the fiery pits of Modor, then there’s few that do it better than the LandCruiser.

It's tough, and looks every bit of it, with a sky-high snorkel, soaring ride height and powerful front end. Viewed side on, it looks like it's been constructed from Jenga pieces, but it all somehow adds to the LandCruiser’s retro charm.

That charm does start to wear a little inside, though, where paper thin door trims, ye olde worlde seats and a dash and steering wheel combo that looks to have been transported here from the past - which, like the rest of the car, it was. The rear doors still have pull-out ashtrays, for example.

It’s not quite as agricultural as the tray-top variant - the easy-hose rubber flooring has been replaced with carpet - but this is not the height of luxury.

As practical as a gumboot. Just open those twin, vertical-hung rear doors and start throwing stuff in. Toyota doesn't actually quote a luggage capacity number, but suffice to say it's lots. And more still if you drop the rear seat, which ignores all the modern 60/40 split nonsense and folds down in one unbroken piece.

Elsewhere, there's one lonely cupholder to share between front seat passengers, and, well, that's about it.

Just the one engine and transmission offered right across the 70 Series family, and that’s a hardworking 4.5-litre diesel V8 paired with a five-speed manual transmission. The engine will generate 151kW at 3400rpm, but it’s a rich and meaty 430Nm from 1200rpm that really keeps the 2265kg Wagon moving along.  

The switch to Euro5 standards has seen some under the skin upgrades applied, too. A diesel particulate filter has been added and Toyota has changed the gear ratios to make second and fifth gear taller. Stability and traction control were also included for the first time in October last year, along with Toyota’s off-road focussed 'Active Traction Control.'

Interestingly, Australia was the driving force for these changes, and led the charge for the engine to be modernised. In other markets, most opt for a petrol V6 engine, but Australia’s outback wanderers and, more importantly, mining site fleet managers, all insist on the big diesel, so Toyota Australia demanded our LandCruiser get the updates.

The big V8 will sip a claimed/combined 10.7  litres  per hundred  kilometres  and emit 281g per  kilometre  of C02. Its  130-litre  tank won’t be cheap to fill, however.

Not good, I'm afraid. While the tray-top variants got some serious updating to qualify for a five-star ANCAP safety rating, including extra airbags, the GXL Wagon did not.

And so safety kit is limited to the usual stability stuff, including stability control and traction control, along with ABS brakes and Hill Start Assist. That, and two front airbags. To say that is a woeful standard safety compliment is an understatement.

The LandCruiser LC76 GXL Wagon is covered by a three year, 100,000km warranty, and will require a visit to a service centre every six months or 10,000 kilometres . Toyota's capped-price servicing program limits the cost of each service to $340 for each of the first six services.

I could you tell how this car is, at best, uncomfortable in the city, how the clutch is too heavy, the turning circle laughable and the steering so spongey you don’t know whether to turn the wheel or find some icing, but what would be the point? Around 80 per cent of these are sold to bush buyers, and that means smooth tarmac will only form a small part of their daily diet. And anyway, thanks to a shorter wheelbase, the wagon version is actually heaps more comfortable than the tray trop in the city.

But people actually buy these because they're tough. Bulletproof, even. And there’s something hugely satisfying about sizing up everything from a neighbourhood gutter to a soaring sand dune and knowing the GXL Wagon is going to come out on top. And it's going to be able to do it all with your whole family aboard.

It's loud, rough, each trip is a kind of mini workout thanks to the heavy clutch and opening the bonnet is damn near impossible for anyone weaker than The Rock, but it all somehow adds to the retro charm of the old school Cruiser.

But it has to be said, if your morning commute includes disposing of rings into the fiery pits of Modor, then there’s few that do it better than the LandCruiser. This is a serious 4WD for serious 4WD people, and everything from the on-board diff lock to the low-range 4WD settings accessed by a manual gearstick are designed to get you places that other cars can't. But if you’re a hobby off-roader unlikely to truly torture your car, then there’s plenty of vehicles that will do all you will ever ask of them in a lot more comfort and with a lot more technology.