Flex Remakes Toyota Land Cruisers of the ’90s in ’80s Type

• Established in 1967, Flex Automotive has a sequence of fifty dealerships throughout Japan, taking trendy Toyotas and giving them retro appears. Now the corporate is coming stateside.
  
• Launching in San Diego, Flex will supply Nineties and 2000s Toyota Land Cruisers backdated to appear like the FJ60 of the Eighties. There may even be a brand new U.S.-only providing based mostly on the Tacoma pickup.
• The creations are referred to as “Renocas,” an interesting mix of up-to-date underpinnings and nostalgia.

No one does nostalgia fairly just like the Japanese. At first, it was Nissan with its quirky little Pike Manufacturing unit automobiles. Then it was Japanese dealerships holding the unique Rover Mini on sale till 2000. Oddball coachbuilder Mitsuoka presently has a full order listing for its Buddy, a Toyota RAV4 gussied up like a Eighties K5 Blazer. Now, a little bit of that mix of previous and new is headed to this aspect of the Pacific.

Based within the late Sixties, Flex Automotive now runs a big chain of dealerships in Japan, each specializing in both the Toyota Land Cruiser or the Toyota Hiace (a minivan not bought right here). These are boutique outlets, the place prospects are available and spec their Toyota rigorously, creating one thing that appears previous however drives new.

You’ll be able to obliterate the day’s productiveness with the corporate’s on-line automobile configurator. It is limitless enjoyable, though, sadly, the likes of the friendly-looking Euro Field aren’t obtainable within the U.S. However the Land Cruiser choices will likely be.

Flex is opening up its first U.S. dealership in San Diego this winter, the place it will likely be completely located to half tech staff from their money. What might higher swimsuit a 20-year-old with a six-figure wage than a weekend journey machine that appears like a Eighties Land Cruiser, however is actually brand-new beneath?

The conversions—referred to as Renoca for “automobile renovation”—are high-quality affairs, utilizing metal slightly than fiberglass. Flex’s Surprise evokes the main points of the Eighties Land Cruiser fashions based mostly on a Nineties platform, whereas its 106 applies that very same ethos to a 1999 to 2007 Land Cruiser. The centerpiece for each is the entrance fascia, with its easy grille and spherical headlights.

The corporate has additionally introduced an upcoming Tacoma-based providing, which will likely be its first U.S.-only automobile. No particulars but, however based mostly on Flex’s established recipe, count on the weather of Marty McFly’s black Toyota pickup utilized to a extra trendy truck.

Toyota pulled the Land Cruiser from the U.S. market, with the final run being the 2021 mannequin yr. Costs for used ones are by means of the roof already, which makes Flex’s boutique providing properly timed. Pricing has but to be confirmed, but it surely ought to be within the vary of $20,000 plus the price of a donor automobile. It is not fairly the Singer of Land Cruisers, however it’s a actually cool technique to get the brand-new golden-era Toyota truck of your desires.

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