Of kings and cruisers

A royal crest is an unusual accessory for a Toyota Land Cruiser, yet it looked perfectly at home on the black Land Cruiser 300 that carried Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, king of Ghana’s Asante people, to a hospital visit on 31 January 2025.

The king had come to inspect renovations at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, a project he helped initiate to improve the facility’s aging infrastructure.

Another Land Cruiser made a royal appearance last April 2026 when Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf arrived in a black SUV of the same nameplate for an official visit to Lviv, Ukraine.

A king riding in a Land Cruiser was probably the last thing Toyota had in mind when it developed the Jeep BJ in 1951, a rugged four-wheel-drive vehicle originally intended for Japan’s National Police Reserve.

Toyota lost the initial contract to Mitsubishi when Japanese authorities chose Mitsubishi’s licensed version of the American Willys Jeep, leaving the company to find other customers for its new vehicle.

Fortunately, the BJ had already demonstrated what it could do. In July 1951, Toyota test driver Ichiro Taira drove one up Mount Fuji to its sixth station, higher than any motor vehicle had previously reached.

Toyota began producing the BJ for civilian customers in 1953, and a year later adopted the Land Cruiser name because Jeep was a registered trademark.

Toyota introduced the Land Cruiser name in 1954 and continued improving the vehicle for customers who needed dependable transportation across difficult terrain.

It became particularly popular in the Middle East due to its considerable durability, and eventually found its way into markets around the world.

By 2019, worldwide sales had exceeded 10 million units across approximately 170 countries and regions.

Unlike many modern SUVs that use a single integrated body structure, the Land Cruiser has a separate chassis underneath its body that provides a strong foundation when traveling over rough or uneven terrain.

Filipinos have known the Land Cruiser since Toyota introduced the 80 Series here in 1990. The full-size version sold today is the 300 Series, the same generation that carried Ghana’s Asante king.

Last June, Toyota Motor Philippines introduced the Land Cruiser 300 Hybrid Electric Vehicle as an alternative to the existing 3.3-liter twin-turbo diesel model.

Toyota has also announced a 2027 Land Cruiser for the United States, although this seems to belong to the smaller 250 Series, related to the Prado sold in the Philippines, rather than the full-size 300 Series. Toyota has yet to announce this particular 2027 specification for the Philippine market.

The Land Cruiser turns 75 this year, quite a journey for a vehicle Toyota originally developed for police service.

The engineers who lost that first government contract probably never imagined their creation would someday carry a king, complete with a royal crest.