What's the point in going off-roading if you can't bring a dozen of your best friends along for the ride? That's the idea behind the aptly named LongCruiser overlanding rig, and nothing embodies the spirit of overlanding better. Built from a real-deal limousine, this monster started life as a regular J80-series Lexus LX450 with a standard 215 horsepower 4.5-liter 1FZ inline six engine, but don't worry, that's gone now. More about that later. Originally built in the mid-1990s, this machine allegedly
ferried around all manor of well-to-do folks in Brooklyn, New York. According to the dude who owns it now, Biggie Smalls once rode in it, and it has a 29-foot driveshaft with three carrier bearings to get all that power to the rear axle.
Full Disclosure: I attended Overland Expo MTN West in an official capacity as part of my Sales Director duties for Land Moto. The company paid for my travel, food, lodging, and passes to the Expo. None of this changes my opinion of the event, or this Land Cruiser, I would have loved it regardless.
All of the trappings of its former limousine life are still intact, as the truck still carries a massive wrap-around couch inside over real-deal granite tile floors, a champagne fridge, and a gigantic television. The stretch is mostly there, though it doesn't look quite as fresh and clean as it once did. I find it funny that both ends built by Toyota are still looking pretty good, but the clumps of steel and bondo holding it together are pretty thrashed.
Now the LongCruiser is out for partying.
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Party Time, Excellent
Overland is one of the most popular segments of automotive enthusiasm right now, and it's projected to continue growing as more Americans want to get the heck out of dodge and escape the rat race on their time off, or, at the very least, look like they do. The LongCruiser has been hit with the overland accessories stick a few thousand times, and this is the result. Your requisite roof racks, many of them, are in place to hold the pop-up tent and traction boards, as well as a scad of lights. It goes without saying that this truck has more monetary value in its Baja Designs lighting than it does in the truck itself.
Of course it's got lockers, why are you even asking? With an off-road rig this serious, you need 4.88 gears, center and rear lockers, a lift kit, and fresh Kenda Klevers to get where you're going. No, it doesn't have a good breakover angle, that's why it has a nice winch on the bumper. Yes, it's probably been underwater a few times, judging by that middle-section surface rust, so it absolutely needs the snorkel.
So what's under the hood now? In early 2024 the stock inline-six gave up the ghost when it popped a headgasket in the middle of a road trip. A little over a year later the truck was returned to service with a fresh 5.3-liter General Motors LS V8 engine and 4L 65E automatic transmission yanked from a Suburban, something with more than enough torque to turn that super long driveshaft.
Long Boy
More of car culture should be like this. This guy is doing it for the love of the game and to put smiles on peoples faces. Sure, some of the Toyota weenies will whine about replacing the far-superior Japanese engine with a boring old LS small block, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Build a thing, road trip it, break it, fix it, show it off, travel the country, attend events. Come on, that's proper automotive enthusiasm. Yeah, there's no way this giant thing is going to make it up most of the trails at Moab, and it probably can't do the Rubicon, or compete at King of Hammers. For those of us who have more fun hanging out at camp drinking a few cold ones with the folks before stumbling back to a roof-top tent, the LongCruiser is king.
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