ABOUT ME AND MY FIXATION WITH LAND CRUISERS

 

I saw my first Land Cruiser in the year 1975, when I was 10 years old. It was a blue, 1973 FJ40. At that time my father was the administrator of a gas station/repair shop/tire shop/car wash. I do not remember the owner of the Cruiser, but I can recall the rig having a black soft top, PTO winch, soft doors. As I was getting into the front seat, my father came around and as he smiled he showed me the keys to it. He bought it.

I was hooked.

I will not bore you with detail on how much I enjoyed riding with no tops on, the wind shield folded down, and romping around trails and remote construction sites in Puerto Rico. Just know that I just enjoyed it. So when I was ready to get a car with my own money (I already had owned a 1971 Malibu, very nice race car, a 1975 Dodge Demon, and a 1973 Dodge Swinger. (All hand me downs from  my mother, uncles, and aunts) I wanted a Land Cruiser.

So it happens that my step-father's brother-in-law bought a 1985 FJ60 and was afraid to drive it. "It is too high for me, steering is hard, rides hard." He just had no idea what he had in his hands. So I kindly took it from him in 1994 for $3000. My friends used to tease me with references to an old Mattel toy called "Big Jim", who had a vehicle called "The Rescue Rig". So we named the cruiser so... Rescue Rig. During this time I traveled to Costa Rica to visit friends and business partners, and we visited all the active volcanoes in a Land Cruiser/Land Rover caravan. I was driving a very nice BJ55. I logged more than 60 hours of driving time on the Pig. Cruisers were made to be driven, after all.

Then life happened and I moved to Massachusetts in 1998, and my FJ60 saw snow for the first time. I owned this cruiser until 2000, when I managed to blow the engine. It was sold to James Valley of cruiserparts.net in New Hampshire, who in turn sold it to a guy who made it run again. You can see some pictures of the rebuild here .

Not to be undone, I waited some time to get myself a new cruiser. Family considerations forced me to steer away from the 40 series, and economics were not there for the 80 series. 55 were scarce and I was in a hurry, so I got myself another 60. It was an ebay auction. I know... but I called the guy in Colorado and it happened that he used to live in Mass. He had many considerations for me just because of that and now I own an ebay cruiser.

Let me tell you a bit about me. I was born in Puerto Rico, but I have traveled and lived in the states on and off. I am a mechanical engineer by trade, working for a major biotechnology company here in Massachusetts in the Quality Assurance department. I have friends from all walks of life and all sorts of vehicles. I belong to Yankee Toys, a TLCA chapter, one of the founding clubs of NEA4WD, and sister club of Gotham City Land Cruisers of New York. I also have communication with fellow cruiserheads from Central and South America.

I enjoy camping, hiking, cross-country skiing, wrenching (I am no expert, but can keep my Cruiser going), cooking on the grill, the blues, samurai movies, and reading. I have a significant other and two crazy boys who enjoy going into the wild as much as I do.

 

 

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