Toyota Mega Cruiser

Toyota Mega Cruiser
Toyota Mega Cruiser
Overview
Manufacturer	Toyota
Production	1995-2002
Assembly	Gifu, Japan
Body and chassis
Class	Full-size SUV
Body style	4-door SUV
Related	Toyota Dyna; Toyota Coaster;
Powertrain
Engine	4.1L 15B-FTE I4 diesel turbo
Transmission	4-speed automatic
Dimensions
Wheelbase	3,396 mm (133.7 in)
Length	5,090 mm (200.4 in)
Width	2,169 mm (85.4 in)
Height	2,075 mm (81.7 in)
Curb weight	2,901 kg (6,395 lb)

The Toyota Mega Cruiser is a large, heavy-duty four wheel drive vehicle introduced by Toyota in 1995. The largest 4WD ever built by Toyota, it resembled the Hummer H1, and like the Hummer, was designed primarily for military use with the Mega Cruiser seeing duty as infantry transports, equipped with mounted howitzers and mobile Surface-to-air missiles in the Japan Self Defense Forces. The military version as the BXD10, and the civilian version is known as a BXD20. Civilian uses incurred expensive taxes imposed by the Japanese government for dimension regulations and annual road tax obligations. It was available in Japan only at Toyota Store locations.

Exclusively sold in Japan, the Mega Cruiser also was used by prefectural police and fire/rescue departments, and a limited number were sold to civilians. This vehicle was intended to test designs that would eventually make their way into mass-produced Toyota SUVs (like the Land Cruiser), but was financially unsuccessful for Toyota.

The Mega Cruiser featured a 4.1 L turbo diesel I4 engine. The engine focused on producing high amounts of torque at low revs. The SUV featured front, center, and rear differential locks, as well as four wheel steering.