Recent happenings in the world of SUVs creates mixed feelings for true off-road enthusiasts. First, they were enraged when some of the traditional SUVs went mild and switch to crossover side, as in the case of Ford Explorer, latest Nissan Pathfinder, Land Rover Discovery and many more, which all transferred to unibody chassis. As the pool of real SUVs was getting smaller than ever, there were some opposite happenings as Ford announced Bronco resurrection and we had the same situation with Land Rover and their Defender.
TOYOTA’S STANCE
Toyota has quite a rich offering of proper SUVs, but so does Nissan, and now Pathfinder switched sides, and X-Terra is axed, leaving us only with Armada or Patrol outside the US. Toyota hasn’t pulled any similar moves for now, and above compact segment, we have plenty of proper off-roaders, starting from 4Runner, to Land Cruiser and finally to Sequoia. And one more thing, to calm down 4×4 enthusiasts and show that Toyota has no plans in changing its course, is latest teaser picture that Japanese carmaker generously offered to us.
Design of 2017 Toyota FT-4X
At the first thought picture depicting one wheel is not saying much and Toyota issued a statement that picture is presenting 2017 Toyota FT-4X Concept which will debut during New York Auto Show in April. Also, the company registered FT-4X name last year, so that could imply that upcoming concept is a representation of the future production model. Since at the moment, we don’t have anything with that name in the lineup, it will be a brand new vehicle or maybe a revival of something quite interesting? Let’s think about that last part.
2017 Toyota FT-4X Review
As we said, you might think that photo is not especially generous in sharing information, but deeper observation might overturn that. The featured tire is evidently off-road one as rubber carvings openly show and if we read letters we would see that it is precisely Goodyear 255/55 R18 model. So, we are here talking about an SUV obviously, and 4X part of the name would suggest that it should be a quite capable one.
You may now wonder where Toyota would place another SUV in its lineup since they covered pretty much everything that was to cover. Think again, and you might remember quite an interesting offer that Japanese withdraw three years ago from US market. We are talking about FJ Cruiser and simple plastic molding from the teaser, painted orange, contrasting black body paint, could be enough to suggest that we are maybe dealing with a future successor.
What Toyota FT-4X Actually is
If 2017 Toyota FT-4X Concept is actually a preview of the future successor of FJ Cruiser, then the SUV offer from Japan will become once again quite more interesting. FJ Cruiser was incredibly boxy and rugged thing, but in the same time amazingly fancy and trendy looking. A tiny part of orange plastic could show us that FT-4X intends to continue with the flamboyant recipe and use of many different colors all over the body, which is something extremely rare in body-on-frame chassis world.
Despite exuberant appearance, FJ Cruiser was an extremely capable off-roader, since it was based on Land Cruiser Prado, and we would expect nothing less from future FT-4X. So, if this is indeed happening, all of you who wished to roam nature in fancy outfits and for all you who desired that something as berserk looking as C-HR can actually leave the pavement, you wishes are about to be granted.
