Does This Patent Drawing Show The Baby Toyota Land Cruiser?

It’s a bit of an open secret that Toyota’s working on a small, boxy off-road-style car to sit below the latest Land Cruiser in its SUV lineup. The company first teased the idea with 2022’s Compact Cruiser concept, then, at the J250 Land Cruiser’s reveal a couple of years ago, showed off the shadowy silhouette of a smaller but just as boxy off-roader, complete with a spare wheel on the tailgate.

Since that official tease, though, things have been very quiet on the car–until now. A patent drawing has been filed in the Philippines, and spotted by the nation’s local offshoot of TopGear.com, that shows what could well be the final production version of the baby Land Cruiser.

The rendering lines up neatly with the silhouette we saw back in 2023, right down to the extremely thick C-pillar and the front end that bears a family resemblance to the Hilux Champ, an ultra-cheap utilitarian pickup Toyota sells in various Asian markets.

If this is indeed the final version of the car, we still don’t know a whole lot about it, including what platform it’ll sit on, which powertrains it’ll use, and just where around the world it’ll be sold.

What we do possibly know is its name – shortly after the original tease, in late 2023, Toyota trademarked the name ‘Land Cruiser FJ’. That suffix references the original FJ-series Land Cruiser of the 1950s and the FJ Cruiser, a retro-styled 4x4 sold in some markets between 2006 and 2022. Both of those vehicles serve as styling influences for the new car.

If we’re looking at the final version of the Land Cruiser FJ, then it hopefully won’t be too long before we’re treated to a proper reveal. It’s set to arrive as part of a wave of downsized versions of legendary off-roaders, as Land Rover is known to be working on a smaller Defender-inspired car and Mercedes has confirmed a miniature G-Class is in development.