The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 is an icon. It’s a Jeep for people who don’t like Jeeps and aren’t masochistic enough to be into Land Rovers. It looks rad and is super capable. But what’s not that awesome is the wheezy, underpowered drivetrain. Toyota never gave the US-market FJ40 more than 135 horsepower, and while the F and 2F engines tended to last forever, we’re living in 2024 and can do better. Enter Corsetti Cruisers.
The folks at Corsetti Cruisers – best known for putting LS engines in later 60 and 80-Series Land Cruisers – did arguably the coolest thing they could by getting a brand new Repower 2.8-liter inline-four diesel crate engine from Cummins and putting that under the hood of a very tidy blue FJ40.
What makes the Cummins R2.8 so cool is that the manufacturer offers it as a complete crate motor, and unlike the nominally similar 4BT engines you’d find in delivery trucks and industrial equipment, the Repower is a very modern diesel engine.
That means that it is a clean-running motor and has modern diagnostics and great fuel economy. Those things are only part of what makes it such a good fit for the old FJ. The fact that diesels are such torquey engines at super low revs makes them a perfect choice for some hardcore off-roading. In stock form, the 2.8 puts out 161 horsepower and a whopping 310 pound-feet of torque, which should be more than enough to make the FJ hustle without totally overwhelming the ancient chassis. This R2.8 is also paired with a manual transmission, which is just the icing on the cake.
Corsetti Cruisers offered this particular FJ40 in restored condition with the motor swap done for $80,000. That may sound like a boatload of cash for an old Toyota, but it’s a real bargain when you compare it to what some other companies are charging for their idealized Land Cruisers.
Honestly, I hope that Corsetti does a whole bunch more of these things, if only so I can drive one.
