2028 Toyota FJ Cruiser Concept With Twin-Turbo V6 Power And Retro Styling Is The Bronco Rival We Need
Toyota sold the FJ Cruiser in America from the 2007 to 2014 model years, and the chunky retro 4×4 has only gotten cooler since it left. Clean examples now trade like modern classics, and off-roaders still talk about its Tonka-truck looks like an old friend who moved away.
Toyota finally revived the FJ name in 2026 with a vehicle much smaller, and it skipped America. This leaves the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler to split the off-road crowd. So we at HotCars imagined the 2028 FJ Cruiser we think Toyota should be building for America.
Toyota Brought The FJ Back, Just Not For America
Toyota started selling the new Land Cruiser FJ in Japan on May 14, 2026, making it the fourth branch of the Land Cruiser family after the 300, 70, and 250 Series. It’s the smallest of the bunch, with a wheelbase about 10.6 inches shorter than the 250 and a tight 18-foot turning circle.
Under the hood sits a 2.7-liter four-cylinder making 161 hp and about 181 lb-ft, sent through a six-speed automatic and part-time four-wheel drive. That’s nearly 100 hp less than the 260 hp V6 in the last American FJ Cruiser. The top VX grade costs 4,500,100 yen, or roughly $28,800, which is spookily close to what an FJ Cruiser cost here in 2014.
Toyota builds the Land Cruiser FJ in Thailand on its IMV platform for buyers in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Toyota confirmed that there are currently no plans to bring the FJ to North America, so we can only admire it from across the Pacific.
American buyers get the Land Cruiser 250 instead, which starts at $57,200, or roughly double what the old FJ cost. It’s a brilliant truck, but it’s a premium midsize SUV, not a cheeky, affordable trail toy.
That gap has worked out nicely for Jeep and Ford, which sold 167,322 Wranglers and 146,007 Broncos in America in 2025. Bronco sales jumped 33.7% while the Wrangler grew 11 percent, and neither had to look over its shoulder at a Toyota wearing an FJ badge.
Meet The 2028 FJ Cruiser We Wish Toyota Would Build
Our HotCars Exclusive concept imagines a 2028 FJ Cruiser built for America, with boxy retro proportions and an LED-lit face. Round headlamps sit at each corner of the nose, flanking two slim LED light bars with “TOYOTA” lettering between them, a nod to the heritage grille on today’s redesigned Land Cruiser 250. A six-lamp light bar perched above the windshield finishes the look, because no self-respecting trail rig leaves home without one.
The blue paint and black roof keep things playful, while thick black fender flares, rock rails, and bright skid plates show it means business. Out back, slim vertical taillights borrow from the Land Cruiser 250, and the rear-mounted spare wears a color-matched cover with “FJ Cruiser” script, just in case anyone at the trailhead forgets what it is.
Underneath, we’d put it on Toyota’s TNGA-F body-on-frame platform, the same bones under the Land Cruiser 250, 4Runner, and Tacoma. That makes it easy to borrow the Lexus GX 550’s 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6, which makes 349 hp and 479 lb-ft through a 10-speed automatic. That’s 89 hp more than the old FJ Cruiser, with enough torque to make the Land Cruiser FJ blush.
The Land Cruiser 250 gives us a great starting point with its push-button front stabilizer bar disconnect, which helps the front wheels stay planted on rocky ground. We’d go one better and fit the GX 550 Overtrail’s E-KDSS, which can disconnect the front and rear anti-roll bars independently. Add the Overtrail’s locking center and rear differentials, plus a front locker of our own, and the FJ would have three lockers ready for the nastiest trails.
The GX Overtrail rolls on 33-inch tires, but we’d offer 35s as an option for buyers who plan to wheel hard. Inside, a Land Cruiser-style cabin with a 12.3-inch touchscreen and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto brings the tech up to date. We’d pair that with chunky physical switches, washable floors, and MOLLE panels, an accessory Toyota already plans for the Land Cruiser FJ.
This 2028 FJ Cruiser Concept Has The Bronco Badlands In Its Sights
The Bronco Badlands is the obvious target, and its 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 makes 330 hp through a 10-speed automatic. Our FJ Cruiser concept’s 349 hp and 479 lb-ft give it the edge on paper, and the Lexus V6 has already proven itself in a luxury SUV rated to tow 8,000 lbs.
Ford also made the Badlands a little less special for 2026 by making its front stabilizer bar disconnect optional unless you add the Sasquatch Package. Our concept’s E-KDSS would work on both axles as standard, giving it an articulation advantage.
The Sasquatch Package is still a serious piece of kit, bundling electronic-locking front and rear axles with chunky LT315/70R17 tires that stand about 35 inches tall. Our concept matches it with front, center, and rear lockers, plus optional 35s, leaving the Bronco no hardware advantage to hide behind.
The Bronco would still win the open-air contest, since its roof and doors come off and the FJ’s wouldn’t. In exchange, the FJ’s fixed roof would make for a quieter, more refined ride on the long highway drive to the trailhead.
Pricing the FJ below the $57,200 Land Cruiser 250 would be its biggest punch, filling the affordable gap the old FJ left behind. Toyota already has every part it needs in its parts bin, from the TNGA-F frame to the GX’s twin-turbo V6. All it needs now is the will to bring the FJ back to America.
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