Classic Toyota Land Cruiser gets updated

I like the basic look of this truck (very similar to the classic Land Rover) but not fond of all the modern updates. $200K? Link above to more photos.

As automobiles got smarter and smarter, dashboards got more complex. My MINI dash can show stuff I still haven’t discovered, six years in. Better to have that kind of data than not (I guess), but I rarely look at most of it. Really old cars didn’t tell you much. So you had to be looking under the hood (And everywhere else, I suppose) with some regularity. But I found this simplicity refreshing. Hard to see in this photos because the museum was pretty stingy with the lighting.

Originally, the word dashboard applied to a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to protect the driver from mud or other debris “dashed up” (thrown up) by the horses’ hooves. (Wikipedia)

I’ve been driving past the Auto World Museum (Fulton, MO) for years. Just wasn’t interested in old cars. Spent a couple of hours there yesterday with my friend Henry and it was pretty amazing. Way more interesting than the automotive museum I visited in San Diego earlier this year. I’m still trying to ID some of the cars (more photos) but will take notes on my next visit.

I confess I’ve spent more time thinking about cars/trucks in the last six months than in the rest of my adult life combined. No idea why. But when my Land Rover fixation took hold back in May, it was the look of the trucks that grabbed me. And if there is a more boxy vehicle than the Land Rover, I haven’t seen it yet.

These days I’m more apt to notice other vehicles and I’m struck by the similarity… and the “roundness” of the designs. This short video explains how this came to be and why it isn’t likely to change anytime soon.